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The Zombie Uprising #1
The Awakening: Book One in the Zombie Uprising Series
Amazon #1 bestseller in American Horror!
A deadly secret lies hidden beneath the arctic tundra, but now the ground is thawing…and the dead are rising...
Jen Reed joins her retired archaeologist father in remote Alaska, hoping to re-establish a long-missing relationship. But when the thawing permafrost outside a village reveals the burial ground of a 19th-century whaling crew, Jen and her father fail to heed the warning of village elders and begin removing bodies for study.
As the bodies thaw, they begin to move. To rise. To feed.
Communications are cut off and a deadly storm is bearing down on them. Can Jen find a way to save her father, survive the zombie onslaught, and warn the outside world of the coming plague before it’s too late?
The Awakening is the first book in the Zombie Uprising series. If you like heart-pounding action, hordes of undead, and a kick-ass heroine, you’ll love The Awakening.
Buy The Awakening now and be instantly transported into a deadly struggle to survive the zombie horde.
A deadly secret lies hidden beneath the arctic tundra, but now the ground is thawing…and the dead are rising...
Jen Reed joins her retired archaeologist father in remote Alaska, hoping to re-establish a long-missing relationship. But when the thawing permafrost outside a village reveals the burial ground of a 19th-century whaling crew, Jen and her father fail to heed the warning of village elders and begin removing bodies for study.
As the bodies thaw, they begin to move. To rise. To feed.
Communications are cut off and a deadly storm is bearing down on them. Can Jen find a way to save her father, survive the zombie onslaught, and warn the outside world of the coming plague before it’s too late?
The Awakening is the first book in the Zombie Uprising series. If you like heart-pounding action, hordes of undead, and a kick-ass heroine, you’ll love The Awakening.
Buy The Awakening now and be instantly transported into a deadly struggle to survive the zombie horde.
Audiobook
About the author
M.A. Robbins
60 books46 followersM.A. Robbins is the author of The Zombie Uprising series and The Tilt post-apocalyptic action series. A long time Alaskan, he lives in Anchorage with his wife, Debbie, and their ninety pound Chocolate Lab, TBone. He has a taste for unique characters, twisting plots, and homemade clam chowder.
You can find more at www.marobbins.com.
If you'd like announcements of FREE offers, new releases, and exclusive content, please sign up at http://tbone.marobbins.com. You can also find him on twitter at @marobbinsauthor.
You can find more at www.marobbins.com.
If you'd like announcements of FREE offers, new releases, and exclusive content, please sign up at http://tbone.marobbins.com. You can also find him on twitter at @marobbinsauthor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
November 12, 2019
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I normally love zombies, but it is really hard to follow when there are so many characters in the book. I couldn't focus, it was way too chaotic. Didn't know what people to give attention and who don't. A shame because the basic story was good. That is why it only got 3 points, it could have been more.
February 3, 2019
This is a pretty good zombie book that I found on kindle unlimited !!!!Full of action! This takes place in Alaska. An archeologist goes to this village to dig up old graves to relocate them due to the environment. The site is a legend that was actually true. Due permafrost defrosting old zombies are defrosting and coming back to life to reek havoc on an entire village. I look forward to the second book.
August 17, 2020
There is no reason for this book to exist.
September 4, 2020
Three stars because I give zombie fiction plenty of latitude because it's unrealistic at its core and is a guilty pleasure. And yet, everything seems to be disappointing. The plot moves quickly enough, mostly because there's not a lot of book, so it better move fast. The characters are mostly flat tropes, and keep getting introduced and killed off. The female lead is too much of a mash-up of past trauma and past "perfect for this moment without being a fringe lunatic" experiences. Also, someone with only a BS degree and only 3 years experience is not likely to be freelancing and living well (financially free) on a research salary that is intermittent at best.
The zombie origin is a little easy "frozen zombies thaw", but at least there isn't any pretense at science. This is especially true based on the fact that victims turn in 5 minutes (5 cycles of the circulatory system). On top of a lack of science, a lack of details dragged the book down as well. The protagonist is given two boxes of bullets, and proceeds to dump them into her pockets. Boxes are either 20 for hollow points, or more likely, 50 for range ammo. Her pockets would be bulging. She fires maybe two magazines (maximum capacity is probably about 13) and then she's out of ammo. The heroine shoots 26 bullets out of 100+13 (it's loaded when she was handed it, or maybe 87+13) and is out of ammo. Maybe dumping the bullets into her pockets was a bad idea and she lost them all, or the author studied English much more than math.
Things that should stop in zombie books:
-Everyone being surprised that other people call zombies "zombies"
-Lone survivor tropes
-Semi-automatics clicking empty (the last round ejects and the slide locks open)
-Shooting zombies in the forehead (the thickest part of the skull)
-The phrase "That's not your (insert loved one's title here) anymore"
-The above phrase being ignored at the next encounter with aforementioned loved one
The zombie origin is a little easy "frozen zombies thaw", but at least there isn't any pretense at science. This is especially true based on the fact that victims turn in 5 minutes (5 cycles of the circulatory system). On top of a lack of science, a lack of details dragged the book down as well. The protagonist is given two boxes of bullets, and proceeds to dump them into her pockets. Boxes are either 20 for hollow points, or more likely, 50 for range ammo. Her pockets would be bulging. She fires maybe two magazines (maximum capacity is probably about 13) and then she's out of ammo. The heroine shoots 26 bullets out of 100+13 (it's loaded when she was handed it, or maybe 87+13) and is out of ammo. Maybe dumping the bullets into her pockets was a bad idea and she lost them all, or the author studied English much more than math.
