Primitive

by J.F. Gonzalez

A new edition of the seminal post-apocalyptic horror novel, featuring an original Introduction by Brian Keene and Cathy Gonzalez.

It began as just another day for David Spires and his wife coffee, breakfast, and getting the kids ready for school. Then the bottom dropped out of civilization. The world ends not with a bang or a whimper, but with a dizzying downward spiral. Instead of the rat race of commuters scurrying to beat the clock, humans are now packs of animals reduced to snarling primitives. David, Tracy and their daughter Emily, along with fellow survivors, leave Los Angeles for the safety of the country where fewer people means fewer primitives. But as they venture farther away from the city, they realize an unnatural force is at work. Civilization didn't just fall apart...it was overtaken by an ancient evil that was present before the first cave paintings. Human history has no formal record of it, but the dark presence that's fueled nightmares since time began has crept out of the shadows...and its influence is growing.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jesus F. Gonzalez was an American author, primarily of horror fiction (writing under the pseudonym J. F. Gonzalez). He has written many notable novels and has done collaborations with Bram Stoker Award winners Mike Oliveri and Brian Keene. His novel Survivor has been optioned for film.

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible to put down. J.F. Gonzalez consistently enthralls me with his smart, engaging and terrifying storylines. His creativity and talent shines especially high in Primitive as I easily became invested in all of the well developed characters and their anguished plight for survival.

I first encountered Mr. Gonzalez's work when I listened to the audible of edition of Clickers vs Zombies - which is also coauthored by (another personal favorite) author Brian Keene. After that I was an instant fan and have a number of his books since.

Highly recommend to all my fellow horror fans.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writer David Spires awakes one normal day, happy and content in his life with his young family, but soon discovers the world he once knew is about to be irrevocably shattered. People suddenly descend into a primal state for no apparent reason, killing one another with savage ferocity. At first, the Spires family holes up in their home, but David soon realizes his stash of guns won't be enough to protect them.

Banded together with a small group of survivors, they flee California, but eventually discover the primitives are the least of their worries, that an ancient evil force has awakened, and it will not be stopped...

I've read several of Gonzalez's novels and this one may be my favorite to-date. Tautly written, suspenseful, horrific, PRIMITIVE ranks right up there with the best post-apocalyptic horror novels.

Highest of recommendations!

[Karl]

This Delirium book is copy 92 of 350 copies signed by J. F. Gonzalez.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

After being introduced to J.F. Gonzalez's work during the summer of 2017 with the Clickers trilogy (quartet, if you include Clickers vs. Zombies, which I haven't read yet), I knew this would be an author I'd be returning to. When Brian Keene, friend to and occasional co-author with Mr. Gonzalez, announced Primitive would be the first selection in The Horror Show with Brian Keene 2018 Book Club, kicking off the New Year with an author whose backlist I'm intent on catching up on seemed like a no-brainer.

After humanity becomes infected with a virus that resets the evolutionary clock, a small band of survivors find themselves fighting for their lives against primitive savages. All across the world, modern-day humans are reduced to Neanderthal-like states. Those that have miraculously avoided infection and the subsequent transformation are enemy number one, and so David, his wife and daughter, and a small handful of others, are mercilessly hunted. Alongside the rise of these infected Primitives comes something much darker, something much older, something far more apocalyptic...

Primitive takes the post-apocalyptic genre and turns it sideways, injecting it with a solid backbone of survival horror. Gonzalez kicks his story off in grand fashion, pushing the pedal to the metal right from the get-go, only rarely pausing to deliver moments of exposition or explanation in between rapid-fire gunfights and large fits of violence.

This is a straight-forward, all the way through book of action and man-vs-monster mayhem, with a few Big Ideas tossed in along the way. While Gonzalez avoids the scientific nitty-gritty of bioengineered viruses and infections, there is plenty of nifty speculations on the religious and occult rituals of ancient man and their myths, and why supporting evidence of such practices is quite limited in the archeological record. I don't expect a lot of anthropological diversions in my horror fiction, but when they do come along I will happily and greedily suck them up. Here, Gonzalez makes some grand, and grandly satisfying, speculations in service to the story. It's in these extrapolations on ancient man and mythology where Primitive really raises the bar and becomes something special, inserting a welcome dose of originality into a familiar, well-trod genre.

Any criticisms I have with this book are small and involve a few moments of repetition. There's a few instances where characters repeat themselves, inner thoughts are pondered then immediately and sometimes clumsily voiced, and similar bits of exposition are relayed multiple times over the course a few chapters. It's certainly nothing severe enough to be a deal breaker for me, and the story is galvanizing enough to propel me through such moments with little fuss. Besides which, these small issues are meager in comparison to the things Gonzalez does so damn well, which is crafting compulsively page-turning pulp. It's hard for me have too many quibbles in the midst of so much sheer fun, and entertainment-wise this was a perfect diversion.

[Grimgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m easily pulled in by a book that transports us to the “end” – to a time when you suspend all that you know about the world and the rules have changed. It would be easy to compare this to the typical zombie apocalypse storyline. Truth be told, it’s partially why I decided to read this book, but if that’s your only expectation going in then it may not live up. However, if you view this as a unique story > about the danger of our own inner basic instincts (long forgotten over years of evolution), about the power and manifestation of belief (think crowd mentality times millions), and a new scenario to how we “survive and overcome” then I think you’ll be pleased. Had the book have spent more time describing the raw acts of primitives and they been more of a threat through the majority of the book it may have felt more horrifying a novel, but I thought the ending was unique – although whether you see it as a happy or bad ending depends on your own personal view.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 AND 1/2 STARS

J.F. Gonzalez, author of the brutal classic, “Survivor”, creates his own spin on the zombie genre. I won’t give anything away, but what Mr. Gonzalez does here is very different than almost anything that I’ve read before. He clearly had a cool idea and pulled out all the stops, throwing a rather normal family in the middle of a nail-biting and very dangerous new world that you definitely won’t see coming.

While I did find a few areas that could have used a touch more editing (discovering some repetitive sentences) I found the narrative fluid and very fast paced. There were many moments while reading it that I felt considerable anxiety from the tension Gonzalez created. And that’s not easy to do.

One of my problems with the book had to do with Wesley’s character and his prior knowledge of the plague situation and the fact that he didn’t realize what was happening sooner seemed a little forced. Not to mention the coincidence of the family running into him randomly. But I suppose if that choice was not made, the audience would be as in the dark as the main characters. Whether that would have made a better story, who knows? The character of Heather was also too overdone in her racism, and I felt that if she was so against people different from her race, she never would have stayed with such a diverse group in the first place.

Those small issues aside, I had a great time reading this intense and many times, shockingly unpredictable story. I really appreciated that Gonzalez decided to branch well away from the common zombie theme and come up with something, whether you like it or not, insanely original as to the reasoning of why the primitives are mutating and the overall roots of evil. A bit far-fetched, perhaps, but the author backs it up with some credible history and mythology. “Primitive” is yet another solid outing from J.F. Gonzalez and gets my recommendation.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. I've read a lot of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic books over the years, so I'm pretty comfortable with the tropes. In this book, Gonzalez would start cozying up to a trope, make you think you know what he's about to do, then go somewhere else entirely. And the ending... All I'll say is that usually these sorts of stories have the protagonists working to prevent that scenario, not embracing it (albeit not without reservations). Highly recommended.

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting twist on the Zompocolypse theme and readable enough, but feels like a first novel. I was shocked to discover that this was not even close to his first published book.

[Sean Seebach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to the Primitive

I don’t buy into this whole pulp writer stuff. In fact, I don’t even know what that actually means. Sure, there’re definitions of it: write hard, write fast, never look back. Whatever.
Primitive is a solid recount of a man’s journey to keep his family safe. Amidst violent savages, David is also faced with dilemmas: trust, racism, and the frightening wonder of the unknown.
Primitive is thoughtful in how it explains How In The Hell? through character experience and dialogue, and Who In The Hell? through character thought and reaction.
Character, the core of any good story. There you have it.
I dug it.
Call it Pulp, Horror, or Whatever, but what you can’t call it is a wast of time. Primitive speaks of today more than ever, a prophetic tale if there ever was one.

[Jeff French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primitive by J. F. Gonzalez is very good. Granted with the slew of zombie movies, books and t.v. shows over the last 15 years, parts seem very familiar, yet Gonzalez is able to ratchet up the tension nicely in places and create some nail biting scenes. The characters are well-defined and the author integrates some new, interesting ideas. At first I wasn't sure about the ending, but the the more I think about it, the more appropriate it seems.

[Paul Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is on the basic side, the primary characters are rather paint-by-numbers, the expository dialogue is a bit excessive at times, and yet, those same characters are well-written and (mostly) likeable (the racist character verged more on parody), there are a number of "Did that really just happen?" moments, and the overall story and mythos is brilliantly crafted, resulting in an extremely enjoyable read! This is one of those I would rate as 4.5-Stars if such was available; I just can't bring myself to bump it up to 5-Stars at this time. I still highly recommend it, especially for those who are looking for a very unique post-apocalyptic horror story!

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for The Horror Show with Brian Keene Book Club.

I've read a few of J. F. Gonzalez' novels, most notably the Clickers series which I love, but this just didn't connect with me. Wasn't impressed at all sorry to say.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better when reread years later

Knowing the author's fate mmm makes this a bittersweet reread for me. Great premise as I'm a sucker for apocalyptic novels. The last 20% of the novel fly by with action galore. Highly recommended.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

JF at his best

Great story with a great pace. The mythos in this book is definitely worth delving into. Character development helps you connect with them as you start to fear for their survival.

[Carol Collett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for apocalyptic horror fans or just plain old horror fans. Not often the epilogue takes me by surprise, but this one did.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining apocalyptic novel where most of humanity turns into deranged primitive killers. The main character David Spire was an interesting touch. Although I think there was more than just a bit of J.F. Gonzalez in him but besides that a fun read. I got the impression from the ending that the author was going to expand on this world but sadly J.F. Gonzales died before anymore books could be finished.

[Kat Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book, it had a nice turn to the 'zombie' apocalypse and had great social commentary about people and how they might act if the world were to suddenly change.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primitive by J. F. Gonzalez was a slight disappointment for me. Don’t get me wrong, I gave it three stars and that does mean I liked it, but this book felt like a horror sell-out in my opinion. I have read dozens of novels that are very similar and seen many movies also. It is an engaging tale and I always enjoy end of the world stories told in the first person because they usually have a very emotional ending. This novel is no exception. In fact, the ending, the resolution if you will, was the only truly emotional part in the novel for me. This book reminded me mostly of Stephen King’s Cell because the actions of the Phone Crazies and Primitives are very similar. It is not a zombie novel so I can’t call it that kind of sell-out crowd pleasing book, but I think this has been done so many times and I expect more out of an author like Gonzalez. If I hadn’t read so many books like this, I probably would have given it four stars instead of three, but I still wouldn’t have missed the inexcusable type-Os and badly written sentences. This book needed an editer who wasn’t most likely reading this manuscript with only half an eye.
Despite the things wrong with this book, I still enjoyed it and I think that most horror fans would. It is very violent and also very creepy in several parts one of which being when the demonic voice comes through the radio when they are trying to contact some half way across the country. In short, not good, not bad, but leaning closer to bad than good.

[Procrastinador Diletante · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este livro prometia tanto...mas ao fim de 50 páginas já estava capaz de o apagar. Uma estranha praga faz com que a maior parte dos Humanos regrida mentalmente, tornando-os "Primitivos". O livro acompanha um pequeno grupo de sobreviventes que tenta escapar da cidade e encontrar um refúgio longe das tribos que agora ocupam a maior parte dos centros urbanos. Mas o livro é uma salgalhada cheia de estereótipos (só como exemplo, o grupo de sobrevivente tem; um índio; um gay; uma pessoa de côr; um racista; um professor de esquerda e pacifista, um militar, uma criança com poderes sobrenaturais e a sua mãe - adivinhem que é que morre deste grupo :P ) , que começa por querer não ser um livro com zombies, mas que depois lá os acaba por meter, para além de meter demónios e outras coisas que tal. E como a salgalhada era grande demais, o autor decide resolver tudo em meia dúzia de páginas, com um final meio filosófico.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really exciting take on a zombie-esque apocalypse. The premise was very originally. Having a man made virus lead to the summoning of something much more evil was a seriously cool take on the subject matter. The book was filled with suspense. Only thing I wasn't crazy about was the very end, felt a tad bit anti climatic. Besides that this was awesome.

[Fernando · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has an amazing construction to the very end. It doesn't get boring over time. Every chapter something more exciting and crazier happens. However, be warned: if you're like myself and don't like plot twists all that much, the ending does tend to disappoint a little. Nonetheless it's an awesome book.

[Glenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like zombie fiction then you will probably like this book. I enjoyed the story but wasn't completely sold on the whole theory of a mass belief system conjuring up the demon but I enjoyed the characters and their intense struggle to survive.

[Trevor Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got some zombie action, but is more like a 28 Days Later or Giangregorio's "The Rage Plague" style society-loses-its-collective-mind kind of thing. Very cool.

[Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two words: Not impressed.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read. Very gory and enjoyed the supernatural element.

[Joseph Patchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

While a break from zombie literature; it is a faux zombie story I have seen before. Well written but I was hoping for more. See my full review on Luridlit.com.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and definitely a book hard to put down