Screaming Eagles

The Front #1

by Timothy W. Long, David Moody, Craig DiLouie

"Band of Brothers meets Dead Snow"

Private Franklin Grillo is a fresh faced infantryman in the 101st Airborne. He's been dispatched to the Ardennes Forest outside of Bastogne to assist Baker company against a surprise attack by the Germans. Outgunned, low on ammo, food, and supplies, the men along the new front are up against an army ten times their size.

Barely able to hold out the 101st now face a new threat. German soldiers who take massive amounts of damage but keep on attacking.

This is an alternative history that will sink it's teeth into you.

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Action

Audible Audio

First published December 20, 2015

About the author

When not sitting around watching Rick and Morty reruns in a bathrobe, Timothy W. Long writes stuff. He has a predilection for weird literature and sometimes drinks Coke for breakfast. Don't tell his mom.

Tim is the author of over 30 novels in genres ranging from cozy/Isekai, to all manner of post-apocalyptic because no one has managed to take away his word processor.

Tim is an active member of SFWA, HWA, and Thriller Writers. He recently signed a three-book deal with Aethon Books for his Dark Lord Reborn Series.

Reviews

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal! The compilation of these three exceptional authors (who each have more than a few must listen books written individually) was amazing! "Screaming Eagles" book #1 of this (The Front) series was like no other book in the zombie genre I have encountered, and can only say it is electric!

American soldiers coming up against super zombified German soldiers? Oh Yay!! Stellar character development, super intelligent plot and amazing action all throughout. This series is a stand standout of standouts, and I must tell anyone who will listen, reads my reviews. etcetera... This book is a MUST read and/or listen, and you do not know what you are missing! #Hooked!

Sending countless cheers and thanks to authors: Timothy Long, David Moody and Craig DiLouie.

Narrator, Mr.Tom Menesses brings this story to life with his supreme narrative talents, and what a killer job he did!

On to Book #2 "Red Devils" of The Front Series!

Hope book #3:" Berlin or Bust" (currently available on kindle) comes out on audible pronto!

These are the types of books that are amazing on audio!

[Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars

I’m a sucker for a good zombie book; put a new twist on it and I’m in; put David Moody’s name on it and you better get out of my way. I love the concept behind the creation of this series. Timothy W. Long, David Moody and Craig DiLouie will each write individual books in this six-book series. It’s a fantastic way to get introduced to some new authors, enjoy a fun, fresh story and have something to look forward to.

The Good

Long has given us the introduction to this series. He has also created some great characters that I was able to connect with and wanted to follow. He has given a unique twist to an important historical battle. The pacing was fast and pulled me through the story in just a few hours.

The Bad

I don’t normally like to do this, but the proofing was atrocious. Double words, homonyms, misspellings, characters showing up in the wrong foxhole, etcetera. I’ll usually let some of these things slide by, but due to the sheer volume, I really have to mention that this story is not clean; the soldiers and zombies get messy too, but I expected that. It ended up being a real distraction.

The Ugly

Where do I go from here? The story was good, but I don’t want to write reviews like this. One of my favorite authors has written the second book in this series. This is the first book that I’ve read by Long. He can tell a story, that is certain, but are his other books as poorly proofed? Will the next book in the series be the same? It’s disheartening how one experience can cast such a shadow.

In the end, Screaming Eagles is 4 stars for the story. It had some great characters, a fantastic pace, but I’m going to have to take a bit off for the lack of proofing. If you are someone who can overlook that sort of thing, you are certain to enjoy the ride.

[John R. Dailey Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A DAMN FINE ZOMBIE TALE IT IS...

Hello, this was a very refreshing zombie tale. Nazi zombies at that. A great story that breathes new life into a genre that has been over stocked with boring inventory for a long time. Keep up the good work. Thanks.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have seen the movie Dead Snow then you know half of the story here. Only that the time of the action is situated in the Second World War. The story isn`t something of a big surprise, but the events and characters are well made and have some depth to them.

I hoped that this will be something different than the classic the zombie chase us all, but, no luck here.

[Brian's Book Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out this and all my reviews at Brian's Book Blog

They thought they understood their enemy…

World War II — being in the trenches and fighting off the German soldiers was bad enough. What would happen if the SS/Nazi’s came up with a new drug that made their soldiers almost unstoppable? This is a story about that.

Todd Menesses narrates this story and absolutely crushes it. He has an awesome history channel-like voice that really brings this story alive. His performance (and yes, it truly was a performance) was perfect — voicing different characters from different areas in perfect dialects. Menesses will definitely be a narrator that I will be looking for when I’m buying my next audiobook.

I’m a big history buff, I love studying the different wars and different time periods to figure out what life was like or what battle could have felt like. I feel like Screaming Eagles really pulls off the feeling of “being there” in the trenches of World War II. Granted there is a lot more going on than actually happened during the war, but that makes it an even better story.

