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Existing Dead
Would you leave your wife and son and travel to a city 300 miles away through dead-infested territory for love?
Trapped in the basement of their home, Kyle Reynolds; his wife, Mary; and his son, Eddie, are in hiding. Hiding from creatures no one thought could ever exist. Instead of fights about sex and money, the couple find themselves at each other's throats over supplies and safety. The day finally came where Kyle had had enough.
After every fight, Kyle would glance at the picture of Jasmine, the girl he should have married, hidden inside his wallet. She was his one and only love. He had to find her. Kyle's journey begins the second he witnesses his wife murder their son before committing suicide. When death is replaced by an existing hell, the world as we know it ends.
The recently dead have been coming back to life and infecting the living. Kyle's only source of information comes from recorded radio broadcasts by lead researcher of the cause, Dr. Theodore Greenly. The dead cannot be killed, only stopped. Destroying the brain puts the infected in a dormant state. They are not alive, they are not dead, they merely exist. The Existing Dead continue to evolve, making them harder to stop until Dr. Greenly makes a shocking discovery. Kyle's journey takes a wild turn when he comes face to face with the Existing Dead.
Trapped in the basement of their home, Kyle Reynolds; his wife, Mary; and his son, Eddie, are in hiding. Hiding from creatures no one thought could ever exist. Instead of fights about sex and money, the couple find themselves at each other's throats over supplies and safety. The day finally came where Kyle had had enough.
After every fight, Kyle would glance at the picture of Jasmine, the girl he should have married, hidden inside his wallet. She was his one and only love. He had to find her. Kyle's journey begins the second he witnesses his wife murder their son before committing suicide. When death is replaced by an existing hell, the world as we know it ends.
The recently dead have been coming back to life and infecting the living. Kyle's only source of information comes from recorded radio broadcasts by lead researcher of the cause, Dr. Theodore Greenly. The dead cannot be killed, only stopped. Destroying the brain puts the infected in a dormant state. They are not alive, they are not dead, they merely exist. The Existing Dead continue to evolve, making them harder to stop until Dr. Greenly makes a shocking discovery. Kyle's journey takes a wild turn when he comes face to face with the Existing Dead.
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First published May 6, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 3, 2012
WARNING!!!
This review contains spoilers, big ones. If you don't like spoilers skip this review!!!
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This book was damn near a home run. I read every Zombie novel that comes my way, and I have read a few hundred already. I love the genre and have a love/hate relationship with zombie authors sometimes. I love it when a good book comes along, and I hate it when I'm done with the book. That is exactly how I feel about this one. This is the most original take on the zombie genre I have read to date.
When I first started reading the book, I couldn't figure out if the author was making the actions and thoughts of his lead, Kyle, jump around on purpose or if that was just the way he wrote. It made the story hard to follow at first, but the more I read, the more I realized the genius in this. Kyle is you, me, your brother... a real person. He isn't some hero with perfect morals, or some evil monster hell bent on doing bad things because he likes them. He is an average everyday man thrust into a bad situation on top of already having to settle for a life he didn't want to begin with. Kyle does things, bad things, but he does them with good intent (well, at least good to him). We follow him as his mental stability breaks down and snaps back at random moments. There were times I felt sorry for Kyle, and other times I was horrified at things he planned on doing just to keep a grip on what was going to keep him sane during this zombie apoc that he found himself in. He killed for what he considered good reasons, but not necessarily for good reasons. That is what made this seem so real. It's what you and I would realistically do instead of being the knight in shining armor.
The Zombies: Amazing. They start out like the Romero-esque type we are used to, but then they begin to evolve, adapt, and overcome challenges that make being a human survivor in this dreadful world the author created a real pain in the ass. Once you find a way to stop them, they evolve in a way that makes you think "Damn, how's kyle gonna get through this now?". Evolving from zombies, to a zombie/vampire mix, to vampires was just pure genius.
The book moved at a really nice pace. There are some parts that Kyle just scrapes through a situation a little too conveniently, but that is counteracted by the string of really rotten luck that follows nearly immediately after. One example being how he decides the zombie apoc is the perfect set up for him to leave the wife he never wanted to go find the woman he really wanted to be with, only to have her blow his child's brain out and hers along with it. You just can't help feel sorry for the guy.
The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is probably going to sound trivial, but there were some things about Dr. Greenly and the whole virus that we were introduced to but never fully explored. I am hoping this will be covered in a second book, and if it is, I will be more than happy to give this book that extra star to make it 5.
My hat is off to you sir. Bravo. I LOVED this story, and hope to see more from you in this genre, and most especially this story line.
