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Hunt for the Fallen
Captain Jacob Billet Journal Entry - Sunday April 5, 2026 It's raining, it's pouring, the undead are roaring... Amassed at the UCRA east end enclosure, the dead strain the fence line while soldiers keep watchful eyes, the survivors on the opposite side of the rising river about to lose their minds. It's a crazy nonstop precipitation; everyone's up in arms; paranoid city council members with an asshat City Treasurer. Water, water everywhere. Zees dropping into the churning drink. Troops afraid of being stitched up and thrown back into the fray as Zombie Troopers. Tank commanders getting itchy to head out on their own after drug-laden shamblers. Reganshire insurgents trying to extract our west side civvies for some unknown reason, possibly pushing the city into taking heavy-handed action against them. Then there's some black-haired dead dude staring at me through the fence, grinning like he's off his meds. And I thought Lettner was a headache. All this sh*t might give me a heart attack. Hunt for the Fallen is Transport Book Two
- GenresHorror
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 13, 2015
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 15, 2015
Three-stars means that the book met my expectations. In many ways, this book was superior to its predecessor, TRANSPORT, but there were a couple things that bugged me about the story. I'll give my gripes directly to Peter Welmerink if he wants my criticism. However, if you are looking for a fast-paced zombie adventure set in the near post-apocalyptic future, this is your book. There is no shortage of action or zombies.
One of the things that worked better here than in TRANSPORT was the characterization. Captain Jake Billet and his crew were easier to like and cheer for than in the first book. They weren't bad in the first one, just a little rougher. James Stokes and Loutonia Phelps, who are the gunner and driver for the Huron Transport Vehicle seemed far better developed than in the first book.
The writing was cleaner than the first one too. That is kind of expected---this is the second book in a series so naturally, Peter Welmerink should be better than he was with his last book. Still, I think the writing was noticeably better than the first one. The plotting too.
So why not four stars? I'll give you one of the things that bugged me throughout this story. I'm saying this, because it is significant. The new Grand Rapids has built a retention area for undead citizenry. It was a point in the first book that kinda bugged me, but I figured it was a satirical poke at our own government and its misappropriation of money, time, and energy. This book goes a lot deeper into the sentiment that "zombies are people too," a statement of brotherly love in the new Grand Rapids. On one hand, I can see politicians promising to the living members of the city, "We'll keep your undying sons and daughters fed and sheltered," so they can receive more votes from both liberals and pro-lifers. There is even a missionary within the zombie section of town to help tend to the needs of the undying. It is all well thought out, and I liked that Peter Welmerink was daring enough to explore such a chaotic and unreasonable appeal to emotion, but it also makes the bad guy in the first book look like the only one with sanity in all of Michigan.
Now he is a martyr.
One of the things that worked better here than in TRANSPORT was the characterization. Captain Jake Billet and his crew were easier to like and cheer for than in the first book. They weren't bad in the first one, just a little rougher. James Stokes and Loutonia Phelps, who are the gunner and driver for the Huron Transport Vehicle seemed far better developed than in the first book.
The writing was cleaner than the first one too. That is kind of expected---this is the second book in a series so naturally, Peter Welmerink should be better than he was with his last book. Still, I think the writing was noticeably better than the first one. The plotting too.
So why not four stars? I'll give you one of the things that bugged me throughout this story. I'm saying this, because it is significant. The new Grand Rapids has built a retention area for undead citizenry. It was a point in the first book that kinda bugged me, but I figured it was a satirical poke at our own government and its misappropriation of money, time, and energy. This book goes a lot deeper into the sentiment that "zombies are people too," a statement of brotherly love in the new Grand Rapids. On one hand, I can see politicians promising to the living members of the city, "We'll keep your undying sons and daughters fed and sheltered," so they can receive more votes from both liberals and pro-lifers. There is even a missionary within the zombie section of town to help tend to the needs of the undying. It is all well thought out, and I liked that Peter Welmerink was daring enough to explore such a chaotic and unreasonable appeal to emotion, but it also makes the bad guy in the first book look like the only one with sanity in all of Michigan.
Now he is a martyr.
September 28, 2015
What a great read. There’s so much action and intrigue. And the zombies are sporting a new twist too.
It’s raining buckets and not letting up. Flooding is a huge concern. The command post and the city are separated by an increasingly deep flow of water.
Some zombies fall in the raging current and soldiers are sent out to retrieve. Why, you wonder? Because zombies have rights too. You can’t go around juts killing them anymore. They’re contained and fed Z rations and this keeps them calm and easier to control.
Control? Yes, they can be trained. Not a guarantee they won’t turn on you, but it seems to be working.
Even the totally dead are utilized. The soldiers fear this because, if killed, they’re taken and reanimated as Z Troopers and put back into service. Some reward for KIA, eh?
As the tanks and armored vehicles roll out, they’ll have to contend with not killing zombies, avoiding gangs of roving living out to take what’s theirs, and one strange zombie who has a particular interest in them.
I have to say this. I’m always looking for a new zombie twist, and there are several in this book. Intelligent zombies? That doesn’t sound so good. Zombie Troopers? I guess if they can take orders, they’d come in handy. A rogue zombie on a mission? Not good at all. And the feral zombies? They’re more like what you’d expect. That’s not good either. Then there are the zombies that are carrying drugs. Yep, the drug carrying mules still have the drugs in their stomachs and enterprising humans want those. Seems to me it would be easier to just kill them all. But zombies are protected. They have rights now.
