The Return Man

By: V. M. Zito

Narrated by: Bernard Clark

Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

The outbreak tore the US in two. The East remains a safe haven. The West has become a ravaged wilderness, known by survivors as the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace.

Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other: He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.

But in the wastelands of America, you never know who - or what - is watching you.

©2012 V. M. Zito (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Thrilling, melancholy, and stomach-churningly gory... This is a sturdy and crowd-pleasing novel that squarely hits its target." ( Publishers Weekly)

"A hair-raising quest ... Zito expertly piles on thrills, cliffhangers and numerous twists ..." ( The Guardian, UK)

Can't put it down!!!

Where does The Return Man rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Definitely one of my favorites that I will listen to again and again. Looking forward to more from this author.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Each chapter got better and better. The seamlessly of current story and backstory was definitely a plus.

Who was the most memorable character of The Return Man and why?

Have to say that my fav was Wu. His evolution throughout the book is one that I was amazed by. Definitely can get into his psychology.

Amazing hidden gem in the undead world of novels!!!

I have read (listened) to a solid 90% of zombie audiobooks and was scouring for new ones when I came across this hidden Gem - and, hands down - best zombie audio book I’ve heard in two years!

shockingly good!

What made the experience of listening to The Return Man the most enjoyable?

Just a very well played twist on the zombie apocalypse line

Who was your favorite character and why?

Main charector...flawed and very real

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!!

Any additional comments?

Great book!! One of my faves!!

Enjoyable

New twist in the zombie genre. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Hope there’s another one coming up!

A unique take on the zombie apocalypse

I loved the unique perspective of the zombie apocalypse and it had little of everything typical of this genre- military, espionage, friendship, love, loss, and zombies as the main character travels the west hunting the loved ones of paying clients and ‘returning’ them and releasing them from walking the earth in perpetuity. The narration was complimentary.

Yes, zombie assasin is hokey

Over all the story is pretty good, but you have to get over this silly idea that you can find a zombie among the millions out there so their bereaved kin can get closure. There is an explanation for that, but I still find it difficult to get past. You see, these zombies aren't entirely dumb, just a tiny vestige of their past life-force is left, especially in the beginning they always got a "surprised" look during the action sequences.

The first (few) chapters were the most difficult to get past. I mean Henry Marko is supposed to have been doing this for years, but it doesn't look it. I'll reveal just a tiny bit of it in the next paragraph:

So he finds his lonesome target, and instead of just walking up to it, popping it in the head, he snipes at it, timing it so poorly it falls into a river and floats away. The strange bungling that happens afterwards just had be frowning and rolling my eyes. A few chapters down, I had to reading about how this character, seemingly out of the game "assassins creed", cartwheels and kicks a "bleached blonde" marine in the head. Right there I wanted to return the book. Not only that there is a marine who bleaches his hair during a zombipocalyse, but he died by human cartwheel.

But ok, I managed to get through that to read a very good action road trip type of story. There was depth to the story, but I still found it a bit too shallow, perhaps because the lack of characters (basically two). Marko's character has actually a very powerful back story behind it, about his wife and family and I really enjoyed reading about it, but these parts were very few.

Some reviewers have complained about references to the republican party, and the author probably should have just made up a new name, I found these references to be very fleeting and only at the start.

The narrator did a good job, but I found Wu's and Osbournes nasal voices to be very similar.

Over all, still a very good book.

Four Star Zombie Listen

Most zombie books are variations on a theme. Return Man has many of the next generation elements - the compassionate zombie hunter (a la The Last Mail Man), living in the Dead Zone, is sent on a mission to the origin of the apocalypse to find a key scientist. The story has flaws, but it is well written and the main protagonist, Henry Marco, is complex and compelling. While I wasn't immediately drawn to the narrator, he grew on me. I painted my entire bedroom to justify a continuous listen to the end.

wtf a zombie assassin? yes, but much more!

Any additional comments?

wow! 2 great zombie books in a row! hissers and the return man. i know i'm supposed to be reviewing the return man, but i'm pumped having just listened to 2 great zombie books in a row! i thought i'd listened to all the best zombie books on audible, BUT I WAS WRONG!

ok...don't let the title throw you. the return man is a story about henry marko. the story picks up 4 years after the zombie outbreak. marko is "the return man." he is a zombie assassin. yes, that may sound hokey, but give me a second.

before the zombie apocylapse, marko was a neurologist. he has developed a theory that helps him track down where zombies might be so he can "return" them to being dead. his theory is known as emotional geography. marko realizes the zombies tend to go places where they have emotional contacts. this aids him in finding the zombies he's contracted to "return" to the dead

everything west of the mississippi river has been abandoned. marko lives in the unprotected part of america. he is a contractor. people living in the safe states (protected zone) contract him to find their loved ones. if they've become zombies, he is contracted to "return" them to being dead so their survivors can get a sense of closure and start over. marko is also looking for his wife, to "return" her. he has tricked out his house with barricades and traps. he hopes to trap his wife so he can "return" her.

the story starts out with marko working on the rourke contract. marko is looking for joan's husband. after the contract is fulfilled he contacts ben, his contact and brother-in-law in the safe states that finds him clients. during that conversation, a guy named osbourne breaks in, revealing himself to be in the room with ben. osbourne threatens and forces marko to return to california to "return" a friend and former colleague, dr. roger ballard.

osbourne shows marko a video of dr. ballard's last location, a prison, where he is seen leaping off a catwalk to escape a horde of zombie prisoners. osbourne wants marko to return to this prison to "return" the good doctor to the dead. to help marko accomplish his task, osbourne sends a resurrection group to aid him. along the trek west, marko is joined by sgt. wu, who has his own motivations. together, they battle zombies and the four horseman, a large group of survivors who control california and have ties with drug dealers and the u.s. government's enemies.

the story is kind of predictable, but what i really enjoyed was the all the zombie action. this book has a lot of heart-pounding zombie horde fighting scenes with lots and lots of well-described gore. overall, a solid addition to your zombie libray, and a great thrill ride!

An action novel, with a side of zombies

It is a slightly different take on zombies... instead of it being about someone running from a zombie breakout, it's an action novel about guy on a mission in the middle of a zombie breakout. The characters here are not trying to deal with or cure zombies, and they aren't even trying to "find a safe place from them" - they just need to survive them to complete another mission.

There were a couple points where I wondered if the motivation behind the main character remaining in zombieland was believable, but ultimately I think it was. It made sense that he would have an outstanding "mission" that kept him from going to a safe zone, and it was perfectly reasonable to accept that he was a damaged man completing some self-imposed punishment.

While there is plenty of zombie action (which is a bit on the gory side), it really comes across as an action novel, it just happens to involve zombies in addition to human enemies. There were some moments where, perhaps, the introspection went a little too deep, and there was a little "break through" of the author's political views into the storyline... but these were both minor and infrequent. Some of the scenes are over the top, and extended to add gore value, but... overall it was a reasonably average action novel, slightly above average zombie novel, and generally a good read.

I'd give it 4 stars as a zombie novel and 3 stars as an action novel. While it doesn't contain much foul language or any sex, it is on the gory side of the zombie spectrum... maybe not as graphic as some, but definitely detailed and graphic enough that I'll mention it. The narration was good.

Can't believe this isn't a video game!

Yet another Zombie novel. That's OK, because I like the genre when I'm in the mood for some light reading. This one fit the bill nicely.

This book didn't revolutionize the gene in any way, but it did provide some interesting ideas on post zombie society and how one survivor continued. As with many US stories, I always cringe when the story is exclusively American. Really, an outbreak of this magnitude is contained to the USA and stops at the Mexican and Canadian borders? As I said, it's entertaining, but not brilliant.

The narration was well done, and enhanced the story. In fact, with the narration making the story a bit better than it ought to be, I couldn't help thinking that taking it one step further and making it into a video game would make the story even better.

I can recommend this book if you like the zombie genre and aren't expecting too much. It entertained me, but it certainly didn't give me any "wow" moments.