This review contains spoilers, big ones. If you don't like spoilers skip this review!!!
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This book was damn near a home run. I read every Zombie novel that comes my way, and I have read a few hundred already. I love the genre and have a love/hate relationship with zombie authors sometimes. I love it when a good book comes along, and I hate it when I'm done with the book. That is exactly how I feel about this one. This is the most original take on the zombie genre I have read to date.
When I first started reading the book, I couldn't figure out if the author was making the actions and thoughts of his lead, Kyle, jump around on purpose or if that was just the way he wrote. It made the story hard to follow at first, but the more I read, the more I realized the genius in this. Kyle is you, me, your brother... a real person. He isn't some hero with perfect morals, or some evil monster hell bent on doing bad things because he likes them. He is an average everyday man thrust into a bad situation on top of already having to settle for a life he didn't want to begin with. Kyle does things, bad things, but he does them with good intent (well, at least good to him). We follow him as his mental stability breaks down and snaps back at random moments. There were times I felt sorry for Kyle, and other times I was horrified at things he planned on doing just to keep a grip on what was going to keep him sane during this zombie apoc that he found himself in. He killed for what he considered good reasons, but not necessarily for good reasons. That is what made this seem so real. It's what you and I would realistically do instead of being the knight in shining armor.
The Zombies: Amazing. They start out like the Romero-esque type we are used to, but then they begin to evolve, adapt, and overcome challenges that make being a human survivor in this dreadful world the author created a real pain in the ass. Once you find a way to stop them, they evolve in a way that makes you think "Damn, how's kyle gonna get through this now?". Evolving from zombies, to a zombie/vampire mix, to vampires was just pure genius.
The book moved at a really nice pace. There are some parts that Kyle just scrapes through a situation a little too conveniently, but that is counteracted by the string of really rotten luck that follows nearly immediately after. One example being how he decides the zombie apoc is the perfect set up for him to leave the wife he never wanted to go find the woman he really wanted to be with, only to have her blow his child's brain out and hers along with it. You just can't help feel sorry for the guy.
The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is probably going to sound trivial, but there were some things about Dr. Greenly and the whole virus that we were introduced to but never fully explored. I am hoping this will be covered in a second book, and if it is, I will be more than happy to give this book that extra star to make it 5.
My hat is off to you sir. Bravo. I LOVED this story, and hope to see more from you in this genre, and most especially this story line.
August 12, 2013
Kyle, his wife, and his son have been welded into their home since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, which leads to an already strained marriage turning even worse. When Kyle decides to leave to find Jasmine, the girl he loves, Mary shoots their son and then herself. As Kyle makes his way toward California, he is haunted by their deaths, even as he picks up a young man named Victor who becomes a surrogate son to him. What lengths will Kyle go to survive?
It took me nearly a month to read this short novel. While I enjoy a good amount of blood and gore, I had a hard time connecting with Kyle, who seemed to be a complete psycho, even from the beginning. He killed the Existing Dead and the living with little remorse, so much so that it was hard to realize that the story was only taking place over the course of a week or less, because there was no sense of emotion connected to the killings. Like Kyle, I began to be paranoid about every person he met along the way, because they all were acting shady, but when Kyle began seeing his dead family everywhere it cemented the fact that he was not sane.
I wonder if there is a sequel to this, based on the zombies evolving ?
It took me nearly a month to read this short novel. While I enjoy a good amount of blood and gore, I had a hard time connecting with Kyle, who seemed to be a complete psycho, even from the beginning. He killed the Existing Dead and the living with little remorse, so much so that it was hard to realize that the story was only taking place over the course of a week or less, because there was no sense of emotion connected to the killings. Like Kyle, I began to be paranoid about every person he met along the way, because they all were acting shady, but when Kyle began seeing his dead family everywhere it cemented the fact that he was not sane.
I wonder if there is a sequel to this, based on the zombies evolving ?
June 21, 2013
This book was a fun read! It was creepy and scary, and I really enjoyed it. The author writes in such a way that you get lost in the story. It is definitely a book you won't be able to put down. It could of been a 5 star review if the author didn't have Kyle's ex-wife Maria, his son Eddie and Victor's mom Morgan, and everyone else that died, popping up on him at all times. I could understand every now and then it just got too much and hence it got cheesy! I also didn't like how and what the zombies were evolving into, then we got Dr. Greenly, that was another shock! I won't say it, because i don't want to spoil for you. All in all his way of getting you lost in the story is AWESOME!! If you love zombies and all the chaos the survivors go through then this book is for you!!
June 28, 2013
Could do with a better ending but it wasn't bad really
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews