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Finding AJ
Survive the infected and find the serial killer ... or die trying.
(Authors note. Both novels in the "Apocalypse Journeys" series -- Jacob's Odyssey and Finding AJ -- are standalone novels and do not need to be read in any specific order.)
The world has fallen apart, the FBI gone, but former Agent Jules Vandevelde won’t stop. She can’t. She’s driven to find the psychopathic serial killer known as the Calligrapher.
Her search leads her to the small town of Gideon in Southern Utah. There, amongst the 116 survivors, a serial killer hides in plain sight. There’s only one clue to his identity. Using a scalpel, he inscribes the letters AJ into the abdominal area of his victims--postmortem--in an ancient Chinese text called Tsao, the lettering precise and artistic.
Jules knows the key to finding the Calligrapher lies in discovering the identity of AJ. If she can find AJ, she can find the Calligrapher. But the Calligrapher knows who Jules is. Jules must survive the infected and find the Calligrapher before she becomes his latest victim.
(Authors note. Both novels in the "Apocalypse Journeys" series -- Jacob's Odyssey and Finding AJ -- are standalone novels and do not need to be read in any specific order.)
The world has fallen apart, the FBI gone, but former Agent Jules Vandevelde won’t stop. She can’t. She’s driven to find the psychopathic serial killer known as the Calligrapher.
Her search leads her to the small town of Gideon in Southern Utah. There, amongst the 116 survivors, a serial killer hides in plain sight. There’s only one clue to his identity. Using a scalpel, he inscribes the letters AJ into the abdominal area of his victims--postmortem--in an ancient Chinese text called Tsao, the lettering precise and artistic.
Jules knows the key to finding the Calligrapher lies in discovering the identity of AJ. If she can find AJ, she can find the Calligrapher. But the Calligrapher knows who Jules is. Jules must survive the infected and find the Calligrapher before she becomes his latest victim.
- GenresZombies
Kindle Edition
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About the author
Russ Melrose
4 books180 followersRuss Melrose's path to becoming a writer has been anything but conventional. Over the years, he's done a bit of everything--a jack of all trades you might say. He spent time in the military, the ASA (Army Security Agency, and yes, it's related to the NSA), worked in business (accounting, assistant buyer, management), taught at a secretarial college, spent time as a letter carrier for the post office, and he even mesmerized a few clients here and there as a hypnotherapist. He also spent time in the blue collar sector (building floors for mobile homes, a job retrofitting military vehicles for the army, etc.). Along the way, he also found time to get degrees (B.A. and M.A.) in English from the University of Utah and Utah State University respectively. And eventually he became a writer.
Writers who've influenced him the most are Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Writers who've influenced him the most are Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Raymond Chandler, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 2, 2018
In what could only be called dedication to justice, bull-headed determination and probably an obsession, one agent from the now decimated FBI will continue her quest to find the twisted monster known as the Calligrapher.
Agent Jules Vanedvelde needs a sense of sanity and control in a world now filled with flesh eating zombies, road warriors and danger at every turn. She has the one clue that she hopes will lead her to finding the Calligrapher and the remains of his first victim, the letters “AJ.” Follow her quest for justice and survival in a post-apocalyptic world where law and order falls victim to survival of the fittest for many. Jules knows the Calligrapher is still alive, and she will get her man, because if she doesn’t he will surely get her.
FINDING AJ by Russ Melrose is as much a suspenseful thriller as it is a brittle tale of survival. Share Jules’s memories when the hunt began. Feel the losses she has faced and understand the passion with which she hunts, even as the world around her has collapsed. Is she ready to face her greatest nightmare or will her own blind fury lead her straight into his lair to become his next canvas in blood?
Suspense? I’m in! Post-apocalyptic flesh eaters? Yes, please. The fight for the survival of humanity against all odds? Bring it. To feel as if I were there, interacting with the varied personalities simultaneously gelling and being repulsed on the apocalyptic steroids of stress? Creative genius.
Russ Melrose has added his personal touch to the apocalypse, by going beyond survival, by giving us one heroine who still feels the need to protect and serve by taking down a twisted serial killer determined to continue toying with what is left of humanity.
Action, a little gore, and razor-wire tension throughout! Jules is tough, but not super-human, still, I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side. A great read that bends genres!
I received a complimentary copy from Russ Melrose!