Knowing that the SS were experimenting with drugs during this time makes this story even more believable. There were a couple times that I actually wondered if something similar to this actually happened.

The pacing of the story was awesome, the reader is thrown from person to person and story to story throughout the book. As soon as you feel comfortable it changes to someone else — giving the story a multi-faceted look from many different points of view.

Screaming Eagles was a hell of a book — told like a true story during WWII — it was so realistic I felt like I was really there with these men. I will definitely be looking forward to the next books in this series and I really hope that Menesses narrates those as well.

[nora m malotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Screaming Eagles (The Front, Book 1)

This action pact war story is like none you have read before. Imagine fighting a war where the enemy dies and just gets up and comes for you again. If you die the dead just come back and turn on their own men ZOMBIES JUST WANT TO EAT..NOT FIGHT. THIS THRILLER WILL HORRIFY YOU . IT LEFT ME IN TEARS. I DON'T CRY!
You will want to read this one again and again. I RECOMMEND

[William Siracuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zombies in WWII

Decent read from beginning to end. Reminded me of the Nazi zombie genre of horror movies...and made me wanna watch email again. Was a little slow start for me...Had a hard time getting into it,but once I did, was able to really sink my teeth into it.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Dead Snow films so this series sounded perfect. I was not disappointed and really looking forward to book two in the series by one of my favourite authors, David Moody.

[Chris Page · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess this an early book from the author that or there really was no one willing to proof read it. To be fair the odd error isn't uncommon in todays' books particularly in the world of Kindle Unlimited but in this instance the number of errors was distracting. Added to which the theme has been a bit well used.

[Hammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So o o o o o o o slow!!! This book was boring until the last maybe 5 chapters where it finally picks up and then ends. Not sure I'll be getting book 2. Writing was subpar, eaxample; a character that had his face blown off the page before was somehow moving out of a foxhole the next page, things like that.

[Carrie Mudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent read. Takes a wee minute to orientate yourself with the situation of the changing characters, to get and then keep up to speed with who is who. Lots of fast paced action, very tense. Could have done with more proof reading / editing. Looking forward to book two!

[Greg Oaster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn’t expecting a book on zombies, not my cup of tea.

[Mark Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like WW2 and zombie this is for you. A good start to a trio of books

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t expect a zombie tale

[Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead men walking

I enjoyed reading this book. I agree, with the GI's, something weird goning on out in front of us. Yes, I would recommend this book to family and friends. Alvis

[David Healey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once it gets going it is not stop action. No boring interludes, no romance, just pulse racing, page turning action.

[Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically this is the Battle of the Bulge with zombies. The story gets four stars, it's quite entertaining. But the editing is atrocious! For the first half of the book, the editing isn't too bad. By the second half it gets worst and worst, like they were running out of time and just bypassed editing all together. The grammar is bad but can be overlooked "the the..." instead of "that the...". It's when a character appears in to places at once that it starts getting hard to follow. Names are transposed as well as ranks. One private got a "type-o promotion" to captain then bumped back to private.

If you can ignore the horrible editing, this is an enjoyable light read. I haven't decided if I'll get the second book in the series. I'll wait to hear if they hired a better editor...or just an editor at all.

[Nathan Tullis · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this audio book for review via Audiobookreviewer.com

I picked this story for a couple of reasons: I wanted and fairly short read, as a filler between some new releases to which I was looking forward, and, well, zombies. Reading the summary and seeing the cover, I expected epic battles between American soldiers and German Nazi zombies, and honestly, not much else; I was wrong.

It’s the height of World War II and a German Sergeant and his men are ordered to take an experimental drug that will give them extra strength, and even keep them from feeling pain. Meanwhile, American soldiers are hunkered down in fox holes dodging mortars. Low on ammunition, outnumbered, and with little reinforcements, they feared the worst. No matter how many Nazis they took out, two more seemed to take their place. Things go from bad to worse as the Nazis seem to be going crazy, displaying baffling tactics, and forcing some unlikely yet necessary alliances.

This was not a very exciting book. As I said, I was expecting a face-paced, action-packed zombie battle. Instead, the story developed rather slowly and almost lost my interest. It’s saving grace was the authors addition of backstories to the main characters. There are several character points-of-view in this book, and the author added some depth to them with background of their past, or who they’re hoping to come home to, etc. Character development is a big deal for me; I am much less concerned with what the characters are doing than I am why they are doing it. So, while some of the soldiers’ stories were somewhat cliche, they humanized the men, making me care about what happened to them, and helping the rather dull plot become interesting.

Narration duties were done by Todd Menesses, who didn’t seem to enjoy the book much. I’ve heard his narration on another book and was not disappointed but his reading as the narrator of the tale was not very enthusiastic, and somewhat dull in itself. I feel he read at too slow of a pace, and trailed off at the end of each sentence as if it were the end of a chapter with a cliffhanger. His voice is great, though, and his character voices were awesome and unique to one-another, making it easy to differentiate between the each one.