Things that should stop in zombie books:
-Everyone being surprised that other people call zombies "zombies"
-Lone survivor tropes
-Semi-automatics clicking empty (the last round ejects and the slide locks open)
-Shooting zombies in the forehead (the thickest part of the skull)
-The phrase "That's not your (insert loved one's title here) anymore"
-The above phrase being ignored at the next encounter with aforementioned loved one
November 12, 2024
Fast paced trope only book
August 18, 2019
Fun! Campy, gory, bloody good fun. If you're a reader who likes their fiction authors to research technical details you'll have to set that aside, but honestly the zombie chewing action begins fast enough that the plot setup doesn't matter much. It was a perfect listen for my day of yard work and painting. I'll definitely listen to the next one.
June 23, 2024
I enjoyed the premise of the zombie "awakening" - frozen zombies from long ago thawing in Alaska. The action was ok as well. The characters weren't particularly memorable, but it definitely doesn't deserve some of the low ratings.
May 9, 2018
Loved it! So much great action and twists I did not expect. I can't wait to read more.
October 3, 2019
A nice little tale of mayhem and horror as the zombie virus erupts and slowly is kept at bay by the many battles to destroy the zombies I liked it.
March 18, 2026
2.5⭐️
Okay so this is the second time I read this book and I'm still confused. So much was happening all the time I couldn't keep track of the characters. I don't know who did what and I don't really know anything about anyone.
I kinda know the plot. I think.
Jen goes to Alaska for some archeological dig with her father who she's not close with.
The temperature has been unusually warm lately. That is important for later.
Some local kid falls into a pit of dead bodies and gets impaled by a bone from one of the bodies. Well, his leg gets impaled anyway. The dead bodies are frozen btw, and dressed in some old sailors uniforms or something, so it's safe to say they've been there a while.
He gets up and out and drives back to the village on his four wheeler (or maybe it was snow scooter. It would make more sense since it's Alaska and the bodies were frozen? Idk). But he's sick. Hm. I wonder why.
Jen and her father are there to check him out because her father is a doctor. I think. Or maybe that was another guy. Maybe there were two doctors? Fuck if I know.
Jen, her father and some others go up to the fear mountain (it's what the mountain the pit is is called) to check out this pit of bodies so they know how to treat the kid. They pry a body loose (apparently Jen does it wrong and her dad gets irritated) and brings it back to the village.
They get to the village and starts examining the frozen body. Do some tests or something. Also some blood test they took from the kid looks weird and they don't know why. Jen notices some kind of powder on the dead body's clothes and realizes it's some kind of spores. I don't know how. I think it was said she had studied something similar, though, so that might be why. Oh yeah, Jen's a scientist, three years out of college. Or some kind of school. I don't know.
While they're doing the tests, some local guy barges into the lab thingy with a shotgun and threatens to shoot them unless they bring the body back up to fear mountain.
Oh, yeah I didn't mention it but there's like a native tribe who lives there, like the village, and apparently like a hundred something years ago the tribe was attacked by these living dead seamen but the military came and killed all the zombies and gathered the bodies and stuff and buried them at fear mountain. It's like a lot of snow and ice and stuff there so they had to light fires and stuff to get deep enough. But they figured the permafrost would keep the bodies there forever. They thought wrong. Climate change fucked that up.
So yeah, this guy, who is one of the tribe's elders, says that the military told his ancestors that they couldn't tell anyone about what happened, and as the tribe members who lived during this attack died, the memory of the incident disappears. But! Three elders are always in the know, like they know what happened and all that stuff, and when one dies, they choose some new person to carry the truth or whatever. Also that's why the fear mountain is called fear mountain. They made up myths about spirits or something to keep people away.
A bunch of shit happens, he puts down the gun and then the kid turns into a zombie and all hell breaks loose. In another house. They didn't keep the frozen body in the same house. Since the frozen body was in a lab. I think I'm just confusing myself tbh. The kid who was in another house turns into a zombie. Yes.
Jen, her dad and a group of people I don't remember the names of go to the house and find that the kid has killed a few people and tries to kill them too. I think they lock him inside the house. Or maybe they killed him. Idk.
After escaping that encounter, the group heads to the community house center thingy because it seems like the safest place since there are now zombies everywhere.
Several people are there, some have guns and they guard the doors. Then some lady with dementia sees her sister outside and opens the door, only her sister is a zombie and bites her face off. And again, all hell breaks loose.
Now Jen, her dad and the same group, although give and take a few members, leave the place together. I think. I'm pretty sure someone was named Chris and the bootlegger was named Griffin.
Anyway. They get to the school where some teacher lets them in and there are tons of children there and yada yada yada. Wait no, Griffin was at the school before the rest of the group because he left them at the center? I don't even know. But yeah, so Griffin didn't want to let them in because they could bring zombies or something with them but the teacher let them in. (Great explanation there. Jesus)
The group is kinda pissed at him but I think he had an explanation for leaving them. I don't remember what, though.
Anyway. A girl shows up outside. Jen lets her in. They see the girl has a bite mark on her ankle, they kill her while she pleads for her life. Lovely. I think her name was Meg but it's entirely possible I made that up. My memory sucks.
So, the group, without the teacher and kids obviously, went into the village to get Meg's dad because he's stuck in their house since he's in a wheelchair. They get there, crawl in under the house because the front door was surrounded by zombies. I think. And apparently the houses weren't on the ground? I don't know. Griffin keeps watch while Jen, her dad and some guy (possibly guys plural but yeah), maybe Chris, checks out the house.
They find Meg's dad lying on the floor so they help him up, but he's a zombie so he jumps on them. Fun times. They manage to get out, but Griffin is no where to be seen. He left them. Again. Yay.
They get back to the school but the door is already open. Gasp. They go inside and see a pool of blood. They go further inside and see a bunch of kids eating the teacher. They don't recognize one of the kids so they come to the conclusion that the teacher must've let that kid in not knowing it was infected while they were gone.
Then Griffin shows up, and they're all mad at him for abandoning them but he's like "a horde of zombies were coming to the house, I led them away" and they don't really believe him but yeah.
Some supply helicopter is supposed to come in a few hours but they don't think they can stay in the school, plus they're running out of ammunition, so they go back down to the village. I say down but I actually have no idea where the school is located. I imagined it was like on a hill kinda close to the village but raised quite a bit? And that the village is in like a valley. I don't know why. It's probably wrong because it's in Alaska but that's what my head saw.
Right. Anyway. They go into town, Jen, her dad, Chris and Griffin. I think. Her dad and Chris get separated from her and Griffin. Oh no. But yeah, Jen and Griffin head to Griffin's house because he has fireworks there. Apparently that was part of his bootlegger business. I don't know. And guns and ammunition, obviously. Which he also had. Obviously.
So they get the fireworks because they realize the zombies are attracted to noise and movement, so they're thinking if they can distract them they can make it up a mountain (?) where the helicopter will land. That doesn't sound right. It probably isn't. I don't remember why they're gonna climb the mountain but they will.
But they're still in town, right, getting the things and Griffin says something about a cake and Jen's like "you wanna bake a cake?? Now???" But it had something to do with fireworks. I think.
They leave the house and manage to meet up with Jen's dad and Chris. They set off the fireworks as a distraction and get some snow scooters and drive to the tundra. Wait, I think the fireworks made Jen's dad and Chris find Jen and Griffin. This review is a mess. Anyway.
So they're out on the tundra (I think) because it allows them to see if zombies are coming. But they're all in the village, so it's fine. But it's not fine. More seamen have thawed / been defrosted or something and are heading their way. Hundreds of them. I think. Yay.
They drive away and then get off the scooters for some reason I don't remember and then start climbing a mountain. I think. But the zombies are after them. Or maybe they're still in town because they want to blow up some fuel tank and hide behind the trailers where the lab was so idk actually. Doesn't matter.
Griffin is hacking at this fuel tank with his tomahawk and a bunch of shit happens and I think Chris and Griffin dies. Eaten alive by zombies. Lovely. I don't remember if Jen blew up the tank or not, but they're climbing a mountain. But they're with another guy I think, so someone else must've been with them. Huh. I forgot about him. Oh well.
They get to the top of the mountain before climbing down on the other side to get to the boats. Jen is helping her dad because he's not feeling well.
They get down, the guy who was with them dies one way or another, I don't remember, but Jen and her dad get on a boat. But he's holding his left wrist against his chest. That's odd. But he says it's just a sprain.
He was driving the boat but then Jen took over and he crawled into a fetal position on the floor. Also odd.
Then Jen hears the sound of a helicopter. The military is here! Well, one military helicopter is anyway. Via a loudspeaker, they ask her to return to shore so they can pick them up. She does. Pulling her dad with her as she gets to land, but he's more or less unconscious. Strange.
Two soldiers approaches and helps her dad to the helicopter while she runs ahead. Some other soldier helps her strap in. The other soldiers come with her dad who also gets strapped in. But his head is hanging forward. Also strange.
She asks the soldier who sits next to him if he's alright, and he nods.
Then one of the soldiers pulls out a vial with some yellow liquid and a syringe and says it's to calm her down. She's confused because she is kinda calm now that they're safe. They insist. She refuses. The soldiers hold her down and they inject her with the yellow thingy.
She gets really tired. But the second before she loses consciousness, her dad's head flies up, eyes yellow. He's a zombie. Dun dun duuuun.
And then the book ends.
So I'm like pretty sure her dad had a heart attack, but I don't know how he got infected. Maybe the spores thingys?? Idk.
This is what I've gathered from the book. Now, my head is a mess and my memory is horrible so it's entirely possible this is not at all what happened but you know, oh well. Who cares.
I don't think there was a single character in this book that I liked. I think it was too short to form any type of attachment to a character so them dying wasn't like... all that sad.
The plot is interesting, but the writing is kinda meh. It's really hard to keep track of who's who and who's saying what. Or it is for me at least.
I think I kinda like the book somewhat, or maybe I just like the concept of the book. If written differently and if it was longer, I think I would've really liked it.
But yeah. I've been in a reading slump since the start of the year so I figured I'd read something short and something I've read before to get going again. I'm probably gonna read the rest of the series too. I think it gets better eventually. Or maybe it got worse. I don't remember. But zombies, you know. I love that shit.
Edit: Okay so I just saw that this book was in my 2021 favorites list which is... interesting.
Okay so this is the second time I read this book and I'm still confused. So much was happening all the time I couldn't keep track of the characters. I don't know who did what and I don't really know anything about anyone.
I kinda know the plot. I think.
Jen goes to Alaska for some archeological dig with her father who she's not close with.
The temperature has been unusually warm lately. That is important for later.
Some local kid falls into a pit of dead bodies and gets impaled by a bone from one of the bodies. Well, his leg gets impaled anyway. The dead bodies are frozen btw, and dressed in some old sailors uniforms or something, so it's safe to say they've been there a while.
He gets up and out and drives back to the village on his four wheeler (or maybe it was snow scooter. It would make more sense since it's Alaska and the bodies were frozen? Idk). But he's sick. Hm. I wonder why.
Jen and her father are there to check him out because her father is a doctor. I think. Or maybe that was another guy. Maybe there were two doctors? Fuck if I know.
Jen, her father and some others go up to the fear mountain (it's what the mountain the pit is is called) to check out this pit of bodies so they know how to treat the kid. They pry a body loose (apparently Jen does it wrong and her dad gets irritated) and brings it back to the village.
They get to the village and starts examining the frozen body. Do some tests or something. Also some blood test they took from the kid looks weird and they don't know why. Jen notices some kind of powder on the dead body's clothes and realizes it's some kind of spores. I don't know how. I think it was said she had studied something similar, though, so that might be why. Oh yeah, Jen's a scientist, three years out of college. Or some kind of school. I don't know.
While they're doing the tests, some local guy barges into the lab thingy with a shotgun and threatens to shoot them unless they bring the body back up to fear mountain.
Oh, yeah I didn't mention it but there's like a native tribe who lives there, like the village, and apparently like a hundred something years ago the tribe was attacked by these living dead seamen but the military came and killed all the zombies and gathered the bodies and stuff and buried them at fear mountain. It's like a lot of snow and ice and stuff there so they had to light fires and stuff to get deep enough. But they figured the permafrost would keep the bodies there forever. They thought wrong. Climate change fucked that up.
So yeah, this guy, who is one of the tribe's elders, says that the military told his ancestors that they couldn't tell anyone about what happened, and as the tribe members who lived during this attack died, the memory of the incident disappears. But! Three elders are always in the know, like they know what happened and all that stuff, and when one dies, they choose some new person to carry the truth or whatever. Also that's why the fear mountain is called fear mountain. They made up myths about spirits or something to keep people away.
A bunch of shit happens, he puts down the gun and then the kid turns into a zombie and all hell breaks loose. In another house. They didn't keep the frozen body in the same house. Since the frozen body was in a lab. I think I'm just confusing myself tbh. The kid who was in another house turns into a zombie. Yes.
Jen, her dad and a group of people I don't remember the names of go to the house and find that the kid has killed a few people and tries to kill them too. I think they lock him inside the house. Or maybe they killed him. Idk.
After escaping that encounter, the group heads to the community house center thingy because it seems like the safest place since there are now zombies everywhere.
Several people are there, some have guns and they guard the doors. Then some lady with dementia sees her sister outside and opens the door, only her sister is a zombie and bites her face off. And again, all hell breaks loose.
Now Jen, her dad and the same group, although give and take a few members, leave the place together. I think. I'm pretty sure someone was named Chris and the bootlegger was named Griffin.
Anyway. They get to the school where some teacher lets them in and there are tons of children there and yada yada yada. Wait no, Griffin was at the school before the rest of the group because he left them at the center? I don't even know. But yeah, so Griffin didn't want to let them in because they could bring zombies or something with them but the teacher let them in. (Great explanation there. Jesus)
The group is kinda pissed at him but I think he had an explanation for leaving them. I don't remember what, though.
Anyway. A girl shows up outside. Jen lets her in. They see the girl has a bite mark on her ankle, they kill her while she pleads for her life. Lovely. I think her name was Meg but it's entirely possible I made that up. My memory sucks.
So, the group, without the teacher and kids obviously, went into the village to get Meg's dad because he's stuck in their house since he's in a wheelchair. They get there, crawl in under the house because the front door was surrounded by zombies. I think. And apparently the houses weren't on the ground? I don't know. Griffin keeps watch while Jen, her dad and some guy (possibly guys plural but yeah), maybe Chris, checks out the house.
They find Meg's dad lying on the floor so they help him up, but he's a zombie so he jumps on them. Fun times. They manage to get out, but Griffin is no where to be seen. He left them. Again. Yay.
They get back to the school but the door is already open. Gasp. They go inside and see a pool of blood. They go further inside and see a bunch of kids eating the teacher. They don't recognize one of the kids so they come to the conclusion that the teacher must've let that kid in not knowing it was infected while they were gone.
Then Griffin shows up, and they're all mad at him for abandoning them but he's like "a horde of zombies were coming to the house, I led them away" and they don't really believe him but yeah.
Some supply helicopter is supposed to come in a few hours but they don't think they can stay in the school, plus they're running out of ammunition, so they go back down to the village. I say down but I actually have no idea where the school is located. I imagined it was like on a hill kinda close to the village but raised quite a bit? And that the village is in like a valley. I don't know why. It's probably wrong because it's in Alaska but that's what my head saw.
Right. Anyway. They go into town, Jen, her dad, Chris and Griffin. I think. Her dad and Chris get separated from her and Griffin. Oh no. But yeah, Jen and Griffin head to Griffin's house because he has fireworks there. Apparently that was part of his bootlegger business. I don't know. And guns and ammunition, obviously. Which he also had. Obviously.
So they get the fireworks because they realize the zombies are attracted to noise and movement, so they're thinking if they can distract them they can make it up a mountain (?) where the helicopter will land. That doesn't sound right. It probably isn't. I don't remember why they're gonna climb the mountain but they will.
But they're still in town, right, getting the things and Griffin says something about a cake and Jen's like "you wanna bake a cake?? Now???" But it had something to do with fireworks. I think.
They leave the house and manage to meet up with Jen's dad and Chris. They set off the fireworks as a distraction and get some snow scooters and drive to the tundra. Wait, I think the fireworks made Jen's dad and Chris find Jen and Griffin. This review is a mess. Anyway.
So they're out on the tundra (I think) because it allows them to see if zombies are coming. But they're all in the village, so it's fine. But it's not fine. More seamen have thawed / been defrosted or something and are heading their way. Hundreds of them. I think. Yay.
They drive away and then get off the scooters for some reason I don't remember and then start climbing a mountain. I think. But the zombies are after them. Or maybe they're still in town because they want to blow up some fuel tank and hide behind the trailers where the lab was so idk actually. Doesn't matter.
Griffin is hacking at this fuel tank with his tomahawk and a bunch of shit happens and I think Chris and Griffin dies. Eaten alive by zombies. Lovely. I don't remember if Jen blew up the tank or not, but they're climbing a mountain. But they're with another guy I think, so someone else must've been with them. Huh. I forgot about him. Oh well.
They get to the top of the mountain before climbing down on the other side to get to the boats. Jen is helping her dad because he's not feeling well.
They get down, the guy who was with them dies one way or another, I don't remember, but Jen and her dad get on a boat. But he's holding his left wrist against his chest. That's odd. But he says it's just a sprain.
He was driving the boat but then Jen took over and he crawled into a fetal position on the floor. Also odd.
Then Jen hears the sound of a helicopter. The military is here! Well, one military helicopter is anyway. Via a loudspeaker, they ask her to return to shore so they can pick them up. She does. Pulling her dad with her as she gets to land, but he's more or less unconscious. Strange.