Series: Apocalypse Journeys - Book 2
Publication Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: Russ Melrose
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
Print Length: 336 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Agent Jules Vanedvelde needs a sense of sanity and control in a world now filled with flesh eating zombies, road warriors and danger at every turn. She has the one clue that she hopes will lead her to finding the Calligrapher and the remains of his first victim, the letters “AJ.” Follow her quest for justice and survival in a post-apocalyptic world where law and order falls victim to survival of the fittest for many. Jules knows the Calligrapher is still alive, and she will get her man, because if she doesn’t he will surely get her.
FINDING AJ by Russ Melrose is as much a suspenseful thriller as it is a brittle tale of survival. Share Jules’s memories when the hunt began. Feel the losses she has faced and understand the passion with which she hunts, even as the world around her has collapsed. Is she ready to face her greatest nightmare or will her own blind fury lead her straight into his lair to become his next canvas in blood?
Suspense? I’m in! Post-apocalyptic flesh eaters? Yes, please. The fight for the survival of humanity against all odds? Bring it. To feel as if I were there, interacting with the varied personalities simultaneously gelling and being repulsed on the apocalyptic steroids of stress? Creative genius.
Russ Melrose has added his personal touch to the apocalypse, by going beyond survival, by giving us one heroine who still feels the need to protect and serve by taking down a twisted serial killer determined to continue toying with what is left of humanity.
Action, a little gore, and razor-wire tension throughout! Jules is tough, but not super-human, still, I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side. A great read that bends genres!
I received a complimentary copy from Russ Melrose!
Series: Apocalypse Journeys - Book 2
Publication Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: Russ Melrose
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Thriller
Print Length: 336 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com
July 2, 2018
Having read Jacob’s Odyssey (Apocalypse Journeys #1) over three years ago, I was super excited to find out that #2 was finally being released. JO has been a favorite of mine in the zombie genre, and its follow up did not disappoint.
Although Finding AJ does take place within the same universe and time-frame, it completely stands on its own and there really are no references to the story's predecessor except for the zombie Alphas, which are only a minor mention in Finding AJ. In fact, where the zombies were secondary in JO, they are thirdly in Finding AJ. The basis for Finding AJ is an obsessive search by FBI Agent Jules Vandevelde to find the elusive Calligrapher killer whose been killing and marking female victims with an ode to ‘AJ’ carved into their abdomen. Jules and her boss/counterpart Beckerman were on the trail and closing in when the apocalypse came to town. Now Jules is going at it alone, determined to finish what she started even amidst flesh eating zombies. When she arrives in Gideon, Utah, she knows she’s on the right track, but has no idea how close she really is.
I really enjoyed how the current time-line and past time-lines were told and how they matched up by the end. I thought I had figured out the twist but Russ definitely had me guessing so much that by the time it was actually stated who the Calligrapher was, I had almost completely lost who I believed the killer to be. I went through a whole list of who I thought it was and Russ did a great job of keeping me guessing in a very realistic way. And Jules’ job would’ve been terribly difficult with so few people to confide in, within such a small community nonetheless, as well as not having the science and technology that we’ve so come to appreciate when it comes to catching criminals. Like Jacob’s Odyssey, Finding AJ brings something new to the zombie genre. This time by not just focusing on the human survivors, but by focusing on a truly psychopathic serial killer. A serial killer who was already operating prior to the apocalypse. The zombies become a tool for a claustrophic, and paranoia anxiety driven environment that keeps you hastily turning the pages hoping for just one more clue.
The side character of Beckerman was one of my favorites, even though he really wasn’t a huge part of the story. I definitely felt emotionally connected to him given how Jules felt about him, which really just shows how good of writer Melrose is. I also thought the whole investigation played out really realistically and the end of the book had me on the edge of my seat. Once I really got into the book, maybe 15-20%, I couldn’t put it down till it was done. As you sprint towards the end, and the eventual climax, you almost forget you’re reading a book about zombies. But zombies will not be tamed and kept in the background, they make their presence wildly known in the climax of the story.
I just hope we will eventually get to see who is behind the conspiracy we find out about in the first book.
All in all, a very character and plot driven story without a lot of general action or zombie gore/action, but moved at a great pace and made it hard to put down. The mystery of The Calligrapher was a great one and one I will definitely come back to. I will be very excited to continue within the Apocalypse Journeys universe.
I received a copy of this story from the author. I have provided an honest review of my own volition.
Although Finding AJ does take place within the same universe and time-frame, it completely stands on its own and there really are no references to the story's predecessor except for the zombie Alphas, which are only a minor mention in Finding AJ. In fact, where the zombies were secondary in JO, they are thirdly in Finding AJ. The basis for Finding AJ is an obsessive search by FBI Agent Jules Vandevelde to find the elusive Calligrapher killer whose been killing and marking female victims with an ode to ‘AJ’ carved into their abdomen. Jules and her boss/counterpart Beckerman were on the trail and closing in when the apocalypse came to town. Now Jules is going at it alone, determined to finish what she started even amidst flesh eating zombies. When she arrives in Gideon, Utah, she knows she’s on the right track, but has no idea how close she really is.
I really enjoyed how the current time-line and past time-lines were told and how they matched up by the end. I thought I had figured out the twist but Russ definitely had me guessing so much that by the time it was actually stated who the Calligrapher was, I had almost completely lost who I believed the killer to be. I went through a whole list of who I thought it was and Russ did a great job of keeping me guessing in a very realistic way. And Jules’ job would’ve been terribly difficult with so few people to confide in, within such a small community nonetheless, as well as not having the science and technology that we’ve so come to appreciate when it comes to catching criminals. Like Jacob’s Odyssey, Finding AJ brings something new to the zombie genre. This time by not just focusing on the human survivors, but by focusing on a truly psychopathic serial killer. A serial killer who was already operating prior to the apocalypse. The zombies become a tool for a claustrophic, and paranoia anxiety driven environment that keeps you hastily turning the pages hoping for just one more clue.
The side character of Beckerman was one of my favorites, even though he really wasn’t a huge part of the story. I definitely felt emotionally connected to him given how Jules felt about him, which really just shows how good of writer Melrose is. I also thought the whole investigation played out really realistically and the end of the book had me on the edge of my seat. Once I really got into the book, maybe 15-20%, I couldn’t put it down till it was done. As you sprint towards the end, and the eventual climax, you almost forget you’re reading a book about zombies. But zombies will not be tamed and kept in the background, they make their presence wildly known in the climax of the story.
I just hope we will eventually get to see who is behind the conspiracy we find out about in the first book.
All in all, a very character and plot driven story without a lot of general action or zombie gore/action, but moved at a great pace and made it hard to put down. The mystery of The Calligrapher was a great one and one I will definitely come back to. I will be very excited to continue within the Apocalypse Journeys universe.
I received a copy of this story from the author. I have provided an honest review of my own volition.
September 2, 2018
You can't give a book anything less than five stars when you didn't manage to work out the serial killer. I suspected so many different people during, but never him until the beginning of the chapter where it was finally revealed. In fact, I think I managed to suspect every single male character apart from him until that moment.
This was the first mystery book I've read set in a world with zombies and I really enjoyed it. There are so many memorable moments such as Jules being kidnapped and taken to a store to fight against a zombie and Addy's appearance in the novel was perfectly written. I wasn't completely taken by her character at the beginning, but her personality and mental healing really developed throughout and turned her into a loveable character.
Another extremely well developed character was Caleb. I like how he starts off as a closed book and not particularly likeable, but you soften to him as you go on and Beckerman played such a huge part in this for me, despite him being deceased way before the start of the novel.
The only little niggle I have is that a certain character disappears towards the end and yet somehow is in the epilogue. When did they return? What happened?
This was the first mystery book I've read set in a world with zombies and I really enjoyed it. There are so many memorable moments such as Jules being kidnapped and taken to a store to fight against a zombie and Addy's appearance in the novel was perfectly written. I wasn't completely taken by her character at the beginning, but her personality and mental healing really developed throughout and turned her into a loveable character.
Another extremely well developed character was Caleb. I like how he starts off as a closed book and not particularly likeable, but you soften to him as you go on and Beckerman played such a huge part in this for me, despite him being deceased way before the start of the novel.
The only little niggle I have is that a certain character disappears towards the end and yet somehow is in the epilogue. When did they return? What happened?
July 11, 2018
You would think or at least assume that after an apocalypse the remaining survivors will try to do their best to survive and stay together, but in this case, mystery haunts even the dead.
I was frantic the whole time, Jules is a badass and she will not be stopped until she finds real answers, the odds are not in her favor, as the worst case scenario is happening when she is looking the identity of a serial killer and the killer already know who she is, the setting thriller is nothing but the background for this more grounded story and what it’s seems to be a chase.
The details of this chase are incredible done and despite being a post-apocalyptic world, the author makes it very believable, I was turning page after page reading in a fast pace looking for answers, this is an amazing book, thriller fans should read this as soon as possible, it’s worth it!
I was frantic the whole time, Jules is a badass and she will not be stopped until she finds real answers, the odds are not in her favor, as the worst case scenario is happening when she is looking the identity of a serial killer and the killer already know who she is, the setting thriller is nothing but the background for this more grounded story and what it’s seems to be a chase.