While I enjoyed Screaming Eagles, it is not a book aimed at multiple markets. It’s for zombie fans, maybe the adventurous historical fiction enthusiast. The production quality was very good and, even with his unenthusiastic reading as the narrator, his performance as the soldiers was very good.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love war history and zombies so when the two are put together I knew this would be a winner. I wasn't wrong. The Americans are in the trenches hoping to survive another freezing cold night thinking all they have to face are ordinary German soldiers but Hitler in his insane wisdom has another idea. The Nazis have developed a miracle serum that will turn their soldiers into killing machines, there is just one flaw and it's a doozy. True, they are killing machines because they have now turned into zombies. As the battles rage on and American soldiers now zombies join with the other zombies the term "war is hell" takes on a new meaning. As the hordes advance, American and German soldiers join together to survive and fight this terror. With well defined characters and a well researched plot I found myself going through a multitude of emotions. I don't want to say anything else as I may spoil the book for others. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of historical war and zombie genres. You will be in for a wild tense dramatic ride. Timothy W Long has hit a home run with this book and really looking forward to the next two books in the series written by his co-authors.

[Ryan H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself really going through this one quickly, not only because it was a short listen but because I found myself being in grossed in it. The characters had Rich, deep and emotional background stories which was very interesting. Each character with a very unique and that was found in their background story. The author does a very realistic and great job describing the weapons, technology, tactics and even pop culture references to the time. Which gave the story a very refreshing and truthful look to it. I am a big fan of war history books and that part of the story was very well done, it was the zombies that could've used a little bit of work however we're still very well written. I can't quite put my finger on what this one was missing but it won't keep me from continuing on in the series. You cannot say any bad things about the narration as it was done very flawlessly and the voices of hard and soldiers while being a motional was done at a top-notch rate. There are some twist in this one that left me a little bit shocked as well so if you like war history and zombies this book is definitely for you.

[Leslie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really exciting book. I wasn't sure I was going to like it when I learned of the zombie aspect of the book, as that is not typically what I enjoy reading about. But this book was really well-written, so it seemed totally plausible (Nazi experiment). I listened to the Audible audio version of this book narrated by Todd Menesses, and I was really impressed with his ability to get such distinct and unique voices to each of the characters. His capacity for different accents was really impressive. I don't normally listen to audio books more than once, but I would actually listen to this one again just because it moves so quickly and is filled with excitement. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.

[Debbie Winfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

What a fantastic read. I was surprised this book worked..combining world war 2 with zombies is a very clever way of entertaining fans of zombie novels and refreshing things a bit instead of the usual apocalyptic novels that are around at the moment. I've always been fascinated with war and zombies so combining the two has pleasantly surprised me..well done to the authors on coming up with such a good idea. Give this book a read if you like your apocalyptic novels. I highly recommend you give it a go..

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic read! I really got into the characters and the storyline. When I finished the book I was not ready to stop reading. I look forward to the next one in the series. I have always been a history buff and this was something new and different for me in the alternate history genre. I have never been one to read a lot of alternate history. Most of the time the history is so far off that my mind wont shut off and let me enjoy the book. I'm glad this book was not the case. The historic facts are dead on. The characters are fantastic. Stop reading my review and buy the book.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept for this story is a very interesting idea, particularly for me being that I am a fan of anything Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne (Band of Brothers). Screaming Eagles was a decent book overall, but the writing seemed a bit benign and the narrator for the audio version was mispronouncing things frequently which further threw me off a little. The book itself was short as well, and their was not much in the way of a creative plot. It wasn't terrible though, so don't be discouraged entirely.

[Roy Gore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idea is good but that's it!

This was a great idea for a book, it could have been more informative, I hate to say but I have up reading it as it just wasn't gripping me. I would like to have known how the serum was developed and why. It all seemed to rushed and to ambitious to get into the action. And it was all over the place like a Tarrantino film. It just didn't work for me I'm afraid, I wanted it too but it just didn't cut it for me.

[MC Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Battle of the Bulge meets zombies!

What a different turn of events we find in Screaming Eagles! I'm a WWII historical buff and a zombie reader so this is right up my alley. Great job, and wonderful characters.

[Teresa Tidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great zombie story

Other than a few editing errors, this is a great story. Tons of action with a great cast of characters. Imagine Saving private Ryan, with zombies! Highly recommend!

[Todd]

It was ok. Not the best and not the worst. I'll buy the next one :)

[G. Mark Kelm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fresh idea, but just didn't grab my interest. As a student of military history I found several errors the most obvious I forwarded to the author.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought what I thought was historical fiction. Instead it is some sort of zombie-ish hodgepodge. Not worth the space on my hard drive.