Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30279 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Binding: Paperback

Synopsis
In the heart of America, in the world's most secure prison, something horrible is growing in the dark. A wave of cannibalism and fear is sweeping across the heartland, spreading carnage and infection in its wake. Captain Bannerman Clark of the National Guard has been tasked with an impossible mission: discover what is happening - and then stop it before it annihilates Los Angeles. In California, he discovers a woman trapped in a hospital overrun with violent madmen. She may hold the secret to the Epidemic but she has lost everything - even her name. David Wellington's first novel, "Monster Island", explored a world overcome by horror and the few people strong enough to survive. Now he takes us back in time to where it all began - to the day the dead began to rise.

Customer Reviews

good read but doesnt want me to read the next one
i thought the invisable zombie bit was a tad OTT but it worked in the context, should have been more abt the mad professor, the ending with Bannerman was most disapointing, i did enjoy this book though and read over half on the day i bought it, i would have liked more on what was going on in the world, what happened to the president?, government? ect
Ive read the first one and to be honest id recomend you read this one first, after reading 2 of 3 im not really bothered abt reading the 3rd one as i think the author has gone as far as he can.
Ive read many zombie books and its VERY hard to find a decent one, ive read some really awful ones with 2D characters, bad grammer and terrible descriptions, id stay clear of anything on the Purmutated Press or Infected Books publishers as a rule of thunb, id highly recomend World War Z by Max Brooks though...

Don't waste your time
I have now read all three books in this trilogy by David Wellington. The story is ok and I would have given it a three if it stood alone as a zombie novel, however after reading the final book in the trilogy I was so disappointed in the ending I felt as though I had wasted my time in reading any of them. Therefore I decided to give this book only one star because ultimately I felt really deflated and disappointed.

Prequel to the epic zombie trilogy - but not as good as the first.
This prequel to Monster Island has some nice touches. I particularly liked the use of newspaper articles and other bits of media to demonstrate the increasing panic and breakdown of human society as the book progresses. There is also some attempt to explain the source of what caused the zombies in the last third of the book.

I didn't like it as much as Monster Island though, as the characters didn't seem to be as interesting - most of the time they are in "what the hell is going on?" mode. Neither of the two main characters are very well fleshed out - one can't remember who she is so is a bit of a blank slate; the other is an army guy who's trying to stop the zombie outbreak, but not very successfully. I also had difficulty accepting that characters could make themselves invisible, read minds, predict the future etc (though I guess if you're able to accept that people can come back from the dead then you should really be open to everything). I guess I just like the Romero zombies.