The details of this chase are incredible done and despite being a post-apocalyptic world, the author makes it very believable, I was turning page after page reading in a fast pace looking for answers, this is an amazing book, thriller fans should read this as soon as possible, it’s worth it!
July 15, 2018
When I finally found the time to read Finding AJ, I was expecting it to be a good thriller/crime story. I’m happy that the book did not disappoint as this is my favorite genre and I’m always looking for new authors that deliver great stories.
Finding AJ may start by looking like a post-apocalyptic story but there’s a lot more about it. The story follows the obsession of a former FBI agent who is trying to find a serial killer and the “end of the world” scenario is just the basic setting (maybe the other book from the series focus more on that side). It certainly is a bit dark and intriguing, a good thriller that offers some interesting twists. The characters are well-developed, but maybe a bit of context is needed to completely understand their motivations and their drive. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.
Finding AJ may start by looking like a post-apocalyptic story but there’s a lot more about it. The story follows the obsession of a former FBI agent who is trying to find a serial killer and the “end of the world” scenario is just the basic setting (maybe the other book from the series focus more on that side). It certainly is a bit dark and intriguing, a good thriller that offers some interesting twists. The characters are well-developed, but maybe a bit of context is needed to completely understand their motivations and their drive. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.
February 11, 2019
This is a fast paced read that cannot be put down until the last page is turned. The zombies almost take a back seat in Finding AJ as we concentrate on the 'FBI' investigation throughout but they are never truly far away and we see a return of the dreaded alphas creating deadly chaos.
The main characters are extremely well thought out and are very credible, as is each individual part in the story. We are kept guessing and second guessing just who the serial killer being sought by the central character, Agent Jules Vandevelde, might be until the very last page when the twist catches the reader and stings hard.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone who likes a bit of horror in a thriller and I certainly hope there is more to come!
The main characters are extremely well thought out and are very credible, as is each individual part in the story. We are kept guessing and second guessing just who the serial killer being sought by the central character, Agent Jules Vandevelde, might be until the very last page when the twist catches the reader and stings hard.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone who likes a bit of horror in a thriller and I certainly hope there is more to come!
July 4, 2018
I love a good thriller! This is not only a crime thriller, it is a post apocalyptic crime thriller! The plot and story are fascinating. I really loved the story line and it drew me right in. The world has suffered greatly, and all that is left are the "infected" among a random survivors. Jules is former FBI (the FBI is gone at this point) and has to find a serial murderer only known as "AJ" - the initials AJ carves into the stomachs of his victims. AJ knows who Jules is, but Jules doesn't know who AJ is, and so the plot takes off- before Jules becomes a victim too. Good, exciting, interesting read!
July 20, 2018
“Finding AJ” had me glued to my chair with its gripping background of an apocalypse and serial killer. The writing is crisp and very suspenseful while bringing to life Jules’ tenacity and the dire situation into which the world was plunged.
I wondered how Jules could still pursue a serial killer when the FBI was pretty much defunct but that all came to an end that was so unimaginable. Very suspenseful and engaging writing.
I wondered how Jules could still pursue a serial killer when the FBI was pretty much defunct but that all came to an end that was so unimaginable. Very suspenseful and engaging writing.
August 19, 2018
This is a tale about Jules an FBI agent struggling to find the serial killer The Calligraphy in the zombie apocalypse.
We follow Jules on a non linear path switching between past and present as the hunt continues. This is Jules journey as the FBI cease to exist anymore but her promise to find the killer keeps her going.
Well written and full of intriguing twists and turns. This is a book that keeps pulling you thru.
We follow Jules on a non linear path switching between past and present as the hunt continues. This is Jules journey as the FBI cease to exist anymore but her promise to find the killer keeps her going.
Well written and full of intriguing twists and turns. This is a book that keeps pulling you thru.
June 28, 2018
A nice surprise!!
Finding AJ was a page turning fun filled addition to the Apocalypse Journeys series that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Filled with mystery and suspense, Russ Melrose skillfully crafted a tale that keeps you guessing until the end. Even though I'm not a fan of crime/thriller type books, movies or TV, it kept me interested. This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Finding AJ was a page turning fun filled addition to the Apocalypse Journeys series that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Filled with mystery and suspense, Russ Melrose skillfully crafted a tale that keeps you guessing until the end. Even though I'm not a fan of crime/thriller type books, movies or TV, it kept me interested. This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews