Hurricane Dan

by Bret Wellman

Dan Kelly has given up on life. He has chosen to stop paying the bills in exchange for drinking a lot of booze. Dan finds himself down and out in the streets of Manhattan.
Homeless and lost, it is going to take nothing less than the zombie apocalypse to turn his life around... and that is exactly what he is going to get.

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Humor

279 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2013

Reviews

[Cheer Papworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurricane Dan is about a selfish, lazy drunk named Dan who brandishes a nasty attitude and general hatred for the world. Dan finds himself living in the streets stealing alcohol from any glass he can get his hands on. A hurricane rips through Manhattan and with it a zombie epidemic breaks out. Dan finds himself on the run for his life with the mentally unstable, but deeply lovable Barnes, also a homeless alcoholic. He also meets Zoey who he forms a romantic attachment to, despite the chaos the surrounds them.

I loved the seriously flawed Dan...he is truly despicable, clinging on to a stolen briefcase of cash; however he begins to peel off the natural man that is seeking his next fix. Instead Dan emerges as a leader and a hero, quite a turn around, but it made him relatable and somehow likeable.

As far as the zombie story goes, a fairly predictable plot of zombie horror and survival, BUT huge props to Bret for the subway scene. The creep meter went through the roof on that one. Dicky's demise was deliciously horrible.

Overall, very entertaining and worthwhile! Excellent and original characters made for a gruesome zombie story.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading I was thinking of what I'd say in a review. I was thinking of noting that it was a solid little book, roughly 4 star work that didn't reach 5 star territory because I didn't really like the main character. That was up to about 60% of the book read. Where upon the book almost fell apart. Ah well. Despite certain issues, mostly due to the action that started after they made it to the safe zone, including the sudden unexpected sex (and certain issues involving swords), it was still able to pull me along.

If we could give 1/2 stars, I would quickly and with easy conscious give the book a rating of 3 1/2. Since I can't, and because I was able to like despite main character, I give it a rating of 4 stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an action packed, suspense filled, exciting story. I never imagined that reading a story could freak me out the way a movie could, but it sure did. The only slightly negative thing I would say is the title didn't fit, other than it contains the lead characters name.

Spoiler: I loved the scene where a group of survivors were swimming through the subway (as it had flooded) with only one flash light and about half way through they realized they were swimming above the heads of hundreds of zombies. When the flash light fell to the bottom and lit them up, I had to stop reading so I could tell everyone within earshot what just happened.

Very exciting story. Highly recommend this one.

[nora m malotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurricane Daǹ (A Zombie Novel)

I really enjoyed reading your stories. Thank you for the bonus story. Enjoyable, both. Dan is especially good ..Most stories have a hero and everything goes perfect. This was funny although it wasn't perfect for your hero. Keep writing enjoyed both the story and the characters.

[Grep · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is for the audiobook version:

Overall, not bad. Barnes the bum and his never ending search for hooch aka Flip Flop and the narrator's voices made it worthwhile.
Much worse zombie books out there.

[Inez M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read worse

Not a bad book; it took a couple of tries before I could get into it. An editor would have helped with verb usage and punctuation.

[John Cheeseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must admit I quite liked this book with 2 exceptions. I thought he handled the chaos and terror of a zombie outbreak very well where as most zombie apocalypse books concentrate on the aftermath this put you right in the beginning and did it very realistically. what I didn't like was Lady Jane, that character was just ridiculous. Secondly Dan's friend the homeless alcoholic who seemed to have an IQ of about 7 yet was an ex firefighter is an insult to all firefighters that they would employ someone so mentally subnormal. Thirdly Dan the raging alcoholic who's made himself homeless through drink finds himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak which must be a rather stressful time but chooses water over alcohol doesnt ring true.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book started off good but the more I read the less enjoyable it became, at about 70% through the only reason I finished it was because I had gotten that far and was not much left to go.

I would say it is an average Zombie story. Some things bothered me like the way the police acted and were portrayed, also you can not punch through the windows in a police cruiser, zombie or not, its not glass.

There was something that happened when the President of the USA was making a speech that was really out of place, made no sense and felt unbelievable and down right forced and silly.

It is not the worst Zombie book I have ever read but have to say it got tedious.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that Dan is flawed, he’s a selfish drunk, hate the world, and stays true to character most of the time. At the end he emerges as a leader and a hero, quite a turn around, but it made him slightly less believable. My personal opinion, he should have still had his selfish nature, maybe some internal struggle to control it.

As far as the zombie's go, a fairly predictable plot, the subway scene was the only bit that gave me the creeps, it was after that bit that it started going downhill a little for my liking. There were a few farfetched scenes, but that’s common in most books.

Overall, I didn’t struggle to finish it and found it entertaining for the most part.

[Jay S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan (the main character) is down on his luck - and he seems t prefer that rather than working. He is recently homeless, and is NOT trying to get work of any kind. A drug dealer has some "experimental vaccines" that were to be destroyed by a government lab; he just gave a homeless a shot "just to see what happens".

Dan is trying to avoid they zombies along with others - and is losing. (Zombies can be made very quickly - a matter of hours.)

I hate it when that happens.

[Rebecca Trotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to give Hurricane Dan 4.5 stars, but that option was not available. The only reason it does not qualify for 5 stars is because I read it after Zombie, Inc.which is the best zombie book I've ever read.

The zombie outbreak, in Hurricane Dan is definitely a new way to have the virus start. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it at that.

Enjoy!

[Passion1kiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an action packed, suspense filled, zombie thriller. There are those who can relate to Dan especially when you run into bad luck in life. When sh***t hits the fan you find yourself battling to survive by anyway necessary. Very good storyline. Characters you can relate to. This read keeps you on your toes and never slows down until the very end. Overall a good stand-alone read.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan has given up on life, but the zombie apocalypse makes him want to survive.