When a bus full of tourists, infected with a genetically engineered virus, stops in a quiet community for lunch, the area threatens to become the epicenter for a worldwide outbreak. Two Vista County deputies race to contain the revived dead, stop the spread, and combat the chaos and anarchy that ensues.
Caleb Cleek grew up on a farm in Northern California. Following college, he spent a year teaching high school chemistry. After that year, he got married and started working on airplanes with a goal of working as a bush pilot in South America. Although he earned a commercial multi-engine pilot rating, the South America dream did not come to fruition. Instead, he entered law enforcement where he currently enjoys his work. In his free time, Caleb enjoys hunting, shooting any kind of gun he can lay his hand on, hiking in the mountains near his home, and spending time with his family. Did I mention he really likes guns?
This book is good, but the author goes into "excruciating" detail when a simple "I admistered the vaccine" would've sufficed. I am an intelligent person, and big words don't often get lost on me, but they aren't necessary to describe a car drifting. The plot and character development were on point, but this book is giving me a headache. I'm only finishing it, because of the rave reviews and the fact that I can't stand not finishing what I've started.
This is... okay. Not all that original. Not all that exciting.
The main character is a macho man who can’t take his friend seriously when said friend is cooking and wearing an apron cause that was too feminine and women can’t be taken seriously amirite?
In fact, the women here are basically there to cook, clean and cry. His wife is THE COOLEST WOMAN EVER cause she can shoot a gun.
The book has its fair share of mistakes. Grammar, missing words, typos. Not too many, but they were there. The author also tends to describe everything. Everything. It was a bit much.
Also GUNNNSSSS!!! GUNS ARE SO COOL!!! Pages and pages and pages of gun descriptions.
This wasn’t bad, but these small things definitely brought my rating down. It could’ve been much better.
Connor is a cop in Lost Hills, a rural town best known for being a rest and lunch stop for tourist buses that are passing through. On this day, a group of Japanese tourists enter the diner and start to collapse and die. Connor and the diner staff try to deal with the crisis which gets worse when the first body turns zombie and attacks. It becomes clear that a deadly virus has infected these tourists and attempts to quarantine the diner fails when it is discovered that someone from the bus went to another shop, and that an infected resident of the town who encountered her is trying to flee Lost Hills. Connor has to face a wait to see if he is immune and fears what may be happening to his family as zombies roam the town.
The opening chapters start off really well with the incidents in the diner and the realisation that everyone inside has been infected, causing a lockdown situation. On hearing details of the infection from medical experts, Connor starts to realise that he may be immune and can try to track the infected people from the other shop affected by the sick tourists. He has to try and balance his duty to protect the town and his fear for his family who came into contact with the woman fleeing town. This virus was a man-made Chinese bioweapon and a flight of Japanese tourists were targeted and infected with it before they arrived in the US. Just breathing the air expelled from an infected person is enough to infect and being bitten by zombies is of course also fatal unless you are immune. The infection was interesting to read about.
Trouble is about to descend on the town in the form of Homeland Security teams who have instructions to kill everyone who came into contact with the tourists, regardless of whether they are immune or not. With Connor stuck in town looking at their handiwork, he realises that a team is headed out to his home to kill him and his family. Can he and Matt get out there in time? This was a very good section of the book. I certainly can't complain about the amount of action in the book and the way it is written, though the dumb decisions of the characters do leave a little to be desired!
My bug bear is that Connor is happy to play hero and run around town saving everyone but never seems to pay any attention to the safety of his family back at their house. After going to the trouble of ensuring they are safe in the rural house, he leaves to go into town and has to rush back when he realises that Homeland Security are attacking the house. After that you'd think he would take a bit more care but nope, every time he leaves the house or loses focus, some disaster seems to befall his family whether it is zombies or bad guys. You can't expect two women-one untrained with a gun and one recovering from being shot, and an old retired man who can barely walk and two kids to look after things each time you leave them unprotected! Likewise he seems to find trouble in every place he goes to in town, which doesn't help.
The soldiers left in town seem to have no real purpose in just stopping people travelling down one road, instead of getting out there and killing zombies and bad guys. I also wonder at their common sense in not having their vehicles in a defensive position to protect their front and rear if attacked. They give Connor a few vaccinations that protect people from the virus. Why did he not give these to Frank and his brother, who he deemed so vital in the protection of the town, instead giving them to his best friend's wife and kid? Funny how Connor has enough sense of duty to abandon his family for town issues yet wastes the vaccination on people hiding at his house instead of giving it to the best gunfighters in the town. Yes that makes sense. He also doesn't seem to think out a plan before racing off every time. THINK what the bad guys might do and target before you run off to do other things!
