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The Hummingbird
398 pages, Paperback
Published March 6, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 18, 2026
I didn’t know what to expect as I started this debut novel. This was an apocalyptic thriller and horror novel. As people were turning into blood thirsty zombies, Sam had to get to Sedona to save his young son. The journey was full of terror and not everyone makes it. I really loved the book and read it in two sittings. The main characters are “lgbt” and a budding romance looks to be forming. There is no spice in this book.
Sam not only has to fight off monsters but also fight the insecurity and doubt of his past. We all have our own demons that we must battle. I loved how the author brings in the symbol of the hummingbird too. You need to read the novel to find out what it is.
I want to thank BookSirens for a free ebook. It has recently been published and available now. My review is voluntary.
Sam not only has to fight off monsters but also fight the insecurity and doubt of his past. We all have our own demons that we must battle. I loved how the author brings in the symbol of the hummingbird too. You need to read the novel to find out what it is.
I want to thank BookSirens for a free ebook. It has recently been published and available now. My review is voluntary.
March 25, 2026
I was so excited to read this book from Local Celebrity, James Fanizza, and I loved it! I love the story of parenthood and recovery from abuse set in a world experiencing a sudden outbreak. The pacing of the book worked well for me, moving quickly through scenes and focusing on dialogue. I think AZ locals will appreciate the trip across the state, since it references places that you probably pass on a trip up north. It also adds a level of horror because you are picturing what an outbreak would be like in your hometown. I can’t imagine walking to Sedona from Phoenix, let alone Tucson! In the heat? Absolutely not. Sam’s willpower is much stronger than mine could ever be.
I think someone who has come out the other side from abuse, parents, and lovers of a good zombie/apocalyptic story will all find something to love about this.
I think someone who has come out the other side from abuse, parents, and lovers of a good zombie/apocalyptic story will all find something to love about this.
April 16, 2026
Engaging, endearing apocalyptic escape to the safe city of Sedona by a single gay father and his 5-year old son, pursued from Phoenix through the Arizona desert by 1. his vengeful ex, 2. the requisite vampire/zombie hordes, and finally 3. by found-family turned covetous religious fanatics, all of whom focus on young Benny. Good-hearted Sam must be courageous, inventive and gutsy to rescue the boy he loves, the man, Mateo, he finds along the way, and must pay attention to the hummingbirds, guidance from his departed Granny, recurring assurance that Hope and safety are within his grasp. Could have used a bit more editing for awkward sentence structure, but a worthwhile read.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 19, 2025
Great book! Suspenseful and captivating each chapter will have you on the edge of your seat desperate to find out what will happen next!
June 1, 2025
I enjoyed reading the Hummingbird and was on the edge of my seat from the get-go. I read this book in a few days as I couldn’t put it down. It’s really good, would highly recommend!
April 9, 2026
The Hummingbird is a horror novel from author James Fanizza that—if I had to pitch it—I'd say it's like Van Helsing (the TV series) meets The Road. It's a long, rough journey during a vampire apocalypse.
As we're introduced to our protagonist, Sam, we learn he is the divorced father of a 5-year-old boy, sharing custody with his abusive ex-husband Jack. He also hears the voice of his dead grandmother whenever he's in the presence of a hummingbird; thus the title.
One moment Sam is getting a bogus custody motion from his ex dismissed in court, the next everything's gone topsy turvy. In fact, I initially felt a bit shortchanged by that. It feels like he rushes the descent from normal everyday Hell to Hell on Earth. It doesn't really build. It's just everyone has the sniffles and then... oh ****! Vampires!
But getting the inciting incident out of the way quickly helps us get to the whole reason for this book: a father and his 5-year-old son on a grueling 250-mile hike through the Arizona desert... from Tucson to Sedona... in search of a promised haven, finding friends along the way as animalistic vampires plague the nights and the shadows.
And Sam is an incredibly caring and dedicated father, which is a source of some of the drama, because he's ready to die for that boy. Whether he does is part of the suspense, so I won't ruin it.
Overall, it was a page turner with enough blood and gore to make it horror and enough action to keep it entertaining, but a couple of things bugged me.
First, the prologue skips ahead a ways to a major plot development, then chapter one is back to the beginning. I felt the book would have been better without the prologue, because by the time we get to the scene the prologue previews, the waiting had gone from anticipation to impatience.
