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Revivors #3
Element Zero
Technologically reanimated corpses are frontline soldiers engaged in a neverending war. Agent Nico Wachalowski uncovered a conspiracy that allowed Samuel Fawkes, the scientist who created them, to control them beyond the grave. And now Fawkes has infected untold thousands with new technology, creating an undetectable army that will obey his every command-a living army that just might represent the future of humanity...
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 23, 2011
2 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 23, 2012
There was too much about this book I didn't like, even though the idea is interesting, and the writing isn't bad, and the action is almost non-stop. It was too gritty and dark for my tastes. I guess I'm just not into zombies, regardless of the type.
Overall rating: 2.5/5.0 stars.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books: http://bittenbybooks.com.
Overall rating: 2.5/5.0 stars.
Reviewed for Bitten by Books: http://bittenbybooks.com.
August 24, 2011
ELEMENT ZERO (Revivors #3) is undoubtedly the best of the series and the stakes are definitely higher this go-around. There is even more action then there was in the first two books, if that is possible and you definitely get more of a true zombie vibe from the revivors in this installment.
In this final book, two years have passed since Cal found out she had been injected with Huma and narrowly escaped being blown to bits on a tanker, from the nuke that had been implanted in her gut. Now working for Stillwell Corps, she is rounding up humans that have also been infected with the Huma virus. Fortunately Nico had found a way to have some special tech developed and surgically implanted behind her ear to prevent the Huma from activating and taking over when the time came. Miraculously he was able to do all this off the record, so no one else was aware that Cal had been infected, or at least that’s the plan.
Currently collaborating with the Ai and the mind-manipulators against Fawkes and the revivors, FIB agent Nico Wachalowski starts to question if he’s chosen the right side. Which is the true lesser of the two evils? Weighing the emanate destruction of the city and possibly the rest humanity to the loss of personal choice and ability to function under ones freewill, Nico decides there is really only one choice; stop Fawkes with the help of Ai, then figure out what to do about the mind-manipulators.
The initial threat of Fawkes and the revivors has evolved as the virus Huma continues to spread at a rapid pace; turning live humans into next-gen Huma revivors through injections, creating a nearly undetectable dormant army throughout the city. Question is, who is infected?... hundreds?... thousands of unaware citizens?... Walking, living breathing weapons; dead and back again in under a minute with just one order from Fawkes…
And with that I won’t go any further in to the story so not to give too much away. But I will say, expect quite a few more twist to this thrilling fast passed sci-fi with a truly heart pounding, edge of your seat ending and a ton of white-knuckle moments throughout. As the lucky winner of a ELEMENT ZERO goodreads first read, I was persuaded to check out the first two books, STATE OF DECAY and SILENT ARMY before moving on to my prize, this third and final book and I’m so glad I did. I completely fell in love with this dark and creepy post-apocalyptic, cyber punkish, sci-fi zombie tale. Completely unique and radically different from other urban fantasy or zombie fiction I’ve come across I the past, I found James Knapp’s expert character and world building to be fascinating and completely consuming. Bravo!
In this final book, two years have passed since Cal found out she had been injected with Huma and narrowly escaped being blown to bits on a tanker, from the nuke that had been implanted in her gut. Now working for Stillwell Corps, she is rounding up humans that have also been infected with the Huma virus. Fortunately Nico had found a way to have some special tech developed and surgically implanted behind her ear to prevent the Huma from activating and taking over when the time came. Miraculously he was able to do all this off the record, so no one else was aware that Cal had been infected, or at least that’s the plan.
Currently collaborating with the Ai and the mind-manipulators against Fawkes and the revivors, FIB agent Nico Wachalowski starts to question if he’s chosen the right side. Which is the true lesser of the two evils? Weighing the emanate destruction of the city and possibly the rest humanity to the loss of personal choice and ability to function under ones freewill, Nico decides there is really only one choice; stop Fawkes with the help of Ai, then figure out what to do about the mind-manipulators.
The initial threat of Fawkes and the revivors has evolved as the virus Huma continues to spread at a rapid pace; turning live humans into next-gen Huma revivors through injections, creating a nearly undetectable dormant army throughout the city. Question is, who is infected?... hundreds?... thousands of unaware citizens?... Walking, living breathing weapons; dead and back again in under a minute with just one order from Fawkes…
And with that I won’t go any further in to the story so not to give too much away. But I will say, expect quite a few more twist to this thrilling fast passed sci-fi with a truly heart pounding, edge of your seat ending and a ton of white-knuckle moments throughout. As the lucky winner of a ELEMENT ZERO goodreads first read, I was persuaded to check out the first two books, STATE OF DECAY and SILENT ARMY before moving on to my prize, this third and final book and I’m so glad I did. I completely fell in love with this dark and creepy post-apocalyptic, cyber punkish, sci-fi zombie tale. Completely unique and radically different from other urban fantasy or zombie fiction I’ve come across I the past, I found James Knapp’s expert character and world building to be fascinating and completely consuming. Bravo!
August 11, 2011
Pros: top notch action, tense, understandable motivations on all sides/
Cons: denouement wasn't offset from climax, have to pay VERY close attention/
Things quickly come to a head in the third and final revivor's novel. Fawkes flips the switch that turns unsuspecting humans into revivors using the HUMA virus. But he's also made some adjustments to the virus' code, which FBI agent Nico Wachalowski slowly realizes are as much of a threat as the other weapons Fawkes turns on the city./
Meanwhile, Motoko Ai's war room is abuzz and Zoe Ott has some visions of what happens after the coming event. Visions that make her question whether Fawkes is really element zero after all./
Once again the writing is tight and the motivations realistic. It's often hard to tell which side is worse: Fawkes, willing to destroy the city and perhaps humankind or Ai and her people, who use their powers of mind manipulation indiscriminately. The book is action packed but never loses sight of the humanity of its protagonists - forcing difficult decisions on them and watching them deal with the consequences. And each new revelation causes you to switch sides, first hoping something happens, then hoping it doesn't./
My only complaints were that the denouement at the end wasn't offset from the climax, so it took a moment to reorient myself to the protagonists change of location. I also found issues of dating problematic (whether this book took place 2 or 3 years after the previous one) - though that's more likely caused by my own lack of attention. You have to keep your wits about you reading these books. Let your mind wander and you've just missed something crucial./
Tense plotting, great characters and a satisfying conclusion make this series worth reading.
Cons: denouement wasn't offset from climax, have to pay VERY close attention/
Things quickly come to a head in the third and final revivor's novel. Fawkes flips the switch that turns unsuspecting humans into revivors using the HUMA virus. But he's also made some adjustments to the virus' code, which FBI agent Nico Wachalowski slowly realizes are as much of a threat as the other weapons Fawkes turns on the city./
Meanwhile, Motoko Ai's war room is abuzz and Zoe Ott has some visions of what happens after the coming event. Visions that make her question whether Fawkes is really element zero after all./
Once again the writing is tight and the motivations realistic. It's often hard to tell which side is worse: Fawkes, willing to destroy the city and perhaps humankind or Ai and her people, who use their powers of mind manipulation indiscriminately. The book is action packed but never loses sight of the humanity of its protagonists - forcing difficult decisions on them and watching them deal with the consequences. And each new revelation causes you to switch sides, first hoping something happens, then hoping it doesn't./
My only complaints were that the denouement at the end wasn't offset from the climax, so it took a moment to reorient myself to the protagonists change of location. I also found issues of dating problematic (whether this book took place 2 or 3 years after the previous one) - though that's more likely caused by my own lack of attention. You have to keep your wits about you reading these books. Let your mind wander and you've just missed something crucial./
Tense plotting, great characters and a satisfying conclusion make this series worth reading.
November 16, 2025
I had such a great time reading this book, and I'm satisfied with how it ends the series!
February 16, 2013
A fantastic end to a great series! I would love to see more of this world, as there is so much to it that was hinted at, but not really given a chance to explore deeper. The pacing was fast and the tension was kept high until the very end. Despite being able to see into several different character's heads (all of whom were involved in the story in very different ways) I could not guess as to how the book would end.
Massive kudos to James Knapp for such a great series, and I really hope to read more from him down the line.
Massive kudos to James Knapp for such a great series, and I really hope to read more from him down the line.
April 13, 2011
It was wonderful trash. Easy to read, fast, vulgar in parts and interesting. Read it in an afternoon.
February 5, 2013
Not nearly as good as the first or even the second Revivor novels. Ultimately, it just felt like an overlong afterword.
October 18, 2022
The final book of the Revivors trilogy wraps things up with a fast-paced conclusion. We finally get to see what Zoe’s visions have meant, whether Fawkes and his army of the undead will be defeated, and what part badass Calliope Flax plays in it all. There was much more action in this one which kept me turning the pages, even though it was hard to root for anyone because both sides in the fight were just nasty and did horrible things, so there just wasn’t a satisfactory conclusion. That made it feel real, though. And I was happy to finally see some more traditional zombie action. So much more could have been done with that, but I’ll take what I can get.
February 5, 2019
Not sure why I read this trilogy. Overly complicated with characters I really didn't care about.
October 28, 2021
DNF @ 6% - Not for me
February 20, 2013
Element Zero is the heart-thumping conclusion to one of the smartest science fiction trilogies I’ve read in a long time. Two things that I loved about the Revivor series (beginning with State of Decay, followed by The Silent Army) are 1) The very visual style of writing which allowed me to picture the story clearly and 2) The whole concept was completely new to me. I love new ideas.
I have never read any stories about zombies, or any kind of re-animated dead (except GRR Martin I guess, but I’m not sure where he’s going with that yet), so I wasn’t sure what I would think when I started reading State of Decay. I was surprised to find an intense psychological thriller combined with very sophisticated futuristic technology which was explained well enough that I easily understood how it worked without detracting from the emotion of the story. It is dark. It is a bit gruesome at times, and it’s not the kind of book you want to read when you’re home alone at night. Or maybe it is, if you like jumping at every sound.
The characters were what really drew me into the story. Nico, Calliope, Faye, and Zoe; each one so different and so real that it was impossible not to be pulled into their lives as individual character threads started in their separate places before weaving together in an intricate pattern which carried all the way to the end without ever losing each original voice.
If you are into the idea of a zombie apocalypse, this is a must read. If you’re not (and I wasn’t) read it anyway. I think you’ll be surprised.
James Knapp has a new novel that released this month under the name James K. Decker. If you love science fiction, check out The Burn Zone.
I have never read any stories about zombies, or any kind of re-animated dead (except GRR Martin I guess, but I’m not sure where he’s going with that yet), so I wasn’t sure what I would think when I started reading State of Decay. I was surprised to find an intense psychological thriller combined with very sophisticated futuristic technology which was explained well enough that I easily understood how it worked without detracting from the emotion of the story. It is dark. It is a bit gruesome at times, and it’s not the kind of book you want to read when you’re home alone at night. Or maybe it is, if you like jumping at every sound.
The characters were what really drew me into the story. Nico, Calliope, Faye, and Zoe; each one so different and so real that it was impossible not to be pulled into their lives as individual character threads started in their separate places before weaving together in an intricate pattern which carried all the way to the end without ever losing each original voice.
If you are into the idea of a zombie apocalypse, this is a must read. If you’re not (and I wasn’t) read it anyway. I think you’ll be surprised.
James Knapp has a new novel that released this month under the name James K. Decker. If you love science fiction, check out The Burn Zone.
December 26, 2013
Overall, I still like this series, but this one, the final book, was the hardest to get through. I found myself bored or frustrated a lot of the time. In its favor? Zoe Ott becomes slightly less obnoxious by the very end. But ultimately it comes down to a really absurd situation where literally everybody is threatening to blow up the city... because they feel forced to? By their enemies who are also threatening to blow up the city? But also don't actually want to blow it up? It just doesn't hang together very well. (Maybe if I were slightly older and had actually lived through the Cold War, it would resonate more with me.) As it is, It's confusing.
May 21, 2011
This book has it all, from conspiracies to massive, full-scale wars. The reader will never be bored, the scenes are fast-paced and intriguing, the characters are designed to make the reader feel a connection to them-no matter their choices in the novel. The idea, the ability to reanimate a corpse and possibly use that corpse to commit atrocities, is very interesting and begs for deep, detailed questions. What if there were stipulations to your theoretical answer? Would your answer vary if your life or loved ones depended on it? The author chose a completely new topic, the reader will never come across a novel quite like this one. This book is great for young adult and adults who relish the challenge of a novel that asks hard questions and reveals a completely new idea.
I received this book for review, this in no way affected my opinion of the book.
I received this book for review, this in no way affected my opinion of the book.
June 29, 2011
Okay, so I cheated a little bit...for me personally, it was not 4 stars, BUT for fans of the sci-fi genre, it was easily 4-5 stars! I wanted to push myself intellectually and read outside of my typical genres and I'm glad that I did. Element Zero is fast-paced and action-packed. I personally had a hard time keeping up with the complexity of the storyline, but that is not at any fault of the author. Fans of futuristic conspiracy therories, zombie armies, and sci-fi in general will be pleased!
Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book which has not influenced my review.
Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book which has not influenced my review.
August 4, 2012
An action packed thrill ride from beginning to end. My only complaint was that the end was mildly unsatisfying. Another chapter or two of conclusion would have made it feel less like a rollercoaster that comes to a complete stop.
March 11, 2013
This book was pretty good, but it's getting a little tiresome to have so many things repeated and spelled out. I think it would be better to take a little break between the books. I'm going to read the next one because I want to see what happens next, but I will probably wait a month or two.
Want to read
May 29, 2011I won this book from First Reads Giveaway. Thank you. Looks good. Can’t wait to read it.
January 26, 2017
Good ending of series
Good ending to the series with a closure complete enough that the author could write another book. Hope he writes more in this world later.
Good ending to the series with a closure complete enough that the author could write another book. Hope he writes more in this world later.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews