Dead Mech

Apex Trilogy #1

by Jake Bible

After the zombie apocalypse decimates the world, human civilization tries to put itself back together again. Their secret weapon: the Mechs. But what happens when a mech pilot dies in his mech and becomes a zombie? Hell on earth is unleashed...

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

Podcast

First published February 9, 2009

About the author

Jake Bible, Bram Stoker Award nominated-novelist, short story writer, independent screenwriter, podcaster, and inventor of the Drabble Novel, has entertained thousands with his horror, sci/fi, thriller, and adventure tales. He reaches audiences of all ages with his uncanny ability to write a wide range of characters and genres.

Jake is the author of the bestselling Z-Burbia series set in Asheville, NC, the bestselling Salvage Merc One, the Apex Trilogy (DEAD MECH, The Americans, Metal and Ash) and the Mega series for Severed Press, as well as the YA zombie novel, Little Dead Man, the Bram Stoker Award nominated Teen horror novel, Intentional Haunting, the ScareScapes series, and the Reign of Four series for Permuted Press.

Find Jake at jakebible.com. Join him on Twitter @jakebible and find him on Facebook.

Reviews

[Larry Kenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok, this book is a guilty pleasure. It's not an amazing book, but I loved it and devoured it. It covers all kinds of genres, including post-apocalypse, zombies, mecha, military sci-fi, dystopian societies, and even some cyberpunk influence. And, of course, the most unique aspect, zombies driving mecha.

If you are the type of person who loves a cheesy B grade action/sci-fi movie, then this book is the literary equal. It's not among the best, but its fast and fun and completely enjoyable as long as you don't take it too seriously.

Before I go further, I have to talk about the Drabble Novel. The author wrote this book in a very unique style. The POV changes every 100 words, exactly. This doesn't leave a lot of space for long descriptions, or lengthy dialogue. So, the book requires a little imagination to picture the settings and characters. It's a very different style, and is pretty distracting at first. However, you soon get used to it, and the author does a good job keeping the story coherent and flowing in this format. I thought it might be a deal breaker before I started reading the book, but ended up being a non-issue pretty quickly.

I'll start with the good. I enjoyed the blend of all the different genres. They worked well together. However, the strongest part of this book is the plot. It steam rolls from point A to point B, without taking any detours or slowing down, and is part of what makes it so enjoyable. The idea of the Dead Mechs is a unique one, and something I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

However, there are a few pretty glaring defects. The main thing that slapped me in the face is how poorly the military sci-fi portion of the book was handled. It was not convincing in the slightest, and had more the vibe of a group of vagabonds hanging out than a structured military unit. The characters are pretty one dimensional, with no character growth being shown by pretty much anyone. There is a lot of fuzzy logic in place, and a few things just didn't make sense to me at all.

With that said, I LOVED THIS BOOK! Despite some pretty big flaws, I devoured this book and enjoyed every minute of it. The fanboy in me for zombies, mecha, and over the top B movies couldn't get enough.

If you are looking for a serious literary work, then I would pass this book by. If you just want to have a grin inducing good time reading about mecha stomping through fields of zombies, then I highly recommend this book.

[Sue Baiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few things to keep in mind when reading this review. First of all, I usually hate zombie stories. I just don't get them. The whole coming back to life to eat the living thing is patently stupid (imho). Not to mention scientifically preposterous. Secondly, I'm not a big fan of post-apocalyptic stories. They are just too damn depressing and dreary for my tastes. And, Finally, I have a low tolerance for blood, guts, gore, and violence--the ick factor. Well, I used to anyway...

I both listened to the podcast version and bought the ebook version of Dead Mech. Reading and listening were both wonderful experiences but for different reasons. I highly recommend both.

This novel is unique in that it is the first drabble novel. A drabble is a piece of flash fiction that is exactly 100 words. Not 99. Not 101. He wrote this story one drabble at a time. Each one is a complete thought, often a scene, sometimes a part of a scene. But, each is a perfect drabble. This alone astonishes me and made the read very enjoyable. Because of the nature of a drabble the writing is tight and precise.

Jake is a natural storyteller and hearing the book read by him was a joy. Dead Mech was his first podcasting experience and he learned and improved as he went; but it is good from the very first episode and only gets better.

For me, the thing that is the biggest determining factor in whether or not I like a story isn't the plot, or the genre, or the setting...it's the characters. If the writer can bring the characters to life and make me care about them, I'll follow them damn near anywhere. Jake does that beautifully here. The story lines are all good and tightly interwoven. But, the characters are real and memorable. I was surprised to realize when listening to his Q & A episode afterwards that he never gave full descriptions to any of the characters. Yet, even now, I still see them all clearly in my mind. And somehow I know the Rookie has blue eyes. Trust me on that.

Remember the objections I listed at the beginning of this: zombies, post-apocalyptic, and the ick factor? Well, this is about giant mechanized war machines in a post-apocalyptic world where not only are there zombies, but the mechs themselves become zombies...throw in some cannibalism and cage fighting and well, there you have it. Even with all of that, I absolutely LOVED this book. That's how wonderful the characters are and how fine a job Jake did with the writing.

There were moment when I laughed till I cried; others where I just cried. I finally get zombie stories--it's NOT about the zombies. The zombies are just the obstacle for the heroes to conquer.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy it quite as much as the Mega series, but it was highly entertaining anyway. A lot of action and adventure and everything I've read by Jake Bible has been a lot of fun so far!

[David Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of zombie & mech action in this one. Overall I would say 3.5 stars. A tad confusing because the story switches between characters points of view so rapidly. You'll be zipping along reading about one set of characters over here and the next paragraph the story switches to over there and another set of characters. But, I got used to it. Love several of the characters, probably Harlow (she is one tough character & very handy with swords) the best of the bunch. I'll check into the other two books in this series to see if I want to move on.

[Jennifer Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. GAWD. This was SO good! Not only do we have Mech pilots that integrate with their machines to create kick-ass zombie fighting machines, we also have dead mechs thrown into the mix - pilots that died while still connected to their mechs, and now wander the landscape causing general mayhem. But then get this, the mechs are also suddenly becoming self aware, creating the first true AI’s!
I love the brutality of the action sequences, and Bible doesn’t flinch away when it comes to shocking scenes occurring within the cannibal tribe that may possibly trigger those with PTSD from past abuse. Were those scenes a bit hard to read without cringing? Yes! But that’s the whole point. Everything Bible describes is absolutely on par with the world he’s built, and the characters within it. And being able to make the reader uncomfortable is a sign of excellent descriptive storytelling.
This post-apocalyptic world is both dangerous and gritty, and Bible brings each character perfectly, and vibrantly to life.

[Yemic · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often I get emotional about characters in books, but the Boss and Bishop riled me up. I could not wait to see what happened to them at the end.
I have not been a big fan of Zombies novels they tend to read like call of duty zombie mode, no story just survival constant from hordes.
This book read like a movie, Jake's writing style is unique, you have no choice but to feel and cheer for each member of the team.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hundreds of years after the zombie apocalypse decimates the world, human civilization has put itself back together again. Their secret weapon against the zombie hordes: the Mechs. Massive robotic battle machines. But what happens when a mech pilot dies in his mech and becomes a zombie? Hell on earth is unleashed... Prepare for a high action, fast paced, hell ride through a futuristic wasteland as Mech Base Commander James Capreze and his crew of mech pilots battle zombies, cannibals, religious cults and worst of all, the Dead Mechs, all to try and save the human race one last time. Jake Bible's Dead Mech: The future may not be completely dead, but it's on its way...

[Pauline Ennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, a great new twist on the zombie genre. Great characters, I would guess Mr Bible has a intelligent and strong better half as he writes his women characters like that, they aren't just beautiful fillers, they don't sit around waiting for men to rescue them. Harlow is a great character in particular. How he can make several tons of metal cute is beyond me, but he does, Stomper :) The Rookie arc of the story was also very good.

I enjoyed this so much I have downloaded another in the series, 3 before 2 because i need to know what happens to the team and Shiner, and have left downloaded books in a que on my kindle which is vexing me, thanks Mr Bible for setting off my slight OCD :)

[Tobias Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first "read" this in audio format, and folks, I just gotta say...Wow!

Action Movie, Horror Story, Sci-Fi Thriller, Post Apocalyptic Tale of Zombies & Super Science gone awry.

But all of that is really just the backdrop, the setting, against which the story is told. It's all about the characters here. Just trust me on this one. If you ever enjoyed any of the aforementioned genres then you're going to enjoy Dead Mech.

So, take a leap of faith and dive in.

BUY THIS BOOK!
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-MECH-Apex-...

You won't regret it. Honest.

-Tobias E. Queen

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story. I liked the Mechs and the Zombies. The language was a bit much for me. In the Afterword/Q&A, the author makes no apologies for, and even defends, his overuse of cursing. I think it would've still been a good story had the author made an attempt to tone it down a little. Just my $0.02. Thanks for the story, Jake.

[Ryan Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The zombie craze has taken over the world. Well this book has a new twist on the craze that made it great. Imagine Pacific Rim with zombies. The world was decimated but zombies but the humans have survived. Not only survived but are fighting back. Fighting back with 50 ton Mechs.

What do you do when the human pilot driver dies and becomes a zombie?

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I'd like it. I bought it, but had reservations. Mostly because I'm growing bored of the zombie thing, but when I saw it was zombies and mechs, I was curious.

Curiosity rewarded! Great book, well worth the read, might even fall into the read again later category, it was that engaging.

Even if you're (Like me) kinda over zombies, go get this awesome book.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit that I was a little hesitant to read this series. I enjoyed the hell out of the Z-Burbia series so I don't know why I was so reluctant to pick another of his series up but I am glad I did. This was a different take on Zombies. A look at what things could be like in the future after all hell has broken loose. I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

[PJ Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man and mech.

Jake Bible is the drabble master! I've never read a book before that was written this way and it's pretty awesome. I loved all the characters, including the mechs. The story was really exciting with man and machine united against an array of enemies, even the ending was thrilling with a bit of a cliffhanger to have your heart pounding.

[Nomad Scry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deliciously vile. I don't normally enjoy zombie novels, but Dead Mech is so disgusting and screwed up that it transcends its genre and becomes the same sort of mesmerizing glorification of filth that the True Blood tv show excels at.

[Ziggy Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, where a solid story with kick-ass characters was offset by the bizarre - yet unique and even gutsy - format of the book.

Well, after a mostly lackluster month of picking out some random books from the Kindle Unlimited list (and worse, yes, even books that I .... gasp... paid full price for!), "Dead Mech" is exactly what I needed. Action, zombies, everyone kicking ass left and right and just an awesome take on the whole dystopian / zombie genre. It may be the nanobots talking but sometimes it just feels good to turn off the ol' higher brain functions and enjoy a B-movie grade pulper with no guilt. Bra-vo.

Having said that, you need to prepare yourself because as the author explains even before the first gnashing of teeth have occurred, this is what is apparently called a Drabble Novel. This means you get 100 words of action or dialogue or a point of view or whatever and then click, it changes (not always but mostly) to another setting, another character, another plot-tangent. We're talking no lengthy dialogue, no deep set-ups, nada. It doesn't mean that we don't resolve a lot if not all the issues presented (eventually) nor does it mean that the characterizations aren't pretty awesome... but it is a pace that may drive you a little bonkers, particularly at first. I can't imagine the self-inflicted pain this caused Bible along the way...

Think of it this way: you don't always love the paintings you see in a museum of art, but you still have to nod and think, 'ok, I see what's going on here... I don't necessarily like it, but good for them!' Then you read some Chinese billionaire bought it for a gazillion dollars and at least you can say 'I saw it when....'

To his credit, Bible keeps things going - super-fast btw - and despite the metronomic pacing of the story, you just read and read and read and then your eyeballs melt and fall out. The Drabbling does keep the pages turning,that's for sure. As I was reading, I kept thinking to myself 'no, I wouldn't have done it like this but damn, Bible showed some nads writing it this way'. It's not the greatest approach I've seen by any stretch of the imagination - imagine reading 700 note cards worth of text - but the quality of the story itself covers that bit of discomfort for lack of a better word. And naturally, it's all made better by a plethora of actors both male and female that are both awesomely kick-ass as well as groundingly (word?) human. Good stuff. Oh and killing insane, self-righteous evangelicals in squishy, nasty ways? Always a bonus in my eyes!

Again, though, the best thing is that this is a really cool and unique take on one of my favoritest genres. In a lot of ways, I think this is what Peter Clines' 'Ex-Patriots' series could have been like if he had not (a) wasted so much space describing each and every zombie (that one wore an old Lakers shirt, the girl had on a dress with a summer theme print, blah blah blah JUST SHOOT THEM ALREADY!) and (b) not been so damn lazy with some of the endings of the different books (seriously? A super powered mutant dude just gives up and pouts at one point?) Are the mechs themselves in "Dead Mech" so unique? No, not unto themselves. Are the different 'populations' in the book unique? Again, no not by themselves though one group came up with a pretty gnarly survival technique. But by the end, it all blends into a really fun roller-coaster of a ride that I'm glad I read.

In the end, I had to ask myself: is this a 4-star literary masterpiece? Oh heck no, but I wasn't looking for that either. Do I think other readers will have some guilty escapist fun with it if they approach it in the right way? Oh heck yeah. Gimme more.

[Calvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

dialogue that is in this:

"i'd rather not have the only working uterus in the wasteland"
"You sure have balls." "Last time I checked" the commander quipped"

jesus... what can i say about this?

copious amounts of swearing because the author grew up in a house with a lot of swearing. he even stated that he took words out so he could fit more swearing into the drabble format. the problem i have with the swearing is that it is so forced. when you are under stress and need to convey information to someone really quickly, you tend not to swear because it just wastes time in a life or death situation. the amount of swearing is reminiscent of someone who just learned swear words and decided to use them in everything. it's like having a brand new pair of shoes. you gotta try them on! wear them all the time!

none of the characters are unique. they are basically the same character with different names and slightly tweaked fighting skills. they all are constantly wisecracking and bantering for no reason. again, during tense life or death situations, they are just wisecracking to each other. one liners after one liners. it quickly starts to wear on you. the author claims that none of the characters are based on any archetypes, which i believe because these characters are so one dimensional that we would be hard pressed to find an archetype that would fit them. the only person who has a back story is the commander(?) which is paper thin and told through dream flashbacks... jesus... really? he's tortured by nightmares so those get described and that's how we get his backstory. the characters are so generic that you could mix and match them into each different "role" and they would fit with no changes in their "personality". the only reason that you can tell a character is female is because the author is so in your face with them being female (see uterus quote above). i'm not saying that there should be well delineated stereotypical female characters, i'm just saying there could be more nuances and subtlety to the way that characters are fleshed out. the author also doesn't describe any of his characters, which he points out gleefully at the end of the audiobook because no one on the forums asked about that so he thinks no one notices. he wants us to use our imaginations to fill in the appearance of these characters. i get it. it could work, but the world he built is also so devoid of description that you start wondering where are they? what do their mechs look like? what does the setting look like? is he trying to build a world or does he just have no clue? is he lazy? maybe it's because of the drabble format, but a few drabbles of description could have gone a long way.

the premise of the story seemed interesting. humans that pilot mechs become zombies and then they keep piloting their mechs when they are zombies because the interface is so good. sounds interesting, but the setting and the rest of the story itself is very generic. the author claimed to be a contrarian and original but there is nothing original about the plot or the setting. zombie apocalypse, crazy cultists, mechs, cannibal rapists, etc... there is so much dialogue! just so much he saids and she saids etc... apparently why mechs themselves don't have a kill switch will be explained in a later novel, but i probably will never find out.

that relationship between the commander and his daughter was just creepy. why do they keep calling each other "papa bear" and "baby girl" is she 8? 12?

[Wanda Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book a couple of years ago and it got lost in my kindle among my other stories. I just found it yesterday and read it. The Blub about the book says, "Dead Mech is a zombie-filled, post-apocalyptic, military scifi, mech action/adventure novel like no other!" It is not lying! This book had so much stuff going on.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow and awkward, but as the book continues, it gets filled with action, humor, zombies, horrir, crazies, heroes, love, sacrifice, and more.

After being a bit skeptical about whether or not I would like it at the beginning, I found that the characters and the many branches of the story drew me in and I could not put it down.

It was not an easy read, but it was entertaining and enthralling once you got into the story. It definitely was original as I haven't read anything like it before and I have been reading science fiction for over 55 years. I would say that if you like zombie books or if you like mech books or even science fiction books that if you read this, you will like it. I would recommend it.

[John Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this was a fun and different book. It's written in 100 word paragraphs, but it's strung together to create a novel.

Zombies have taken over the world, and to fight them, the UNC developed Mechs to fight them. Unfortunately, because even the living can turn into zombies once they die, it's possible for a Mech pilot to become a zombie inside his mech.

So this is the story of a Mech base, that fights zombie hordes and Dead Mechs, the pilots who use them, the support personnel, and the Mech Ai that has become sentient, and now wants to make up for all the humans it's killed as part of being a Dead Mech.

Apart from the fact that these Mechs somehow kill thousands of zombies with unlimited ammo multiple times, and that the UDC turn out to be the bad guys, who are experimenting on human survivors to create controllable zombies, it's a fun read, and I look forward to reading the next two books.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it 30% through this novel. To start the characters, one and all, were insufferable. None were believable and many including the leader were completely incompetent. The Outpost, is framed as being some sort of military base but instead is complete chaos. True leadership is almost non-existent and the relationship between the main characters is more one of a bunch of young school children than one of fellow soldiers. The author switches between points of view with insane frequency and usually for no discernable reason. Often times only writing a tiny handful of words before switching yet again.

I don't mind books that go beyond the realm of the believable. Zombies + Mechs all wrapped up in dystopian military sci-fi sounded like a fun time. But awful writing and worse characters made for a 1 star book.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique take on the popular theme of zombie apocalypse. Dead Mech explores the action from several perspectives, presenting characters well; you won't like them all, but all are believable. The most fun comes from the mechs themselves. In a time where pilots use mechanical frames for fighting and working, a zombie outbreak is extra dangerous - when pilots die they become armored zombies, instinctively using their armor and strength to kill and eat. As some mechs' AI develop and they find themselves connected to mindless monsters, they must try to find a way to work with the still-living humans to come out the other side.

Ever evolving challenges keep the action moving, and maintain suspense in a believable way. Fortunately this book resolves sufficiently on its own, because having read the teaser for book 2 I might stop here.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a fun story but the pacing is abhorrent. It's like this guy figured out how to create a sense of urgency by writing a series of short scenes and then just ran with it for the entire book. Its certainly a choice. But for the second half I was listening to the audiobook on 2x speed and I skipped back to listen to a description of about a 12 second interaction between two characters, only to find that it took a full minute of normal reading time. The trick to pacing a lot of the time is cutting down or drawing out your description of the action to bring it closer to the real time it would take. And you're never gonna speed things up with adjectives. So it's long because it has a lot of words, not a lot of story. Most of the dialog is pointless and the characters are indistinguishable. Strikes me as the wrong medium for the story.

[Andrea Azumendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a fan of horror and I enjoy a good zombie story. But I thought this book was...okay. I listened to the audiobook and I actually got lost and had to rewind it a couple of times.
I also wanted to gag at the fact that Rachel ALWAYS referred to her father as “Papa Bear” and she was “Baby Girl,” Nicknames are fine but you wouldn’t use them in every single scenario. The dialogue between everyone was awkward. I also wasn’t a fan of the narrator of the AB but that doesn’t affect the rating of the book.
Don’t get me wrong, the concept of dead zombies in war fighting machines is pretty cool(I kept thinking of Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster suit). But it didn’t excite me enough. Maybe if I actually read it, I may have enjoyed it more. I don’t know.

[Jaime Chemacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really into the story, but the audio performance was seriously lacking and I feel that I would have been engrossed much more had I read the thing myself! Considering the world these people live in, the men and women working the mechs would be some serious hardcore badasses, but every woman was made to sound whiny and every man sounded like an idiot most of the time, and that was not the writing. The dialogue was way off. Please get a more intuitive reader for this series!!!!

I recommend reading this one yourself! The story itself was very interesting and unique. 4.5 stars from me

[Darius · Rating 3 out of 5]

I——-I don’t know what happened. It had all the makings of a good 4 star book (taking away a star for the annoying constant switch of POVs within chapters). However, the book just……..crashed. The last chapter especially hurt me. Like, what was the reason??? WHAT WAS THE REASON??? For those of you who’ve read it you know what I mean. SOOOO MUCH COULD HAPPEN. SOOOOOO MUCH POTENTIAL. Then the Commander threw it away and for what? Petty revenge? Bruh. That was singlehandedly the worst decision I’ve seen from a book’s character all year and I’ve encountered some shit characters this reading year.

[Wil · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I read the audiobook version)
This two star review is balanced on two factors:

-The pacing of the book is cut up like a fight scene in an action movie. The chapters/scenes are often infuriatingly short, always seem to end on a cliffhanger of sorts, and left me feeling like I was reading a ping pong match.

-The audiobook narration is bad. I put down the book several times because I couldn't take many of the grating character's voices.

Awesome concept for a book, but I didn't care for it.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is so interesting, but the characters are really quite stereotypical and predictable. It also did not help that i listened to the audio version and that i could not stand the narration. Really and truly the worst choice. I will not complete the series on audible. In a few months when i have forgotten the sound of the narrator's voice, i will attempt to read books 2 and 3.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite its flaws, this would be a fun read except for two things. First is just an annoyance really: the point of view switches constantly. Second is everything with the cannibals. Everything in those scenes is just gratuitously cruel. If you're a horror fan (not thriller, horror) maybe this is you're thing, but if this wasn't a book club pick, I would have stopped after "mouth privileges."

[Wenzel Roessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting story and the action and pace of the book is in high gear, in part to the Drabble format the author uses. Many great characters in this book which makes the changing of focus from story to story a non issue. If you want real entertainment listen to this book the narrator (Julie Hovers) does an amazing job.

[L.B. Sisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of first group of books that I purchased on my Amazon Kindle app. Enjoyed the experimental style, and the story was very cool. I've read the entire series, which transported readers to a wild, harsh world that was complex, brutal ... yet hopeful.