Second, I'm no soldier of fortune, but I know my way around a handgun, so I knew when his gun stuff not only sounded wrong but was pure fantasy. I'm not going to go into details because spoilers.
The upsides were good characters, solid worldbuilding, and as I said, it was a page turner. I also liked that he gave enough visual detail that I could play out scenes in my mind's eye.
As we're introduced to our protagonist, Sam, we learn he is the divorced father of a 5-year-old boy, sharing custody with his abusive ex-husband Jack. He also hears the voice of his dead grandmother whenever he's in the presence of a hummingbird; thus the title.
One moment Sam is getting a bogus custody motion from his ex dismissed in court, the next everything's gone topsy turvy. In fact, I initially felt a bit shortchanged by that. It feels like he rushes the descent from normal everyday Hell to Hell on Earth. It doesn't really build. It's just everyone has the sniffles and then... oh ****! Vampires!
But getting the inciting incident out of the way quickly helps us get to the whole reason for this book: a father and his 5-year-old son on a grueling 250-mile hike through the Arizona desert... from Tucson to Sedona... in search of a promised haven, finding friends along the way as animalistic vampires plague the nights and the shadows.
And Sam is an incredibly caring and dedicated father, which is a source of some of the drama, because he's ready to die for that boy. Whether he does is part of the suspense, so I won't ruin it.
Overall, it was a page turner with enough blood and gore to make it horror and enough action to keep it entertaining, but a couple of things bugged me.
First, the prologue skips ahead a ways to a major plot development, then chapter one is back to the beginning. I felt the book would have been better without the prologue, because by the time we get to the scene the prologue previews, the waiting had gone from anticipation to impatience.
Second, I'm no soldier of fortune, but I know my way around a handgun, so I knew when his gun stuff not only sounded wrong but was pure fantasy. I'm not going to go into details because spoilers.
The upsides were good characters, solid worldbuilding, and as I said, it was a page turner. I also liked that he gave enough visual detail that I could play out scenes in my mind's eye.
June 8, 2026
This book shows a lot of promise for the author’s future works, but falls a little short in execution.
The story itself sets up as your standard zombie-like apocalypse story, yet does so in a slightly heavy-handed way. You can predict what is going to happen because there is no mystique or build-up to the reveal of the cause. Without giving too much away, I feel The Last of Us is a good example of a narrative that feeds the reader clues about the cause without overtly stating it outright. “We are out of pancake mix…” “I forgot to buy the cake…” They seem throwaway instances until you realize their relevance. Something similar could be done in this case to create a less hand-holding narrative.
Our two first leads in Sam and Benny are enjoyable characters. The author has a clear understanding of writing the father/young son relationship and dialog and Sam’s love for his son is clear and heartwarming. Mateo is equally kind and warm and easy to like.
When our villains are first introduced, it was without any veiling of what kind of people you are dealing with. I was a bit disappointed in this because it essentially set up “these will be the traitors” without there being any twist or blindside. It was also predictable when the nightwalkers were going to attack. I think the story would have been better to have cases where the tension built that they could be there, yet the characters receive a sense of security when this doesn’t happen. It would add more weight to when the attacks do happen.
The epilogue did get me teary eyed, which since I don’t tend to have a lot of outward physical reaction to books is a huge plus! It was just the ending the story needed after the build-up. I do wish the epilogue was actually a chapter and maybe we got a flash forward as the epilogue to see what happens with our family in the new world. The heroes were so likable—I would love to see more of them!
So all-in-all, it is a quick read that is worth the time to check out and I hope the author learns more character development and tension building techniques for the next one.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The story itself sets up as your standard zombie-like apocalypse story, yet does so in a slightly heavy-handed way. You can predict what is going to happen because there is no mystique or build-up to the reveal of the cause. Without giving too much away, I feel The Last of Us is a good example of a narrative that feeds the reader clues about the cause without overtly stating it outright. “We are out of pancake mix…” “I forgot to buy the cake…” They seem throwaway instances until you realize their relevance. Something similar could be done in this case to create a less hand-holding narrative.
Our two first leads in Sam and Benny are enjoyable characters. The author has a clear understanding of writing the father/young son relationship and dialog and Sam’s love for his son is clear and heartwarming. Mateo is equally kind and warm and easy to like.