Two soldiers approaches and helps her dad to the helicopter while she runs ahead. Some other soldier helps her strap in. The other soldiers come with her dad who also gets strapped in. But his head is hanging forward. Also strange.
She asks the soldier who sits next to him if he's alright, and he nods.
Then one of the soldiers pulls out a vial with some yellow liquid and a syringe and says it's to calm her down. She's confused because she is kinda calm now that they're safe. They insist. She refuses. The soldiers hold her down and they inject her with the yellow thingy.
She gets really tired. But the second before she loses consciousness, her dad's head flies up, eyes yellow. He's a zombie. Dun dun duuuun.
And then the book ends.
So I'm like pretty sure her dad had a heart attack, but I don't know how he got infected. Maybe the spores thingys?? Idk.
This is what I've gathered from the book. Now, my head is a mess and my memory is horrible so it's entirely possible this is not at all what happened but you know, oh well. Who cares.
I don't think there was a single character in this book that I liked. I think it was too short to form any type of attachment to a character so them dying wasn't like... all that sad.
The plot is interesting, but the writing is kinda meh. It's really hard to keep track of who's who and who's saying what. Or it is for me at least.
I think I kinda like the book somewhat, or maybe I just like the concept of the book. If written differently and if it was longer, I think I would've really liked it.
But yeah. I've been in a reading slump since the start of the year so I figured I'd read something short and something I've read before to get going again. I'm probably gonna read the rest of the series too. I think it gets better eventually. Or maybe it got worse. I don't remember. But zombies, you know. I love that shit.
Edit: Okay so I just saw that this book was in my 2021 favorites list which is... interesting.
June 21, 2018
Bang! And You're Off, Running Out Of Time!
Ok, I may give out a lot of five star ratings, but part of that is I'm a picky reader. I've been on a zombie kick for awhile now, and i love finding stories that have plausibility to the origin of their zombies. This was, in my opinion, a rather unique first entry to a series. Let me put it this way, from the very beginning it starts out creepy, intense, and full of action. No time for potty breaks, folks, lives are on the line!!! The stage is remote, everything is ratcheted to warp 10 speed, and... I couldn't stop reading! Well done, and now that I've taken my small break I'm on to book two! If you are not into constant gore, intense creepiness, and no where safe to go - read this anyways. Just leave the lights on. Enjoy!!!
Ok, I may give out a lot of five star ratings, but part of that is I'm a picky reader. I've been on a zombie kick for awhile now, and i love finding stories that have plausibility to the origin of their zombies. This was, in my opinion, a rather unique first entry to a series. Let me put it this way, from the very beginning it starts out creepy, intense, and full of action. No time for potty breaks, folks, lives are on the line!!! The stage is remote, everything is ratcheted to warp 10 speed, and... I couldn't stop reading! Well done, and now that I've taken my small break I'm on to book two! If you are not into constant gore, intense creepiness, and no where safe to go - read this anyways. Just leave the lights on. Enjoy!!!
September 13, 2018
Interesting
I wasn't feeling the "archaeological find" take of the apocalypse but I got into it because it got good fast. At least we know up front what happened. I liked the characters even though they didn't stick around too long. I was rooting for Jen and her dad. They almost made it. Also, when Chris got caught, I was devastated. I was hoping someone from his family survived. This book was so busy, with zombies everywhere, the list of characters didn't grow for too long. I can't ant wait to see what happens next.
I wasn't feeling the "archaeological find" take of the apocalypse but I got into it because it got good fast. At least we know up front what happened. I liked the characters even though they didn't stick around too long. I was rooting for Jen and her dad. They almost made it. Also, when Chris got caught, I was devastated. I was hoping someone from his family survived. This book was so busy, with zombies everywhere, the list of characters didn't grow for too long. I can't ant wait to see what happens next.
February 2, 2019
Stumbled upon this zombie series after finishing The Tide. This is a very action filled story with great characters that you can easily care for. It is amazing with what they go through. The only thing that I didn't expect was for what happened to some of the folks in Alaska. Broke my heart. Really looking foward to the next book in this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2019
Ancient zombies
This was a solid book one the characters are great,good character development and the zombies are fast and super brutal and violent and there's plenty of blood guts and Gore,everything a solid Zombie series should have, great start to what seems like is going to be a great Zombie series
This was a solid book one the characters are great,good character development and the zombies are fast and super brutal and violent and there's plenty of blood guts and Gore,everything a solid Zombie series should have, great start to what seems like is going to be a great Zombie series
May 22, 2018
Book 1 is a resounding success!
The action is non-stop,with horrific real-life terror. How can something like this happen in a remote town in Alaska?
#2 is out now, so finished just in time to bury myself in more zombies!
I would definately recommend this one.
The action is non-stop,with horrific real-life terror. How can something like this happen in a remote town in Alaska?
#2 is out now, so finished just in time to bury myself in more zombies!
I would definately recommend this one.
November 18, 2018
Excellent writing, gripping tale
So much better than run-of-the-mill apocalyptic fiction. Well-written, engaging, curiousity completely roused to read more. Breath of fresh air to read the beginning of this well-written novel.
So much better than run-of-the-mill apocalyptic fiction. Well-written, engaging, curiousity completely roused to read more. Breath of fresh air to read the beginning of this well-written novel.
January 15, 2019
I was exhausted when I finished this book, the action was non stop and grabbed you almost immediately. Interesting variation on the cause of the virus, etc. Enough scientific detail thrown in to elevate this from pure horror.
April 13, 2019
One of the good ones!
This book was written well and the action is constant and page turning. Robbins knows the Alaskan wilderness, and his characters are real and compelling. Be prepared to be hooked into this series. I sure am!
This book was written well and the action is constant and page turning. Robbins knows the Alaskan wilderness, and his characters are real and compelling. Be prepared to be hooked into this series. I sure am!
May 22, 2018
An exceptionally good zombie read.
July 22, 2018
Jen and Devin's story of both being reunited and struggling to free themselves from Alaska's cold, undead grip was very entertaining. And the ending will keep you wanting more. On to book 2.
October 6, 2018
Good Zombie Read
A good take on the zombie apocalypse! Colorful dialogue and written with fast paced action. It flows super well. Was not expecting the ending at all.
A good take on the zombie apocalypse! Colorful dialogue and written with fast paced action. It flows super well. Was not expecting the ending at all.
January 19, 2019
Good, fast paced zombie book!
January 22, 2019
Zombie story done right
This story is well written and the intensity sure does build up as slow zombies and fast zombies come for you from the pages of this book.
This story is well written and the intensity sure does build up as slow zombies and fast zombies come for you from the pages of this book.
February 10, 2019
Wonderfully surprised
This book was fast paced and kept me on the edge the who!e read. Well written a d caressing to read the next volume.
This book was fast paced and kept me on the edge the who!e read. Well written a d caressing to read the next volume.
March 30, 2019
Zombies
I started reading and just had to keep reading. It's full of action and suspense. I look forward to reading the next book.
I started reading and just had to keep reading. It's full of action and suspense. I look forward to reading the next book.
June 22, 2023
To begin, I want to say that I love zombie stories. I give them a lot of leeway and am quick to forgive them for things that I would be much more critical of in other books. The great ones are pretty great and even the mediocre ones are usually a good time. That being said, I legitimately did not like this novella.
I’ll start with the pros, though this section will be rather brief. The story is very kinetic, events move quickly and relatively smoothly from one to the next. Most of the time I can tell what is happening and to whom it is happening and I know where the action is taking place relative to everything else. The setting, while not exactly the most original, is an effective one. Being stuck in an Alaskan village with fairly limited shelter and zombies pouring in from the dark tundra could have been effective and actually scary (I promise I’m trying to stay positive). There was no human antagonist (“humans are the real monsters!” is such a played out trope in zombie fiction). Lastly, the novella was mercifully short.
The cons, oh boy, probably easier if I do a bulleted list.
Let’s start with the lead character, Jen. I’m not sure the last time I wanted a lead character to die more than I did Jen. She quips like a marvel superhero, kills a young woman who is screaming and crying on the ground because she’s been bitten but then Jen is fine like five seconds later (if the story wasn’t from her point of view this definitely would have made her seem like the villain of the story), and she is the only one capable of making decisions (which are all terrible ideas that only work because the author deems it so).
The rest of the characters really aren’t any better. They range from hilariously ineffectual, bafflingly stupid, and just plain unlikable. It is truly upsetting how many authors confuse cynical for mature and snarky for clever. There are precisely two somewhat affable characters in the book, and they are both killed within pages of meeting them; leaving us with just the main crew of personalityless puppets that follow Jen around so she has someone to quip at. There is the native Alaskan, who kills a few zombies with an ax and gets to watch all his loved ones die before being offed at the very end because having anyone other than the final girl survive would be ridiculous, I guess. The smuggler, who is seemingly portrayed as duplicitous even though personally I would trust him over trigger happy Jen any day of the week. And the dad, who I would sometimes forget was in the book for how little he offered. You’ll notice I didn’t put their names, because I don’t remember them and I literally just finished the book earlier today.
The zombies. I read several reviews that stated that this book had an interesting new take on zombies which had me excited. I love zombies and I love it even more when authors are clever with zombies. Sadly, these were some of the least interesting zombies I have ever read about. Some are fast, due to being recently turned. Some are slow, due to being frozen in the ice. The zombies learn little things like crawling to get to people and will call to one another. But none of these things lead to anything. The zombies didn’t learn to do anything clever. The zombies calling to each other just made more zombies come which mostly caused them to trip over one another. I’m pretty sure if these were the zombies, we people would be fine.
The end of the book. This book is clearly written to be the first book in a series and I absolutely mean that in the worst way possible. Just because it’s a series doesn’t mean that your book shouldn’t have an ending. It reads like an old Goosebumps book or a Hollywood smash to credits moment. “Is Jen’s dad a full zombie? Are these military men her saviors or her new enemy? And will she survive this hell-o-copter ride? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Zombie Uprising!”
TL;DR: This book is awful even if you like zombie books. Stupid characters making bad decisions that only work because they have plot armour. The zombies are bog standard zombies. The lead character cycles between sociopathic and sophomoric. Would have given it one star but at least there was no overarching human antagonist and it was adequately clear. Maybe the sequels are better, I will likely never know because this one is a hard pass for me.
I’ll start with the pros, though this section will be rather brief. The story is very kinetic, events move quickly and relatively smoothly from one to the next. Most of the time I can tell what is happening and to whom it is happening and I know where the action is taking place relative to everything else. The setting, while not exactly the most original, is an effective one. Being stuck in an Alaskan village with fairly limited shelter and zombies pouring in from the dark tundra could have been effective and actually scary (I promise I’m trying to stay positive). There was no human antagonist (“humans are the real monsters!” is such a played out trope in zombie fiction). Lastly, the novella was mercifully short.
The cons, oh boy, probably easier if I do a bulleted list.
Let’s start with the lead character, Jen. I’m not sure the last time I wanted a lead character to die more than I did Jen. She quips like a marvel superhero, kills a young woman who is screaming and crying on the ground because she’s been bitten but then Jen is fine like five seconds later (if the story wasn’t from her point of view this definitely would have made her seem like the villain of the story), and she is the only one capable of making decisions (which are all terrible ideas that only work because the author deems it so).
The rest of the characters really aren’t any better. They range from hilariously ineffectual, bafflingly stupid, and just plain unlikable. It is truly upsetting how many authors confuse cynical for mature and snarky for clever. There are precisely two somewhat affable characters in the book, and they are both killed within pages of meeting them; leaving us with just the main crew of personalityless puppets that follow Jen around so she has someone to quip at. There is the native Alaskan, who kills a few zombies with an ax and gets to watch all his loved ones die before being offed at the very end because having anyone other than the final girl survive would be ridiculous, I guess. The smuggler, who is seemingly portrayed as duplicitous even though personally I would trust him over trigger happy Jen any day of the week. And the dad, who I would sometimes forget was in the book for how little he offered. You’ll notice I didn’t put their names, because I don’t remember them and I literally just finished the book earlier today.
The zombies. I read several reviews that stated that this book had an interesting new take on zombies which had me excited. I love zombies and I love it even more when authors are clever with zombies. Sadly, these were some of the least interesting zombies I have ever read about. Some are fast, due to being recently turned. Some are slow, due to being frozen in the ice. The zombies learn little things like crawling to get to people and will call to one another. But none of these things lead to anything. The zombies didn’t learn to do anything clever. The zombies calling to each other just made more zombies come which mostly caused them to trip over one another. I’m pretty sure if these were the zombies, we people would be fine.
The end of the book. This book is clearly written to be the first book in a series and I absolutely mean that in the worst way possible. Just because it’s a series doesn’t mean that your book shouldn’t have an ending. It reads like an old Goosebumps book or a Hollywood smash to credits moment. “Is Jen’s dad a full zombie? Are these military men her saviors or her new enemy? And will she survive this hell-o-copter ride? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Zombie Uprising!”
TL;DR: This book is awful even if you like zombie books. Stupid characters making bad decisions that only work because they have plot armour. The zombies are bog standard zombies. The lead character cycles between sociopathic and sophomoric. Would have given it one star but at least there was no overarching human antagonist and it was adequately clear. Maybe the sequels are better, I will likely never know because this one is a hard pass for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2019
People love zombies - zombie movies, zombie tv shows, zombie books, zombie games, costumes, commercials, ad infinitum. I like zombies just fine, but the genre is pretty glutted by now. The Awakening is a zombie uprising book, possibly the 50-zillionth one so far. It's main problem is lack of originality.
Aside from the setting in remote Alaska, where the uprising begins, well, just how many ways can a writer describe zombies chasing people, zombies' dead eyes, gross appearance and smell, their eerie screeches and moans, the various human body parts they rip into with their clacking teeth? And there's a limit to the number of ways one can depict humans using various weapons (knives, axes, guns, baseball bats, improvised clubs, fire) to fight off and kill the zombies as well as the descriptions of the flying flesh, eyeballs, caved in heads, spraying blood and other injuries the humans inflict.
Unless the writer can draw the reader in with truly engaging characters and/or some new twist on the genre, it just gets mind-numbing pretty quick. And that's the second problem I felt with this novel: so much rushing to the action, too little character development. Anyone peripheral to the two main protagonists - an estranged father and daughter - dies so quickly that you hardly get a chance to care. Even the tension between the father (brilliant, famous, too engrossed in his work to pay enough attention to his family) and daughter (equally brilliant, tough and still pissed off at her dad) comes across as stale, a subplot delivered in much finer and more nuanced style by other writers than in this book.
The Awakening isn't really bad. It's just not really good, either. This first novel of the series was relatively short and ended rather abruptly with a hint of a governmental mystery. I don't know what the following books of this series have in store, but I'll leave that discovery to other readers who may actually enjoy this book.
Aside from the setting in remote Alaska, where the uprising begins, well, just how many ways can a writer describe zombies chasing people, zombies' dead eyes, gross appearance and smell, their eerie screeches and moans, the various human body parts they rip into with their clacking teeth? And there's a limit to the number of ways one can depict humans using various weapons (knives, axes, guns, baseball bats, improvised clubs, fire) to fight off and kill the zombies as well as the descriptions of the flying flesh, eyeballs, caved in heads, spraying blood and other injuries the humans inflict.
Unless the writer can draw the reader in with truly engaging characters and/or some new twist on the genre, it just gets mind-numbing pretty quick. And that's the second problem I felt with this novel: so much rushing to the action, too little character development. Anyone peripheral to the two main protagonists - an estranged father and daughter - dies so quickly that you hardly get a chance to care. Even the tension between the father (brilliant, famous, too engrossed in his work to pay enough attention to his family) and daughter (equally brilliant, tough and still pissed off at her dad) comes across as stale, a subplot delivered in much finer and more nuanced style by other writers than in this book.
The Awakening isn't really bad. It's just not really good, either. This first novel of the series was relatively short and ended rather abruptly with a hint of a governmental mystery. I don't know what the following books of this series have in store, but I'll leave that discovery to other readers who may actually enjoy this book.
July 14, 2019
This novella is engagingly written and makes for an easy, quick read. It’s not particularly gory and is mostly a repetition of chase sequences around a small Alaskan town, first in one direction and then in another.
The pace is rather frantic, mainly because the narrative is very summary. This story could have been much more fleshed out, and would have benefitted from having more build up of atmosphere and tension. No need for more backstory though. The theme of father / daughter reconciliation is largely wasted as it has no impact on events. This aspect feels unnecessary, redundant.
The idea of zombies frozen in the permafrost being freed by global warming is a nice touch. However, the choice of eighteenth century whalers as the source of the zombie virus, as opposed to any other population, made me think of a Scooby Doo episode, especially with all the madcap running back and forth.
The characters are a bit caricatural and the smart ass one liners tend to diminish the tension rather than rack it up. The fact that the principal protagonists are scientists makes their decision to rush into the thawing zombie pits and collect a specimen quite plausible, but the scientific mindset is lost when the running starts. However, the protagonists and leading secondary characters are smart and decisive, which is better than most zombie fodder.
Other than the father / daughter thing, there is very little emotion, very little shock at the events. The author recognises that this is important in a zombie story, but quickly moves on to maintain the action, missing the opportunity to delve further. These characters are either very resilient or very emotionally limited.
A bit of a misfire, but an okay effort overall. There’s the usual irritating cliffhanger to set up a series, but that’s par for the course. However, I might not bother to look for the rest.
The pace is rather frantic, mainly because the narrative is very summary. This story could have been much more fleshed out, and would have benefitted from having more build up of atmosphere and tension. No need for more backstory though. The theme of father / daughter reconciliation is largely wasted as it has no impact on events. This aspect feels unnecessary, redundant.
The idea of zombies frozen in the permafrost being freed by global warming is a nice touch. However, the choice of eighteenth century whalers as the source of the zombie virus, as opposed to any other population, made me think of a Scooby Doo episode, especially with all the madcap running back and forth.
The characters are a bit caricatural and the smart ass one liners tend to diminish the tension rather than rack it up. The fact that the principal protagonists are scientists makes their decision to rush into the thawing zombie pits and collect a specimen quite plausible, but the scientific mindset is lost when the running starts. However, the protagonists and leading secondary characters are smart and decisive, which is better than most zombie fodder.
Other than the father / daughter thing, there is very little emotion, very little shock at the events. The author recognises that this is important in a zombie story, but quickly moves on to maintain the action, missing the opportunity to delve further. These characters are either very resilient or very emotionally limited.
A bit of a misfire, but an okay effort overall. There’s the usual irritating cliffhanger to set up a series, but that’s par for the course. However, I might not bother to look for the rest.
March 20, 2019
Zombie Sailors Awaken in Alaska
Zombie Sailors from the 1800s are accidently reawakened after global warming melts the permafrost in Alaska. 3 trusted elders of the Tribe know the history and are charged with protecting their people. Unfortunately a tribal member is accidently infected and everyone is put at risk. Outside scientific researchers had been brought in to study the loss of permafrost, but are unknowingly pulled into the escalating catastrophe. The story captures the difficulty uninfected individuals have when dealing with family or friends who have succumbed to the infection. The isolation of geography and weather conditions create the perfect setting for almost complete infestation and loss of life. The attempt to rescue uninfected individuals exposes others to infection and reduces the numbers of those capable of defending those previously brought to a safe place. The storyline is interesting and offers a different beginning to a viral pandemic. It looks at global warming as a different danger to the human race. The struggles of the indigenous people to avoid infection is much more difficult because of the secrecy about the prior problem, their closeness as a society and the initial disbelief about the illness. The isolation of the people and the limits on their communication with the outside world greatly reduced any hope of rescue. The military rescue at the end suggested that an outside agency was aware of the potential problem. The characters had fair development given the circumstances of their quick demises. An interesting book and an entertaining read.
Zombie Sailors from the 1800s are accidently reawakened after global warming melts the permafrost in Alaska. 3 trusted elders of the Tribe know the history and are charged with protecting their people. Unfortunately a tribal member is accidently infected and everyone is put at risk. Outside scientific researchers had been brought in to study the loss of permafrost, but are unknowingly pulled into the escalating catastrophe. The story captures the difficulty uninfected individuals have when dealing with family or friends who have succumbed to the infection. The isolation of geography and weather conditions create the perfect setting for almost complete infestation and loss of life. The attempt to rescue uninfected individuals exposes others to infection and reduces the numbers of those capable of defending those previously brought to a safe place. The storyline is interesting and offers a different beginning to a viral pandemic. It looks at global warming as a different danger to the human race. The struggles of the indigenous people to avoid infection is much more difficult because of the secrecy about the prior problem, their closeness as a society and the initial disbelief about the illness. The isolation of the people and the limits on their communication with the outside world greatly reduced any hope of rescue. The military rescue at the end suggested that an outside agency was aware of the potential problem. The characters had fair development given the circumstances of their quick demises. An interesting book and an entertaining read.
January 5, 2023
I'm not sure how to feel about this book. I mean, I finished it. It was fairly short, so it was quick. The audio narration was good.
I like the glimpses into native Alaskan culture (though they could've been explored more thoroughly), and I really like that the zombies came from sailors from the 1800s surfacing as the permafrost thawed instead of the normal bio weapon gone awry origin.
But it often felt clunky, and the tropes were a bit heavy handed.
The arc between the MC and her father felt underdeveloped, rushed, and at times, cheesy. I like that the author wanted to put the psychology aspect into it, but it just wasn't handled well.
And then, there's the dialogue. I had two problems with that.
One. These characters do a LOT of planning in the moment. Like... zombies coming at them (and these are not all slow zombies), door splintered, backed into a corner, and they have a full conversation about what to do. Multiple times, this happens, and each time is as unbelievable as the last.
Two. Nearly everything the MC said was a one liner meant to make her seem edgy or funny (or like she spoke before considering what she should say), but every single one fell flat for me.
The kind-of cliffhanger ending (though somewhat predictable to anyone with a tendency toward cynicism) made me kinda want to continue the series, but the dialogue alone makes me question that impulse.
I like the glimpses into native Alaskan culture (though they could've been explored more thoroughly), and I really like that the zombies came from sailors from the 1800s surfacing as the permafrost thawed instead of the normal bio weapon gone awry origin.
But it often felt clunky, and the tropes were a bit heavy handed.
The arc between the MC and her father felt underdeveloped, rushed, and at times, cheesy. I like that the author wanted to put the psychology aspect into it, but it just wasn't handled well.
And then, there's the dialogue. I had two problems with that.
One. These characters do a LOT of planning in the moment. Like... zombies coming at them (and these are not all slow zombies), door splintered, backed into a corner, and they have a full conversation about what to do. Multiple times, this happens, and each time is as unbelievable as the last.
Two. Nearly everything the MC said was a one liner meant to make her seem edgy or funny (or like she spoke before considering what she should say), but every single one fell flat for me.
The kind-of cliffhanger ending (though somewhat predictable to anyone with a tendency toward cynicism) made me kinda want to continue the series, but the dialogue alone makes me question that impulse.
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