Ex-Heroes

By: Peter Clines

Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Khristine Hvam

Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes. Vigilantes. Crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilites to make Los Angeles a better place. Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Despite the best efforts of the superheroes, the police, and the military, the hungry corpses rose up and overwhelmed the country. The population was decimated, heroes fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland like so many others.

Now, a year later, the Mighty Dragon and his companions must overcome their differences and recover from their own scars to protect the thousands of survivors sheltered in their film studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. The heroes lead teams out to scavenge supplies, keep the peace within the walls of their home, and try to be the symbols the survivors so desperately need. For while the ex-humans walk the streets night and day, they are not the only threat left in the world, and the people of the Mount are not the only survivors left in Los Angeles. Across the city, another group has grown and gained power. And they are not heroes.

©2010 Peter Clines (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

an interesting twist on the zombie genre

very good the story created zombies in an original way. Though slightly predictable due to forshadowing, it was still shocking when the zombie origin was revealed. the heroes where somewhat un-original but still unique. cannot wait to find out what happens next.

A fun take on both heros and zombies.

What made the experience of listening to Ex-Heroes the most enjoyable?

the story

Who was your favorite character and why?

St. George, its obivious if you listen to the book.

What does Jay Snyder and Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good voice acting.

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

yes and no. I like the story and had to finish once I got started.

Fun and well written

I really enjoyed the book. It was recommended by a friend. I liked the pop culture, tv, and film references. I loved the top 5 celebrity kill comparisons between characters (Grace Park from BSG and George Tekai dead made me sad but was happy to hear them mentioned). I was impressed as well with the small continuity bits like the police officer Hall and the dominatrix ninja references. I look forward to the next. Fun book.

I wanted to love it!

Did Jay Snyder and Khristine Hvam do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

It felt like the two were reading without working off each other, like the two recordings were made at different times, which made interactions very stilted-sounding. The individuals did a fine job in their own chapters.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

This would be a much better movie than book.The writing style is very visually evocative and the sequence of events is very logical. It was like the big battle scene from the Avengers in book format.

Any additional comments?

I LOVED the other two things I listened to by Peter Clines, The Junkie Quatrain and 14, and I would HIGHLY recommend those (although I felt 14 went off the rails toward the end, it was a wonderfully tense and exciting story). This book was definitely not what I was hoping for. The same clear style and identifiable characters were there, but it felt like one long battle scene, and whenever things got cumbersome or impossible it was almost like he would just say "Oh, and did I forget to mention that THIS is also possible?"
A lot of it felt made up on the spot and contrived. There was so much good story, and so much action, and if you like lots of action this is for you, I was looking for more characters and life.

Not bad.

Not really a big fan of multiple narrators. Got a little confusing at the end.

Also hair and fingernails DO NOT keep
Growing once you are dead.

Great read, really enjoyed the ending.

This was the first book I've read that used alterations of events in both the past and the present in such a connecting way, it was a new and very interesting way to learn about events, and made for great characters and storytelling.

OUTSTANDING!!!

Peter Clines with some fantastic narration have brought together The Watchmen & World War Z!!!
I think this is some of his best work!
already got the rest of the series on stand by.
Thank you!!

Superheros vs Zombies

Would you listen to Ex-Heroes again? Why?

Why, so many characters so much happens so fast

What did you like best about this story?

the idea. I thought of this back in the early 90's and wanted to make a comic book of it ever since.

Which scene was your favorite?

the fight scenes

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Zombies VS Superheroes

Any additional comments?

YES - WTF! WHY are the super heroes getting bitten? Why the Heck aren't they wearing kevlar and extra bite proof gear if they don't have super bullet proof skin? Doesn't it seem like the first thing you would do in going into battle against ZOMBIES is make sure you are wearing protective gear!! DUH! Huge mistake.
Other than that I loved it.

The entire series is Worth it.

I have "read"/listened to the series and will be getting the next, just released book and am now coming back to write up a review. I'm not sure how long it has been since listening to this first in the series. It is hard to review a book in a series and not the series as a whole but for this one its easy as they get the same great marks.

I started this book because "Super powers and Zombies? Ya sure lets try it." and that was all I knew about book. The author does a great job guiding you into the premise of some people developed super powers... Why? don't know, just go with it. It's not as important right now as what they started doing with these powers and then what they did when faced with a zombie apocalypses. Character development was natural. They had personality and not just as an archetype or unfailing whit. There are times of doubt and stress mixed well with defense mechanism humor when faced with the world effectively ending.

I felt very satisfied when the book was over and it did not try to hook me into the next book with a cheap cliff hanger. I wanted the next book because "Yay, more story".

And here is were the series starts bleeding into the review. The books are semi modular. Each one takes a different scenario element and adds it into the mix without rehashing old problems. You can read any one of them on its own and leave it at that, but you shouldn't. The characters build and grow throughout the series and you feel the appreciable sadness when some of them fall. And that is the other great and difficult challenge in a series. It's a zombie apocalypse. Central characters are going to die. We look fondly on our memory of them, but being gone is what makes it impact-full. Sure one character may com back through an interesting devise to further the story (not a spoiler, foreshadowing), but they are not resurrecting characters (get it? zombie joke.) just because we want a full staff for the next book. The consequences of the last book care over to the next and make the story continuous without being drawn out.

As for the narration, all my markers for good voice acting were met.
The characters were distinct.
The tempo was in line with the tone of the moment.
The reading was fluid.

The A grade is when you forget that someone is reading to you and it is just the story and the characters. The narrators here pull that off for the whole series.

Fun Listen

Where does Ex-Heroes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Ex-Heroes is in the top 15% of the audiobooks I have listened to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

St George emulates the save the world superhero persona very well. It's fun to listen to him play against the "this is the real world" characters as a moral icon.

What does Jay Snyder and Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

When I first began listening to this I was concerned having two narrators would be confusing, but the voices brought the characters out more vividly.

Any additional comments?

Great introduction to a possible series.