When our villains are first introduced, it was without any veiling of what kind of people you are dealing with. I was a bit disappointed in this because it essentially set up “these will be the traitors” without there being any twist or blindside. It was also predictable when the nightwalkers were going to attack. I think the story would have been better to have cases where the tension built that they could be there, yet the characters receive a sense of security when this doesn’t happen. It would add more weight to when the attacks do happen.
The epilogue did get me teary eyed, which since I don’t tend to have a lot of outward physical reaction to books is a huge plus! It was just the ending the story needed after the build-up. I do wish the epilogue was actually a chapter and maybe we got a flash forward as the epilogue to see what happens with our family in the new world. The heroes were so likable—I would love to see more of them!
So all-in-all, it is a quick read that is worth the time to check out and I hope the author learns more character development and tension building techniques for the next one.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 31, 2026
The Hummingbird is a strong, suspenseful emotional rollercoaster of a debut novel from James Fanizza. I received an advance reader copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
From the very first chapter, this book had me absolutely hooked. The writing was descriptive enough to enable the reader to vividly picture everything that was happening, almost making you feel like you're in the middle of the action with these characters. The story included a number of interesting, empathetic, and lovable characters to root for. I devoured this novel, feeling a need to know where the story would go next, and I was not disappointed.
The only reason that I am rating this book 4.5 stars instead of a full 5 stars is that the copy I received was in strong need of an editor. It was full of awkward paragraph formatting, sentences with missing and/or mistakenly repeated/retyped words, and other typos that would occasionally take me slightly out of the moment. The story itself was still strong and captivating enough for me to not knock as much off the rating as I normally would.
Bottom line: This book has something for almost any fan of supernatural/paranormal and apocalyptic horror to enjoy. I can honestly say it's one of my favorite reads so far this year, and I look forward to any future releases from this author.
From the very first chapter, this book had me absolutely hooked. The writing was descriptive enough to enable the reader to vividly picture everything that was happening, almost making you feel like you're in the middle of the action with these characters. The story included a number of interesting, empathetic, and lovable characters to root for. I devoured this novel, feeling a need to know where the story would go next, and I was not disappointed.
The only reason that I am rating this book 4.5 stars instead of a full 5 stars is that the copy I received was in strong need of an editor. It was full of awkward paragraph formatting, sentences with missing and/or mistakenly repeated/retyped words, and other typos that would occasionally take me slightly out of the moment. The story itself was still strong and captivating enough for me to not knock as much off the rating as I normally would.
Bottom line: This book has something for almost any fan of supernatural/paranormal and apocalyptic horror to enjoy. I can honestly say it's one of my favorite reads so far this year, and I look forward to any future releases from this author.
February 12, 2026
I woke up to a suspicious wetness in the bed and genuinely couldn’t tell if it was because The Hummingbird scared the life out of me or because it emotionally roundhouse-kicked me right in the “fathers who love their kids” part of my soul.
This book is a full-body experience: one minute you’re doing tactical breathing because the darkness feels employed, the next minute you’re crying like you just watched your heart get adopted. It’s horror with heart, except the heart is not gentle—it’s strapped to the front of the fear like a bonus weapon.
I finished it and immediately went to hug my kids like I’d survived an incident, then stared into the middle distance wondering why I ever thought bedtime was for rest. Read it if you like being terrified and tender at the same time—just maybe put a towel down first.
This book is a full-body experience: one minute you’re doing tactical breathing because the darkness feels employed, the next minute you’re crying like you just watched your heart get adopted. It’s horror with heart, except the heart is not gentle—it’s strapped to the front of the fear like a bonus weapon.
I finished it and immediately went to hug my kids like I’d survived an incident, then stared into the middle distance wondering why I ever thought bedtime was for rest. Read it if you like being terrified and tender at the same time—just maybe put a towel down first.
June 14, 2026
This story was fantastic.
The character development and side characters were likeable as well as the ones you hated.
The atmosphere was fantastic and I found myself on edge a lot. Even at the beginning at the court house. It was a tense read that brought the simmering tension to ahead finally at the end of the book.
The journey was great! I ate this up. It has encouraged me to look into other apocalyptic settings for my reads.
However, this needed another run through for grammar, spelling and name/story errors. There were several in the copy I was given.
I also felt like the prose was repetitive at times. “Sam grabbed the knife. Sam stabbed the monster.” Instead of maybe “Sam grabbed the knife and quickly stabbed the monster.”
This made paragraphs feel lengthy and more like a dot point check list sometimes.
Other than that it was great! Thank you.
The character development and side characters were likeable as well as the ones you hated.
The atmosphere was fantastic and I found myself on edge a lot. Even at the beginning at the court house. It was a tense read that brought the simmering tension to ahead finally at the end of the book.
The journey was great! I ate this up. It has encouraged me to look into other apocalyptic settings for my reads.
However, this needed another run through for grammar, spelling and name/story errors. There were several in the copy I was given.
I also felt like the prose was repetitive at times. “Sam grabbed the knife. Sam stabbed the monster.” Instead of maybe “Sam grabbed the knife and quickly stabbed the monster.”
This made paragraphs feel lengthy and more like a dot point check list sometimes.
Other than that it was great! Thank you.
May 23, 2026
I received an ARC copy of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.
This was such a thrill ride! An apocalyptic setting and while the hoards of zombies are absolutely a threat, the true danger comes from inner demons, the lingering impact of trauma and the elements themselves.
Being a resident of AZ myself, you really feel the length and struggle of the journey. It drives home the sense of "could I endure this?" Description works great in helping you walk along the characters!
I am always down for a parenthood themed story and this one absolutely delivers.
This was such a thrill ride! An apocalyptic setting and while the hoards of zombies are absolutely a threat, the true danger comes from inner demons, the lingering impact of trauma and the elements themselves.
Being a resident of AZ myself, you really feel the length and struggle of the journey. It drives home the sense of "could I endure this?" Description works great in helping you walk along the characters!
I am always down for a parenthood themed story and this one absolutely delivers.
April 23, 2026
This was a fantastic debut novel, another author for me to be on the lookout for. This was a horror filled rollercoaster of a journey for this father and his son, every mile was a hard fought endeavor. A highly enjoyable read with very engaging characters.
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by BookSirens*
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by BookSirens*
April 9, 2026
Very fast paced, you never get a moment of peace (in a very positive way). Deeply moved by the father/son relationship, you won’t regret picking this up!
February 2, 2026
5⭐️ 0🌶️ 4🌪️ 4😱 3😭 5🤗
When vampiric monsters overrun Tucson, a father and son must survive the Sonoran Desert guided only by mysterious hummingbirds in this visceral tale where parental devotion meets supernatural apocalypse. The Hummingbird by James Fanizza fuses heart-pounding horror with raw emotional terror that haunts long after the final page—a debut that redefines survival fiction.
The Strain meets The Road in this relentless horror thriller. Fanizza takes the apocalyptic monster survival formula and intensifies it exponentially by centering the story on a father-son relationship. The emotional stakes elevate every terrifying encounter—you’re not just worried about survival, you’re invested in their survival. The characters feel achingly real, but unfortunately, so do the monsters!
I didn’t realize I could simultaneously cry and be scared out of my mind, teeth clenched, turning pages as fast as possible. Fanizza pulls off something rare: genuine horror that’s also deeply moving. The hummingbird symbolism adds a layer of hope and mystery that keeps the story from descending into pure bleakness, even as things get brutal.
This is such a fun, terrifying ride—and an incredibly impressive debut. Highly recommend for fans of character-driven horror.
When vampiric monsters overrun Tucson, a father and son must survive the Sonoran Desert guided only by mysterious hummingbirds in this visceral tale where parental devotion meets supernatural apocalypse. The Hummingbird by James Fanizza fuses heart-pounding horror with raw emotional terror that haunts long after the final page—a debut that redefines survival fiction.
The Strain meets The Road in this relentless horror thriller. Fanizza takes the apocalyptic monster survival formula and intensifies it exponentially by centering the story on a father-son relationship. The emotional stakes elevate every terrifying encounter—you’re not just worried about survival, you’re invested in their survival. The characters feel achingly real, but unfortunately, so do the monsters!
I didn’t realize I could simultaneously cry and be scared out of my mind, teeth clenched, turning pages as fast as possible. Fanizza pulls off something rare: genuine horror that’s also deeply moving. The hummingbird symbolism adds a layer of hope and mystery that keeps the story from descending into pure bleakness, even as things get brutal.
This is such a fun, terrifying ride—and an incredibly impressive debut. Highly recommend for fans of character-driven horror.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews