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Dead World #1

Dead City

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From the bestselling authors of the Invasion and Yesterday's Gone series comes Dead City, a gripping biological technothriller that blends real-world genetic engineering and high-stakes corporate espionage to deliver a heart-pumping race against the clock to save humanity from the zombie plague...

One drug saved the world. Now, the same drug threatens to destroy it.

Rising star Ian Keys has climbed to the top rungs of pharma giant Hemisphere — creator of Necrophage, the drug that paused the necrotic outbreak and allowed the infected to live among us.

Ian’s new position gives him access to dangerous secrets that could ruin the company. When ominous hints from an anonymous insider set him on the hunt for the biggest secret of all, he discovers that the "cure" the company gave the world might not have been a cure at all.

Now men are watching Ian’s house. They’re following his wife wherever she goes. When he’s called to CEO Archibald Burgess’s office, he’s taken by armed guards — then plied with vague threats.

What would happen if Necrophage failed? Burgess asks. What would become of our society if the disease were allowed to progress again … and all of our well-behaved patients slowly turned feral?

There’s only one person Ian can take his case reporter Alice Frank, who’s been trying to blow the whistle on Hemisphere for years.

But is there time to save what’s left of the world … or has the inevitable slide back into chaos already begun?

★★★★★ "I loved everything about this book. Great concept (I’m a pharmacist so I geek out when my sci-fi crosses over into RX land). I love the way it ended...but I want more! I’m definitely a fan of this series and can’t wait for the next book." -- PharmDiva

★★★★★ "Wow. Can't say I've ever read anything like this before, but Platt and Truant didn't disappoint! While I found the characters' reactions to be quite plausible, given the scenario, I still had no idea which way it was going to turn." -- Ayme Bahrami

★★★★★ "Dead City is a super fun read with one of the most bad-ass endings in novel history. The set-up for book two is beyond tantalizing. And don’t get me started on how this needs a prequel, like, yesterday. Just sayin’…." -- Adam Bailey

★★★★★ "I’ll be honest, I devoured these books. The world that we can just recognize as having been our own is fraught with intrigue; the mechanisms by which events happened are inventive and well thought out; the language and dialogue are crisp and move the story forward; the characters are more multifaceted than you’d imagine, so your judgment of them will change; the overall situation they find themselves in is mind bending; and maybe you think you know who the bad guys are and then whoops! You don’t…" -- The Rev Ari

Dead City is the first book in the Dead World Trilogy, an intelligent, hard science fiction exploration of the zombie subgenre.

448 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2017

336 people are currently reading
433 people want to read

About the author

Sean Platt

334 books826 followers
Sean loves writing books, even more than reading them. He is co-founder of Collective Inkwell and Realm & Sands imprints, writes for children under the name Guy Incognito, and has more than his share of nose.

Together with co-authors David Wright and Johnny B. Truant, Sean has written the series Yesterdays Gone, WhiteSpace, ForNevermore, Available Darkness, Dark Crossings, Unicorn Western, The Beam, Namaste, Robot Proletariat, Cursed, Greens, Space Shuttle, and Everyone Gets Divorced. He also co-wrote the how-to indie book, Write. Publish. Repeat.

With Collective Inkwell
Yesterday's Gone: Post Apocalyptic - LOST by way of The Stand
WhiteSpace: Paranoid thriller on fictitious Hamilton Island
ForNevermore: YA horror that reads nothing like YA Horror
Available Darkness: A new breed of vampire thriller
Dark Crossings: Short stories, killer endings

With 47North
Z 2134: The Walking Dead meets The Hunger Games
Monstrous: Beauty and the Beast meets The Punisher

With Realm & Sands
Unicorn Western: The best story to ever come from a stupid idea
The Beam: Smart sci-fi to make you wonder exactly who we are
Namaste: A revenge thriller like nothing you've ever read
Robot Proletariat: The revolution starts here
Cursed: The old werewolf legend turned upside down
Greens: Retail noir comedy
Space Shuttle: Over the top comedy with all your favorite sci-fi characters
Everyone Gets Divorced: Like "Always Sunny" and "How I Met Your Mother" had a baby on your Kindle

Sean lives in Austin, TX with his wife, daughter, and son.
Follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/seanplatt
 (say hi so he can follow you back!)

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5 stars
140 (39%)
4 stars
127 (35%)
3 stars
57 (16%)
2 stars
18 (5%)
1 star
11 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Nicolette Thurlow.
262 reviews8 followers
dnf
March 16, 2024
Had to DNF this one. The summary made it sound fast paced and exciting, but so far even the “action” scenes have been dull. The perspectives the story is being told from are lackluster. I just can’t get into this book and I’m not going to force myself to keep going 🤷🏼‍♀️maybe I’ll try it again someday.
Profile Image for Loretta.
228 reviews11 followers
December 9, 2016
I had an absolute blast reading Dead City! This novel was such a breath of fresh air for me. I have been in a bit of a rut with reading the 'typical' zombie novels. Dead city has a very unique concept which still reads as a Zombie type novel but with a new and fresh twist.

Dead City presents a time after a Zombie outbreak.... but the difference this time is that instead of millions dying and the world going to hell, the outbreak was contained. The infected take a miracle drug called Necrophage to hault the progression of the virus. These induviduals continue to work and live within society and everything keeps ticking over as 'almost' per normal.

This story was fun, inovative and a great deal of fun to read. I had a great time listening to the audio version of this story. The narrator was fantastic and the writing brilliant. I cannot recommend this book more highly. I say give it a try and you will be most thoroughly entertained.
Profile Image for Jennifer Wall.
39 reviews7 followers
December 16, 2021
As I started reading this, at first I thought this was going to be an awesome book. But as I was reading, I realized that it was basically a zombie like story plot. Don't get me wrong, the plot was okay and interesting, but because it was a zombie sort of plot, I just couldn't see myself reading more of these books. It started slow, and it felt like a soap opera. Thus why I am only giving this a rating of 3 stars!

Profile Image for Carolina.
194 reviews
March 14, 2022
I got this thrue netgalley.

This was suppose to be a zombie book but falls more to the thriller genre. Even though there are zombies in it.

I've read alot of Zombie books and this was not a good one. To much farma information about al the drugs and pills that you got lost in it.

I didn't like the characters in the story and the world building fell flat.

Not a book for me.
Profile Image for Prosthetic Lips.
15 reviews2 followers
August 13, 2017
This thriller (that happens to be about zombies) takes a little bit to get started. The authors introduce you to some characters and the background while getting the story started, but I didn't feel engrossed until about halfway in.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of action at the beginning - heart-pounding and exciting, but you get the sense that the real story isn't really getting started yet.

Then, everything you thought you had figured out goes haywire, and you start looking for boogiemen around each corner. Again, the zombies ("infected") are there as a distraction - this story is a crime thriller, you just don't know what crime is actually happening!

And, of course, like any good novel, there is a bit left undone - to set up for the sequels.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I'm excited to see where the sequels will go - once they get written.
279 reviews11 followers
November 21, 2018
WOW, this is one nerve racking book. You know things are going to be bad and you find yourself wanting to scream "don't go to the picnic" or "don't trust that person".
I love books written by Sean Platt and Jonny B. Truant. This is one that really upset me and kept me wanting to hear more. This is a zombie book unlike any I've read or saw in any movie. Of course they are not called zombies by most people, but what gets to you are not the ones fully dead it is the ones that are just surviving.
Their quality of life really gets to you and the conspiracy of how the whole situation happened.
Especially interesting is the author tells you how the book was created and what Sean added to make it even better.
You should check out their other books like the following:
The Beam
Invasion
Yesterday's Gone
Extinction
174 reviews5 followers
October 17, 2021
This novel is book one in the Dead World series. I’m not normally a big fan of the zombie genre as a whole. Zombie literature usually leaves me feeling like I’ve been drenched in human hamburger. This novel takes a very different approach to the genre. The characters in the story feel very real and grow slowly as the novel progresses. World building is somewhat slight but feels like a near future that seems possible. While this novel takes a pseudo scientific approach it doesn’t require a biology degree. I enjoyed this book from start to finish I’m looking forward to reading the next novel. I recommend this book to all adult readers.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Profile Image for Jim Wilbourne.
158 reviews10 followers
December 23, 2016
I liked this story!
Platt and Truant did a great job on this one! It's definitely more conspiracy thriller than zombie book. The zombie part is almost incidental - window dressing if you will.

The most compelling parts were about Ian and how what's going on is pulling his family apart.

I'd give this five stars if this story really floored me with a surprise, but I think this is only the first book in a 3-book series. And the way it ends leave a lot of room for future surprises! Seems like book 2 is going to be epic. I'm hoping it is.

Give it a try if you want a conspiracy thriller with zombie elements. You won't put this down.
81 reviews
February 26, 2022
Unique premise for a zombie book

I’ve read a number of books by Sean Platt in conjunction with other authors, often David W Wright. I’ve enjoyed them all. This one, however, is very unique and exceptional. These authors have created a post-zombie-attack world that is amazing. Areas in cities where different levels of zombies live with government programs for assistance, programming and art specific for certain levels off zombies and even a national park where dangerous zombies can be hunted. It’s a great start of a series with well thought out characters and a great plot. This is a standalone story but you can see a glimmer of things to come in future books.
Profile Image for Kanda Trask.
6 reviews2 followers
October 21, 2023
I’m not sure I’d give this a full 3 stars…
First off no real world building (not always necessary but helpful)
Slow to start
Plot/story idea is good but not followed through properly
Jumps around a lot…ideas and chapters seem unfinished before moving on…
I did enjoy the story to an extent though…will consider whether to continue with the next two books…(I’m normally not a series quitter)
Profile Image for Sharnee.
32 reviews
April 3, 2024
Pleasantly surprised

I got this book for free in a Stuff Your Kindle day last year, I’d never heard of it and because it was free I wasn’t expecting much, but I couldn’t put it down! The twist was a bit predictable but still gripping. I’m keen to see where the sequel takes the story. Definitely recommend. Well written.
Profile Image for Amy Harris.
27 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2017
It's not what you think and that's good!

These authors know how to take a stereotype and turn it on its head. Good writing that makes you think. Can't wait for the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Mark.
Author 124 books177 followers
September 24, 2017
I quite enjoyed the premise and the underlying "whistle-blower" approach to the whole zombie genre in this unique thinker piece from Platt and Truant. Certainly not your typical zombie book, but definitely a solid "near future" sci-fi story.
Profile Image for Brian S. Creek.
Author 3 books10 followers
June 14, 2018
A slow build and then a sudden ending. Didn't really do it for me. And the sequels promised in the acknowledgment(s) still haven't materialized (the guys don't even talk about this book much on their podcast anymore, as if they are ashamed of it).
7 reviews
Read
December 27, 2020
I'm not usually a zombie story person but really enjoyed the book. Very nice world building, a great job telling stories of multiple characters and bringing them in and out of each other's stories as the book progresses, and an ending that gets you excited to begin the sequel immediately.
Profile Image for Kate.
173 reviews5 followers
October 14, 2021
great zombie book

I really like the way this author’s books go from seemingly minor events to epic. This is a good one if you like zombies and intrigue. A few characters felt a little flat, like I was never really rooting for anyone in particular. But still very enjoyable book.
Profile Image for Sally Mander.
819 reviews24 followers
October 10, 2022
5 stars, Enjoyable

DEAD CITY (DEAD WORLD #1)
by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

Pretty realistic. Enjoyable.

Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy from #netgalley #sterlingandstone I was under no obligation to post a review.
#deadcity #dystopian #seanplatt #johnnybtruant
221 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2023
This was a great, original read. It kept me engaged throughout. I read the prequel first, and this first book surprised me by materially exceeding my expectations based on the prequel. I'm almost tempted to go back and edit my prequel review.
Profile Image for Kelly_reads_books22.
270 reviews
January 4, 2024
This book just didn't do it for me. I love a good post apocalyptic book and didn't even mind the zombies but I couldn't get into this. I felt like I was missing something through most of the book. The science didn't make much sense, nor did the plot. Overall, not my fave.
Profile Image for Amanda.
35 reviews
September 5, 2024
A mystery thriller within a zombie setting.
Slow start, but it got interesting in the second half. Not a lot of zombie action, but centered around living in a world with zombies. An interesting spin on an old genre.
128 reviews3 followers
November 1, 2024
Another fine Platt/Truant collaboration

Very well put together. The story unfolded in such a way that held me until the very end. The characters were as real as my own family but more odd. A definite read for any Zombie fan.
Profile Image for Jarkko Laine.
761 reviews27 followers
March 17, 2017
A zombie novel unlike any other, this is my favorite Platt & Truant book to date. Definitely worth reading!
Profile Image for Jen.
90 reviews
November 28, 2017
So much potential....just didn't do it for me.
Profile Image for Ed Adams.
143 reviews
May 12, 2017
I enjoyed this audio book. It was a nice to see the zombie genre go in a different direction.
219 reviews
June 22, 2017
Actually better than I thought it would be. Pretty good ending.
177 reviews
March 14, 2018
I've read a lot of Zombie books and I have to say that this one was certainly different and very entertaining. Well written and intriguing.
Profile Image for Joel.
136 reviews1 follower
January 27, 2021
What a great new take on a stale subject. I’d love to see this made into a movie! Not just infection, but managed and functional members of society... for now. Thanks for taking me on the journey.
Profile Image for Sean Helms.
325 reviews7 followers
August 27, 2021
Way too politically correct for me, especially in a zombie book. Evil white guys, blah blah blah. I surprised myself by even finishing. Can't believe there's actually a sequel.
61 reviews
September 25, 2021
Very enjoyably different

I really enjoyed this very different take on zombies. Some interesting characters and a clever storyline that comes together very well.
Profile Image for Jason.
209 reviews5 followers
December 22, 2021
a very disturbing story

A virus invades the United States, a vaccination and treatment turns into a Zombie population. Gene therapy at it's best
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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