The soldiers are armed with non lethal rounds in their weapons. Sometimes, they use real bullets and take some zombies down. If they kill one, they’re fined and often spend time in the brig. WTF? I told you this was different.
The mission to retrieve the fallen zombies takes a new turn and it all goes FUBAR in a torrent, just like the rain that keeps falling, falling.
What a rush this was. I didn’t realize it was the second book in the series until I received the book, but that didn’t stop me from catching on to past events and settling in with the characters quickly.
There are some fun illustrations included in the book. I always like that. And I want to mention the title. There’s more than one meaning to it and its important to me that the title connects to the story inside.
Nonstop action and obstacles to overcome make this story fly. I’m looking forward to the next mission.
I received this book for my honest review.
It’s raining buckets and not letting up. Flooding is a huge concern. The command post and the city are separated by an increasingly deep flow of water.
Some zombies fall in the raging current and soldiers are sent out to retrieve. Why, you wonder? Because zombies have rights too. You can’t go around juts killing them anymore. They’re contained and fed Z rations and this keeps them calm and easier to control.
Control? Yes, they can be trained. Not a guarantee they won’t turn on you, but it seems to be working.
Even the totally dead are utilized. The soldiers fear this because, if killed, they’re taken and reanimated as Z Troopers and put back into service. Some reward for KIA, eh?
As the tanks and armored vehicles roll out, they’ll have to contend with not killing zombies, avoiding gangs of roving living out to take what’s theirs, and one strange zombie who has a particular interest in them.
I have to say this. I’m always looking for a new zombie twist, and there are several in this book. Intelligent zombies? That doesn’t sound so good. Zombie Troopers? I guess if they can take orders, they’d come in handy. A rogue zombie on a mission? Not good at all. And the feral zombies? They’re more like what you’d expect. That’s not good either. Then there are the zombies that are carrying drugs. Yep, the drug carrying mules still have the drugs in their stomachs and enterprising humans want those. Seems to me it would be easier to just kill them all. But zombies are protected. They have rights now.
The soldiers are armed with non lethal rounds in their weapons. Sometimes, they use real bullets and take some zombies down. If they kill one, they’re fined and often spend time in the brig. WTF? I told you this was different.
The mission to retrieve the fallen zombies takes a new turn and it all goes FUBAR in a torrent, just like the rain that keeps falling, falling.
What a rush this was. I didn’t realize it was the second book in the series until I received the book, but that didn’t stop me from catching on to past events and settling in with the characters quickly.
There are some fun illustrations included in the book. I always like that. And I want to mention the title. There’s more than one meaning to it and its important to me that the title connects to the story inside.
Nonstop action and obstacles to overcome make this story fly. I’m looking forward to the next mission.
I received this book for my honest review.
September 26, 2015
While Transport works as a standalone story, in Hunt for the Fallen Welmerink wisely understands that if you’re moving on to book 2 then you’re in for the whole trilogy. The plot revolves around several mysteries that may or may not be tied together. What is Major Pike doing? Is he crazy, a traitor, or a hero? Why are zombie civilians being kidnapped? What’s that semi-zombified sniper lurking around up to?
The book is dripping with grunge. From the endless rainy skies turning the streets into a rancid zombie stew, to Billet fighting off one heck of a flu everything made me feel dirty. Which means I felt like I was really there and isn’t that what a book is supposed to do? My only problem was that Welmerink did such a good job actually getting me to sympathize with the zombie civilians in Transport that I was surprised that there wasn’t any reason to continue supporting them in this book. There’s no sign of Bob the friendly zombie informant, instead we’re left with dangerous zombies spooked by the rain. As good military men and women get killed by the very zombies they are trying to protect I found myself siding with some of the antagonists that just want to blow them to pieces.
Not every question raised gets an answer, which is fine by me. I’m very excited to read Transport book 3: Uncivil War and get to the bottom of all of this. It does make it hard to rate though since so much is riding on the conclusion being satisfying. So I’ll tentatively give it four brains out of five. You can add a brain if Uncivil War ends up being awesome as I’m hoping and you can subtract a brain if it doesn’t give me the answers I seek.
The book is dripping with grunge. From the endless rainy skies turning the streets into a rancid zombie stew, to Billet fighting off one heck of a flu everything made me feel dirty. Which means I felt like I was really there and isn’t that what a book is supposed to do? My only problem was that Welmerink did such a good job actually getting me to sympathize with the zombie civilians in Transport that I was surprised that there wasn’t any reason to continue supporting them in this book. There’s no sign of Bob the friendly zombie informant, instead we’re left with dangerous zombies spooked by the rain. As good military men and women get killed by the very zombies they are trying to protect I found myself siding with some of the antagonists that just want to blow them to pieces.
Not every question raised gets an answer, which is fine by me. I’m very excited to read Transport book 3: Uncivil War and get to the bottom of all of this. It does make it hard to rate though since so much is riding on the conclusion being satisfying. So I’ll tentatively give it four brains out of five. You can add a brain if Uncivil War ends up being awesome as I’m hoping and you can subtract a brain if it doesn’t give me the answers I seek.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews