The Warring Dead

by David Monette

The zombie holocaust has come, and there is no place that is truly safe. Four intrepid survivors, Sasha, Terrance, Virgil, and the little girl, Max, have escaped their island stronghold, only to find themselves in the arms of what is left of the worlds military forces just when a showdown is imminent between the armies of undead and the combined might of the human race. From the mountains of Northern New York, to the shores of the Potomac, the battle is joined. Trapped in its net, the island survivors must learn more of their enemies, their allies… and the strange nature of one of their own."

Genres: Horror, Zombies

298 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2014

About the author

David Monette was born and raised in Upstate New York. As a youngster, he liked to draw creatures and contraptions, but as the second born of four sons, such ability was merely a convenient way of standing out from the crowd. As he inexpertly stumbled through high school, his talent for capturing the images in his head onto paper was noticed and encouraged.

Without any other idea of what to do with himself after graduation, besides a vague idea of doing something art oriented, he decided to attend Mohawk Valley Community College where he received his associate degree in Advertising Design and Production. Acting on excellent advice from his teachers at this institution, he then went on to Syracuse University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Illustration.

With a disturbingly large amount of student debt and a decent portfolio, Monette learned what it was to be a starving artist. Namely, he found that artists don't starve; they simply pick up an endless series of part time work to pay the rent while continuing to plug away at their true passion. This was essentially what he did until he received his first illustration job and from that point on, he didn't look back. As an illustrator, his highly detailed fantasy and science fiction work has appeared in many books, magazines, board games, and collectible card games for such varied publishers as Dell Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, and Atlas Games. Initially, he completed these projects utilizing oil and acrylic paints as well as pen and ink.

As digital technology continued to improve, however, he decided it was time to tackle the arduous task of mastering the computer and eventually figured out a way to adapt his style to a digital format. With this experience, coupled with a strong impulse to impart what knowledge he had about art and how it is made to those seeking such knowledge in a college setting, he went back to school and received his master's degree in Illustration from the University of Hartford. While there, his instructors reviewed his written work and strongly suggested that he combine his writing ability with his talent as an illustrator to chart his own path.

Since that time, he has written and illustrated four novels and has taught art at North Country Community College, Clinton Community College, and, where he is at now, Plattsburgh State University.

Reviews

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the catastrophic events of a year ago when the dead rose and the living were annihilated, humans left are surviving in various sized pickets. One such pocket occupies an army base where soldier and trained civilisations work together to stay alive, but the force of the undead threatens and it won't be long before they will have no choice but to deal with the source of the problem.

I don't actively seek out dystopian/zombie thrillers, even though I have enjoyed some very well written ones in the past and The Warring Dead was no different. Despite being the second book in a series I found it easy to pick up and get into the action. The rules of zombidom being very clear. However, this book takes the story a step further and we gain some insight into the origins of zombification in this story.

The chapters are arranged chronologically and the story told from the view point of various characters, good and bad, the book ends with more questions and I look forward to catching the next instalment when it is available. I particularly enjoyed reading and learning new words like demesne, morass, malocchio, which made this horror thriller all the more rewarding to read and signified the skill of a great author.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads win. Will read and review once received.

Before going into this book I will say I have never read the first book in the series. With that I will lsay I found myself to really enjoy this book. I did have a few moments where I was a little confused but I was still able to read and enjoy this book without doing so with the first one. It was a good written book that was paced nicely.

[Lisa Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book from the Goodreads Giveaway. I will update my review when I receive the book and read it!!