Another niggle is that it can get too descriptive about things that really don't matter. We don't need to know every single detail of how an injection is given. We all know how it is done so it was unnecessary. These detailed info dumps do tend to appear suddenly and affect the flow of the story, which is a shame when the actual story has enough interest of its own. Overall though it was a pretty solid and fast paced zombie pandemic story and it did keep me reading to the end. I'm not reading on with book two though, as the first two books were released in 2014 and 2015 and there has been no sign of any other books to finish the story. I really do hate unfinished series and I won't buy book two unless book three (if it is the last book) comes out.
I really got into "Infected - The Fall" and enjoyed reading this fast paced story. There were times when I sat on the edge of my seat and holding my breath until the outcome was clear. It always appeared that Conner was not around when bad things were about to happen to his wife and son...in fact, I think it happened three times before their home was destroyed by fire.
The storyline is much different from the usual zombie apocalypse books in that after victims are attacked and eaten - they do not rise from the dead as zombies. This group of undead can plan and execute as a group, run in access of 60 miles per hour, but are unable to twist a knob to open a door. The possibility of immunity to the disease doesn't automatically result in a bullet to the head of every victim resulting in a short reprieve. It still isn't clear to me how this virus is transmitted or if the U.S. retaliated against China for releasing the agent.
Unfortunately, I did not read the reviews prior to purchasing this story and was unaware that it was going to be part of a series, so when it suddenly ended with a fistful of cliffhangers, I was quite disappointed. The next installment isn't available yet, so in time, I may never find out how the story ends. Hope it's soon and that I'll still remember this story when it is finally available.
I did find this author to be wordy in spots - telling more than what was needed with unnecessary filler to the story. I also found typos and missing words throughout. I'd recommend this book to anyone willing to read it with an open mind...and just enjoy the ride. Mr. Cleek, it would be worth it to invest in an editor to give your story a once over and smooth out the rough spots. Nevertheless, I applaud you for writing and publishing a book. I know it it takes a lot of time, sacrifice and family support to be an author. Looking forward to the next installment and wishing you success.
John Podlaski, author Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel
I would have given this 5 stars but it ends in the middle of the action. Is this a book 1 in a series? It doesn't say it is anywhere-which I cannot stand. If you are doing a series-let us know. Or write an ending.
One of the best apocalyptic books I have read in a long time. I highly recommend it to everyone and more are the way. Caleb is a great writer and makes you feel like your right there with the characters.
While the zombie story isn’t particularly new or creative, I really enjoyed the amount of detail. Other readers complained about that, but I found it refreshing. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading a lot of YA that has been severely lacking that type of detail, maybe because it actually appeals to me, maybe a little of both.
There’s a lot of technical gun stuff, but I don’t find that abnormal with zombie books. Again, I noticed other readers complain about it, but I didn’t find it to be more than other books I’ve read in the genre.
There’s a few grammatical errors, but nothing serious. Really minor.
Overall I thought the book flowed really well. I couldn’t put it down. There was a perfect amount of character development and not a lot (if any) repetition of what their doing and how they’re feeling and why they feel that way. (A lot of the books I’ve read lately drone on and on about basic feelings in an unnecessary way. It was nice not to have that. They’re being chased by zombies. No crap they’re scared. 😆)
Side note: there’s not a single swear word or innuendo in the entire book! If I had a tween who liked a good zombie book I’d absolutely let them read this.
Quite a well done apocalyptic horror novel. The characters were well done overall. Not too much exposition. Instead, we get to discover them as personalities along the way. It did have quite a number of typical conventions, but they weren't overly annoying here.
It's an interesting twist on the pandemic apocalypse. It really focused in on human behavior and psychology in relation to how the characters reacted. It was nice that there were some strong female characters here as well. While there was still some damsel in distress going on, they could stand on their own as well.
It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, which I dislike, but I've got the next book, so I'll just start reading that one now.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, second time I've read it and it was just as good a read as the first time. I enjoyed the author writing the main character in the first person. Had a lot of action, lots of deaths, and suspense. I enjoyed the descriptions of all the characters and the small town that the pandemic started in.
This book was just OK. I was excited to start reading it, but it missed the mark for me. Now, this was not a terrible book. I just think it fits best for someone who's new to the zombie genre. I have read so many zombie novels that I need more than neck biting, and chasing to get a thrill. I would recommend this to someone who's new to this world, have little experience with zombies ;). Not too much gore. and not too scary.
Jan ‘23: Gave this book another go, and now I remember why I only gave this book 2 stars. Another reason why this left me unimpressed was the amount of Unnecessary “fluff” the author added. Instead of simple stating the he made a PB&J sandwich, he walks the reader through each step! Ex: I got the bread from the pantry. I then pulled out 2 slices. I tied the bag back up, and placed it on the 2nd shelf in the pantry, because that’s where my wife likes it to go. Next I pulled the peanut butter from the top shelf in the cabinet, unscrewed the top, and scooped out a dollop. I spread the creamy mixture onto 1 of the two slices of bread etc, etc until the entire sandwich was made. (Insert eye roll). This is just an example of his form of storytelling. If it was done once or twice, it wouldn’t have been as noticeable. Unfortunately this was an ongoing pattern throughout the book.
This zombie book puts a slight twist on how the zombies became what they are, and how the outbreak got started. Although the author's attempt to scientifically justify how citizens become zombies kind of falls apart as he goes into detail, and the way the main character is spoon-fed awareness of what the situation is and why it is happening are kind of annoying, the rest of the story is a well-written tale of adventure and survival. It's not breaking a lot of new ground but it's fulfilling it's purpose - keeping the reader entertained.
One thing I enjoyed was having a main character who, while he was definitely familiar with firearms, wasn't a super-soldier ready to mow down hordes of zombies on his own. The fact that he gets caught by surprise or that some of his plans don't work out is a breath of fresh air.
There isn't really an ending, but there is definitely the set-up for book two. I'll look forward to it when it comes out.
The action starts nearly immediately and continues throughout the book right to the end. I enjoyed the characters as well as the storyline. Generally the entire scenario comes across as a plausible pandemic situation.
The book ends with a cliff-hanger. Always bad form, in my opinion. Also the author frequently inserts entire pages that read like a how-to manual detailing out some mundane task. No apparent reason.
Lastly, fans of The Walking Dead will likely be tempted to see the main family as similar to Rick, Carl and Lori. Both main characters are deputies and best friends (like Rick and Shane), and I even found a Hershel along the way. I still enjoyed the book all the same, but I did eventually find it challenging to keep from visualizing the father and son as Rick and Carl.
That said, really enjoyed the read and looking forward to the continuation of the story.
A good zombie story told by a police officer, starting from the beginning of the infection. He tells about his family and town, and he still wants to be a good cop even as the world is falling apart around him. The zombies in this book are the ones I would be most scared of--they are fast, strong and smart. They have reasoning skills in hunting humans, and have flanks coming in from the back while the ones in front are distracting their dinner. If a zombie apocalypse ever happens--I would rather deal with the slow, the stupid and the weak brain eaters, otherwise I will be one of the first to die. This was a good story, and I'm looking forward to the next one. Hopefully, it will be soon.
I enjoyed it and definitely plan to read the next one. It was unnecessarily detailed but I was able to adjust and get engrossed in the story. I like how it explained how the zombies were made and operated. Although one thing makes no sense: how are they able to plan an ambush but not turn a door knob. It seems like they could either do both or neither. Strange.
I have been reading books in this genre since I don't know when and the author has taken a different approach with very insightful scenarios. I can say that it was an awesome read and hard to put down. I am a fan of many of the new authors on Amazon and Caleb is in the top ofive. Looking forward to the next installment.
I really liked it and it kept me interested. Lots of suspense and edge-of-your-seat moments, the characters are spot on especially Conner. The downside is that it took me a little while to get into it because of all the detail and unnecessary detailing of things that would be better left out, so I just skimmed thru those pages. Good read overall tho.
Infected: The Fall by Caleb Cleek is an interesting read about a small town deputy sheriff trying to keep the town's population and his family alive during the zombie apocalypse. He learns the virus was made in China and was purposely set lose upon America. Story is full of action and excitement. I look forward to book 2.
This is seemingly, the first book this author has written. The world building and rationale were excellent and believable. There was a high degree of character development. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.
When I start any book I am skeptical that it will grab me. This one did from start to finish, and now I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!! Loved it!!!