Cassie

Adrian's Undead Diary #8

by Chris Philbrook

The eighth and final book of Adrian's Undead Diary.

"Well-rounded and intriguing story arcs, three dimensional characters, and the perfect blend of humor and horror create the exquisite amalgam that is Adrian's Undead Diary. Philbrook earns his place in The Bookie Monster's hall of fame best reads." SHANA FESTA, THE BOOKIE MONSTER & AUTHOR OF TIME OF DEATH

"A realistic account of the zombie apocalypse that sucks you right in. A great series!" T.W. Piperbrook, author of the Contamination series.

"Walking Dead < Adrian's Undead Diary. The End." J.C. Fiske, author of The Renegade Series

Adrian's Undead Diary series is a must have for your zompoc collection. The only time I only put it down was when the battery on my Kindle died. Adrian is the kind of hero I want on my zompoc team. Ben S Reeder, author of The Zompoc Survivor Series

One last test.

One last quest.

Adrian and the men and women who love him head deep into the city in search of the one thing that may save Adrian's soul, and the entire world.

Redemption.

But before he earns what he needs so desperately, there will be blood, and there will be death.

Cassie contains Adrian's journal entries from December 24th, 2011 to March 19th 2012. It also contains the side fictions And the Bombs Fell, Cassie, and The Crucible.

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, Audiobook, Dystopia

335 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2014

About the author

About Chris Philbrook

I am the creator and author of Tesser: A Dragon Among Us as well as Elmoryn's The Kinless Trilogy, Colony Lost, Adrian's Undead Diary and the Darkness of Diggory Finch.

I've gone to a LOT of college. I've got a Business degree as well as a Psychology degree, and I've done the full program at the school of hard knocks. I've been a printing press operator, bouncer, purchasing agent, bodyguard, customer service representative, mental health counselor, and more. I can write about weird shit because I've done weird shit. Trust me.

I call the wonderful state of New Hampshire my home, but I love to travel. I love to read, write, play role playing games, miniatures games, video games, and Magic: The Gathering. When I find the time to be active, I like to hike, play basketball, and play football. I am married to a wonderful woman, and together we have two wonderful daughters.

Reviews

[Chris Philbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well here it is.

The grand culmination of four years of work, book eight of AUD: Cassie.

I was struggling with death, divorce, moves and many other things as I wrote this novel and its predecessor, and when I originally wrote it for the website, it was a huge struggle to find time and focus for it. I knew what I wanted to do, but actually following through on those wishes was hard.

Years after, now well into the publishing process and beyond the drama, I was able to revisit the series (especially the ending areas that needed the most amount of work) and reimagine it in a better way.

Cassie received almost 8,000 new words to beef up the story. Side fictions have been extended, entries extended, some scenes tweaked entirely for better fit and flow, and old readers: you're in for a treat.

New readers: buckle up.

[Lynne Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry the series had to end

This is the best book/series of books about the zombie apocalypse I have ever read. The characters are fully realized and become almost real. The author has done an excellent job of creating believable people but also well-thought out situations and settings. He also did a great job of wrapping up the saga for its inevitable, if regretful, ending. I have a book hangover and although an avid reader, I don't even want to start another book. I want more Adrian. I may have to start the whole series again.
Very well done, Chris Philbrook!

[Pamellia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the final book in the series. I am glad it came to an end. The end was interesting.

I might recommend this series

[Paperback Shawty LaQueshia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t want to give away spoilers so I’ll just say I enjoyed the ending and I’m very pleased that this series is continuing

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to wait until I finished this series to review it, since I was plowing through these books at a pretty good clip and didn't want to take the time to review them as I read them. Cassie is the eighth and final book in the Adrian's Undead Diary series.

So, don't really judge the series by the title of it. It sounds like something aimed at a teenage girl and it really wasn't that sort of a series. It wasn't full on adult, but definitely late teens and early 20 somethings would probably be a good audience. There's definitely a lot of talk about boners, chubbies and other sex talk, so if you have a sensitive kid, this might not be the book for him/her.

Anyhow, on June 23 2010 the world goes to crap. Adrian Ring is asleep at the moment after pulling a midnight night shift as a RA at a prestigious boarding school somewhere on the east coast. Adrian is an Army vet and completed Ranger training before a stupid choice got him tossed form the program. Weird things were on the news the morning before Adrian went to bed after talking with his girlfriend Cassie who was on her way to work in the city.

Adrian is awakened by gun shots and then the crap hits the fan. After some careful consideration, Adrian decides Cassie is already dead and that there is nothing he can do to save her in a city that is already populated by the undead and violence.

Oh yeah. Zombies.

Adrian makes a few stops in town to check up on some friends and his Mom (Zombie! Had to shoot her) before making is way to ALPA, his former place of employment. Adrian decided that ALPA is pretty dependable and decides to make his last stand there, but first he has to kill hundreds of zombies that have him trapped on the roof of one of the buildings and things don't necessarily get better for him. Over the course of the series, Adrian digs in at ALPA. He collects a rag tag band of trusted survivors and has to wage war a time or two.

All of this, however, is underscored by a mystic and metaphysical reason for the sudden influx of Zombies. Adrian is a chosen one and as goes he, so goes humankind. Adrian must be united with two others who will help him face his final task that will seal the fate of the world.

These books read super fast, as is proved by the fast that I read 8 of them in less than a week. It was nearly non-stop action and the author paid good attention to detail (how much food did they find at the house? What about shoes? Toiletries? Gas). It would have been nice if the author had paid a little less attention to the constant gun and ammunition inventory. I found that boring, to say the least. I also never understood why, as the survivors realized they'd stripped the entire surrounding area, didn't they make a move to try and salvage from more less inhabited areas.

Anyhow I liked this series. I think it works well if you're into the zombie apocalypse or just apocalypse fiction and I think it's a possible read alike for people who have enjoyed the Justin Cronin"Passage" triolgy. Please note; it's not quite as good as the passage, but since the entire series has been published, it's quickly and easiy available to read.

I will note that I actually signed up for Kindle Unlimited to finish reading this series. All 8 books are available and at a total cost of $37 for the series, even springing for a month of Kindle Unlimited makes a for a good value.

[Sandy Kromholc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all of the AUD books. The stories have kept me on the edge of my seat and anxious for the next book. "Cassie" is the last book in the series and we finally find out what happened to her. I'm looking forward to the 9th book. I would love to see more books in this genre. Near the end of "Cassie" we find out that there were other trinities, possibly two more (threes). I would like to hear their story lines.

[Dread P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhhh!

Cassie. Book eight in the AUD series.

I completely LOVE this story.

This book completes the series (for now anyway).

I truly hope that Chris Philbrook decides to write more AUD books.

This is my favorite book series. Ever.

The only problem is that now that I have read all eight books, I truly miss the characters and story. I miss AUD!


If you are not familiar with this series, and you would like to check it out, go to Amazon. Download Chris Philbrook's book titled At Least He's Not On Fire. This book is a sampling of short stories and novels. That's how I found this series.

I am glad I did!

Thank you Chris Philbrook for this series!

I truly enjoyed reading it and I really do miss it!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS SERIES!! I TOTALLY WANT MORE AND WILL BE LISTENING TO THE UNTOLD TALES HERE VERY SOON!!!!

Adrian stays true to his character and helps to save his friends and many others in this great ending...I will miss Adrian and I thoroughly enjoyed all of this series!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!! START WITH BOOK ONE AND YOU WILL BE HOOKED!!!

1st listen 2/16/16

Relisten was wonderful...the whole series sucked me right back in and I couldn't put it down!! STILL HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!

3rd time is great too!!

[Carrie Dollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Adrian's Undead Diary is like reading letters from a friend. Gory, hilarious, lewd, grief stricken, intimate letters from a friend. I could have used more on Adrian and the trinity before it all ended. The kindle editions are rife with errors but it fits Adrian's flawed character.

[Sharon Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pooped

I think Mr. Philbrook ran out of stream. The looking for Cassie thing did not work for me. The end was retold and the author had Adrian rambling. There was a happy ending but, I was disappointed.

[Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the last book in the AUD series, and one of the best. If I could give this book and all the others 100 stars I would.

[Melissa Gouveia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series. The fact that this is the last book of AUD seriously sucks, but I'm hoping that the last page was a hint of things to come ;)

[Pamala Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best end of world, zombie series ever!

I loved reading these books and am sorry it's over. Thank you for your writings, , Mr. Philbrook. AUD would make a great movie or TV series!

[Vickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved all the books except this one. It's like the author ran out of ideas and just gave up.

[Gareth Otton · Rating 4 out of 5]

As what I thought was the final book in this series comes to a close, I feel now is a good time to review the series as a whole rather than just this one instalment.

When it comes to this series, especially, I feel like there's no better way to do this, because it is very much a series where each book runs into the next. These weren't eight self-contained stories that, when combined, create a larger whole. Instead, they are a single story, sliced into segments and packaged as books. If your intention is to binge this series (as I am guilty of doing), this won't be a problem for you. However, if you take your time with your book series, maybe dip in and out between books, you might struggle with this series.

That said, I binged it and really enjoyed the ride.

Adrian's undead journal is an easy reading series that, on the surface, doesn't add much to the zombie genre as a whole. It's not trying to do anything unique here; it's just trying to tell a good zombie story. Sure, there is the trinity element of the story (which we'll talk more about later), but I think by and large there aren't going to be many surprises here for fans of zombie books.

The one area where I feel this book does set itself apart, though, is in its characters. The author has put a lot of work into creating a wide cast of unique and interesting characters that you genuinely become attached to. This is all the more impressive because, for the most part, they are all introduced to through Adrian, and we don't actually meet many of them, for lack of a better word. This attachment to these characters is what propels us through the story, as we want to ensure that each of them comes out okay.

I have long believed that great character work can overcome myriad flaws, and this series is a clear example of that. As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed these books, they are certainly not without flaws. I just haven't cared much because I have been so invested in these characters' story. However, they are worth mentioning because they are the reason why every story in this series (and therefore the series as a whole) is 4 stars instead of 5.

1. Pacing - This is by far the biggest issue in this series. There are long chunks of time where the series grinds to a halt as Adrian goes into the minute details of daily life that he has covered plenty of times before. Don't get me wrong, the writing style and our attachment to Adrian make these chapters readable enough, but the glacial plot progression is noticeable a lot in these books. This is never more the case than when we get a third-person POV chapter outside Adrian's journal that sets up an upcoming event, and the journal then goes back in time, so it takes ages for Adrian's diary to catch up to that event. When you know something is coming and the book takes its sweet time getting there for almost no reason, it can start to rub you the wrong way.

2. Adrian's vulgarity - I feel awkward even writing that as a flaw, as I am about as far away from a puritan as you might imagine. I have no problem with any swear words in any quantity, I can enjoy dirty jokes as much as the next guy, and I certainly laughed in the early books at Adrian's sense of humour. However, there's only so many times I can listen to a guy talk about masturbation, faecal matter, erections and a whole host of other distasteful topics before it impacts my enjoyment of the story. I'm a big believer that less is more when it comes to comedy. Keep reusing jokes, and they lose their comedic impact. Depending on your subject matter, an unfunny joke can be an uncomfortable thing indeed.

3. The Trinity - Considering how important this element was to driving big chunks of this story, it's a shame that this is easily the weakest element of these books. So much has been made about getting Kevin, Michelle and Adiran together that the fantasy fan in me who loves the whole chosen one trope was hoping for something monumental at the end, and... well... meh. The way this ended, you could comfortably have erased the whole trinity concept entirely, rested the entire series on Adrian as a single hero being tested, tweaked the ending ever so slightly, and you would have almost the same story. Michelle and Kevin really didn't need to be in this series, and that's a massive shame because I really enjoy their characters. I am probably wrong, but this series left me feeling that the whole trinity concept was an afterthought that the author never fully committed to. Getting them together drove so much of this series, but it felt like Mr Philbrook didn't have a plan for what to do with them when he had them together.

4. A lack of chemistry between Adrian and Michelle - This is an offshoot of the last point, maybe, but this is another area that needed a lot of work. The relationship between Adrian and Michelle is the one the story wants us to believe is most important, but it also feels the least natural. In many ways, this was inevitable. All the other relationships with Adrian had seven books to develop naturally before this one, whereas Michelle was thrust into Adrian's life in the last book, and their relationship had to develop at an unnatural pace to get the importance needed at the end of this book. That lack of chemistry was severely telling by the climax of this novel.

However, those flaws aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. Ultimately, they are easy flaws to overlook because so much else in this series is so enjoyable. Going into this book, I thought it was the last one in the series, and if it ended here, I would call it a solid ending and be happy to re-read the series in the future. Now that I know there are more books to come, though, I find myself interested to see what comes next.

I do hope that the diary format has run its course going forward, though. As much as I have enjoyed it here in this series, the limitations of the format were obvious in the final few books, and I think it needs to be put to bed. Whatever the case, I am interested to see what comes next, but I'm also happy that this book was a solid exit point should I not like what follows, as I can always re-read this story and stop here if necessary.

Overall, Adrian's Undead Diary is a consistently high-quality series. If you enjoyed what you read to this point, then you should enjoy how book 8 wraps up the story so far.

[Elaine M Bak · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful story

I absolutely love the characters the author has created, and the way the story comes together. They go through so many trials and tests, and have so much heart and authenticity. They make great choices, take great risks, and make human error. I love the setting as well, the city truly comes to life through all the explorations. I read zompoc fiction quite frequently, and this is up there among the best stories I’ve read. These characters will stay with me.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the last book of the series and what a book and series it is. I received all 8 of the books and had them all read in 2 1/2 weeks. This character driven, emotionally charged tale will run you thrown the whole gamut of feelings. We have devastating losses, horrifying battles plus some more survivors rescued. Adrian, Michelle and Kevin have one last mission to complete as The Trinity. Will they succeed or will evil's final nasty plan cause them to fail? You'll have to read this book to find out and I highly recommend this book and series if you love the zombie/horror genre with some well placed humour.

[FoxieMoxie203 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'm done with this series. Adrian always has the answer. He's always right and always foresees things that might happen and prepares for them. It gets a little old. This whole build-up for him to finally be reunited with his beloved Cassie that may have possibly broken him.....was anticlimactic. Boring. I'm kinda sick of the style of this book. Just a whole lot of listing of what needs to be done and what has been done. Then when you finally get to the action scenes they just kinda suck.

[Lazybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mediocre conclusion. Excellent series. Amazing characters with good development. Only gripe about this series is its shortness. I am kind of ticked of about the fact that in some of the books, a different POV chapter comes up, this by itself is a good feature, but some of those POV are spoilers in the upcoming chapters. It takes the fun right out and makes us fast read till we get to that event.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUD

What a incredibly well-written series. How this author wove all the characters seamlessly in an 8 book series is truly a feat! Worth every single hour of missed sleep.! I wish we could decide how many stars we can give.

[Cathy Mijatovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these books. Just finished this one and won't spoil anything, but i did gasp and utter two words when i finished haha. I will have to wait till after Christmas to start the next one.

[Joshua Bachand · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic ending to an overall great series. This might be the fastest paced book of the whole series, and wow is it good. I loved it and would highly recommend the whole series.

[Timur Tsutsuk]

If you read one, read the rest. It’s a hell of a ride. The last book was interesting, but not as good as some of the earlier ones.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not crying it's just raining on my face ;____; Can't believe this series is over! I really enjoyed this series and will miss it!

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all the books of Adrian this is one hell of a great post apocalyptic read. My only complaint is the editing. It can get annoying at times causing me to have to reread.

[Nancy Daily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have greatly enjoyed this entire series. Also the Audible narrations are terrific.

[Diana Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this series a lot. 2 more books in series called Adrians March.

[Denise Courtney]

Simply amazing series of books. Very well written.

[Janet (iamltr) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still love Adrian but this was a hard book to get through. It was not terrible, but it wasnt as good as the first few books.

[Gerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Wow. I did not see so many things coming. Great characters, great plot and tons of action. Still not tired of this series.