Zurvival Saturday (87) Review: Zombie Attack by Devan Sagliani
This week I review the 2013 release Zombie Attack: Rise of the Horde by Devan Sagliani. I won this book back in November, started reading it in December and for whatever reason be it the holidays or year end posts I forgot about it. Needless to say I finally finished it all these months later and I have to say I'm quite pleased with how it turned out in the end.
Author: Devan Sagliani
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Publisher: Permuted Press
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
When 16 year old Xander's older brother Moto left him at Vandenberg Airforce Base he only had one request - don't leave no matter what. But there was no way he could have known that one day zombies would gather into groups big enough to knock down walls and take out entire buildings full of people. That was before the rise of the horde!
Now Xander is on the run, fleeing south to Port Hueneme to locate his brother with nothing but his martial arts training and the katana blade left to him. Along the way he'll have to fight for his life against other survivors, neo-Nazi's, outlaw bikers, gang bangers, cannibals, cult members, and a seemingly endless sea of flesh hungry zombies.
But Xander is far from alone. Traveling with him are Benji, a 12 year old comic book geek, and Felicity Jane, a childhood celebrity with wild mood swings. Will they make it together in one piece to the safe zone or will they become the next meal for a hungry horde of wild zombies?
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Publisher: Permuted Press
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
When 16 year old Xander's older brother Moto left him at Vandenberg Airforce Base he only had one request - don't leave no matter what. But there was no way he could have known that one day zombies would gather into groups big enough to knock down walls and take out entire buildings full of people. That was before the rise of the horde!
Now Xander is on the run, fleeing south to Port Hueneme to locate his brother with nothing but his martial arts training and the katana blade left to him. Along the way he'll have to fight for his life against other survivors, neo-Nazi's, outlaw bikers, gang bangers, cannibals, cult members, and a seemingly endless sea of flesh hungry zombies.
But Xander is far from alone. Traveling with him are Benji, a 12 year old comic book geek, and Felicity Jane, a childhood celebrity with wild mood swings. Will they make it together in one piece to the safe zone or will they become the next meal for a hungry horde of wild zombies?
What I really liked about the story were the characters. Benji was my favorite because he thought logically and seemed to just have a tighter grip on reality than Xander even though he was a couple of years younger. I also really liked Felicity Jane. She was like this weird cross of Cher from Clueless and Darla from Mike Mullin's Ashfall series. However bizarre that mash-up may seem it totally worked for me as her character ended up being a great addition to the group and she also added that feminine quality that I felt was missing in the beginning. Lastly, I liked the Zombies because they actually felt menacing. The Zombie weren't superhuman like say those from say The Devil's Playground or Will Smith's version of I am Legend but they definitely had some semblance of higher brain function left. Another thing I liked about the story were the hardships the characters met along the way. The journey wasn't just about the Zombie threat but the human one as well. The Author really highlighted how society can degenerate in times of crisis and that not everything is black and white or right and wrong in terms of survival. Now although I enjoyed Zombie Attack the story did have a few problems that kept me from enjoying it fully. First off, I found Xander frustrating. He reminded me of a boy scout vs. the survivalist I thought he'd turn out to be considering all his martial arts training. If someone was in danger Xander was around to save the day no matter that the decision to do so would create a million and one other problems for the rest of the characters. I get it, the story needs to move along but I wish it wouldn't have to do so because of a characters hero complex. Secondly, I hate stupid decisions and this book is filled with plenty of them. For example, The characters know the roads are filled with roving gangs not to mention situations can change at a moments notice but oh no we need to keep all the supplies packed neatly far away from us and then bitch when we lose it all to the stupid decisions we made. It's little things like that which frustrate me to no end because you know reading it that so much hurt could've been avoided with a little forethought on the characters parts. Final Thoughts While I ultimately ended up really enjoying Zombie Attack I can't help but wonder how things would've turned out if I just liked the main character a bit more. However, despite my frustrations with the main character I think the story was solid, the pacing fantastic and the ending definitely left me wanting to know more. So am I happy to have read it? Yup! Would I recommend it? You bet. With that being said, I'll be rating Zombie Attack: Rise of the Horde by Devan Sagliani ★★★★. *Copy won. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way for providing them. |
About the Author
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Out of curiosity, Have you read heard of Zombie Attack?
If yes, Have you be read it?
Do you like nontraditional Zombies?
Leave me your answers in the comments below or feel free to tweet me them @Hermyoni
Well that about wraps up this weeks Zurvival Saturday. Like what you see? Please share! I thank you if you do. Want to check out past Zurvival Saturday's? Click Here
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