Tankbread: Immortal

Tankbread #2

by Paul Mannering

To protect her newborn from the walking dead, a woman ventures into the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Australia in this zombie horror series.It’s been nine months since the intelligent zombies known as evols were reduced to shambling, mindless hordes. Else, a clone once intended as food for the undead, has escaped that grim fate. But now, as she prepares to give birth, her home in the Queensland bush is attacked by feral zombies.Making her escape, Else must fight zombies, crocodiles, and the elements to get her newborn to safety. Now she is on a desperate journey of discovery and redemption that, if her baby survives, will herald the birth of a new world.

Genres: Zombies, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Dystopia

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2013

Reviews

[Shana Festa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immortal is the second book in Paul Mannering's Tankbread series. Some time has passed since the first book...about nine months, I'd say. The first chapter kick starts the action as Else gives birth, escapes hungry Evols by the skin of her teeth and battles a crocodile. Without giving it away, I'll tell you that I now sympathize with that ghost pain men feel when they see someone get kicked in the nuts. In the first three minutes of the book, it earns the adult content warning. Mannering upped the ante on how depraved I thought his mind could get. But it's okay, because it works and frankly, any less would be a disappointment.

With Tankbread no longer available, and Adam being destroyed, the evols are reduced to mindless zombies. But on a cruise ship lying dead in the water, an undead crew maintain their senses by a strict diet of the only other thing rich with stem cells...babies. And now they have Else's son. The characters Mannering has created are out of this world. The imagery painted with one in particular, the Foreman, has visions of a legless Jabba the Hut flitting through my mind. The courier may be gone, but definitely not forgotten. He lives on in Elses's mind and in the face of her newborn son...and if scientist Donna has her way, the world hasn't seen the last of him or his DNA.

The ship, made up of a diverse society, each crazy in their own rights, is a floating wasteland. The descriptions are so vivid, readers can feel the grime covered railings as the walk the deck, smell the stench from layers of bird droppings. The blood and guts rivals that of it's predecessor, and the pacing moves along just as fast as the first installment. Immortal is an exhilarating addition to the Tankbread series that will make readers wince and ask themselves did that really just happen? Yes...it really did. Once you've read it, I'd like a show of hands on how many people yelled at Mannering after the last sentence. Currently, my hand is up!

[Matthew Tait · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel is an improvement on its predecessor. Though I will admit to a biased predilection with regards to style, I applaud Paul’s decision here to abandon first person narration in favor of an omniscient point of view recounting our heroine’s plight. Not only does it present the author more of a canvas to showcase his burgeoning talents, it gives the zombie-infested world he has created greater scope and width. Overall, if Tankbread 2 were a cinematic excursion, this would be an ably directed (and skilfully choreographed) post-apocalyptic adventure.

[John R. Dailey Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

ANOTHER FINE TALE OF DETERMINATION IT IS.....

Hello, you would think that this story would be about zombies. Sure, it's got zombies. I think, however, that this story is about human determination and educational stupidity. Good job. Thanks.

[Sharon Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Tankbread 2: Immortal' is the continuing tale of one extraordinary woman's journey through a zombie apocalypse. The story begins with heroine Else giving birth to her son.

Else was my favourite character in the first book - she's pretty kick-ass - so I was glad to find out she was now the main character. I wasn't sure how well the story would pan out, or how gruesome it would get, with Else having to take care of a new-born in this vicious, zombie-infested landscape. There was a fair bit of gore, and it was definitely a brutal read, but I couldn't put it down for a second. I didn't think it was quite as brilliant as the first book, mainly because there was a bit of repetition and a few things weren't quite as believable this time around. I can't really expand on that without dropping spoilers, but Else goes around yelling the same thing at everyone and everything for a fair chunk of the first part, and while it's understandable it also gets a bit irritating. That said, I still love this character. She's still awesomely kick-ass and will likely remain a favourite character of mine for years to come.

The plot is pretty good, the setting's a bit different from the typical city-full-of-zombies set-up, and the pace keeps things moving along nicely. If you're a squeamish sort you won't get very far, but true horror fans should find this a satisfyingly dark and disturbing read with an action-packed storyline and some surprising twists. There were a couple of really disturbing parts for me, but I was too swept up in the story to really falter when these shocks hit. The ending was pretty much perfect. I look forward to reading the third book soon.

Overall this is an excellent continuation. Highly recommended to fans of horror and zombie apocalypse tales.

[Bill Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Tankbread so I was really looking forward to Tankbread 2. One of the things that really made this book interesting to me is that it was very professionally written. I have been reading a lot of independent / self-published authors and I love their work but, it was refreshing to read something from the apocalyptic genre that was written by an author who has written in other genre's. The pacing and flow of the these books if very good. It also has very compelling character who you become very interested in and root for. Having this book include journeys throughout Australia was also very welcome for this American reader.
I will give nothing away about book two but I will tell you that this one is non-stop action. I enjoyed it a great deal and hope that you will check it out.

[Jessica Austin Gudmundson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard one to get through in the beginning. Not going to rehash it, but if you love horror, and really if you didn't you wouldn't be reading this, this is a good one. A continuation of Tankbread, Else remains badass. I find Mannering's level of gore and descriptions of depravity....well anyways, it certainly made me think.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading the first one I just had to go buy this follow-up. Just loved #1 :)

Didn't enjoy this one as much as the first.. this book seemed to be more an addendum to the first - clearing up some loose ends more than anything.

And I just couldn't believe how that baby survived!

[Mark Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to conclude the original book, seemed like a longtime coming. Great story, but is it the end, could there be another?

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the direction that this series is going,but since seemed too rushed. More background on what was going on in the ship and Mildura would have made things more interesting.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ONLY negative thing I can say is that this book had an ending. I can't say how it could have gone any further, I just didn't want it to end.