Roads Less Traveled: The Plan

By: C. Dulaney

Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Ask yourself this: If the dead rise tomorrow, are you ready? Do you have a plan? The dead rose, and the living quickly realized that Hollywood-style tactics were the quickest way to find yourself one of the walking dead.

Kasey, a strong-willed loner from West Virginia, and Ben, a college student from Pennsylvania, have shared an unlikely friendship over the years. And their bond is stretched to its limits when society collapses under a tide of zombies. But Kasey has something she likes to call The Zombie Plan. While Ben sets out for West Virginia, taking with him a ragtag group of friends, Kasey prepares for their long-term stand against the deadheads at her home in the mountains.

But every plan has its weaknesses, and the youths are unaware that a freight train of tragedy is bearing down on them all. In the darkness that follows, Kasey's Plan slowly unravels: friends lost, family taken, their stronghold reduced to ashes.

©2011 C. Dulaney (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Dulaney didn't reinvent the wheel, but goddamn if she didn't send it spinning down interesting paths. I'm invested now... what's going to happen next?" (Thom Brannan, author of Lords of Night, co-author of Survivors)

"If you're addicted to zombie literature, this one's for you. C. Dulaney's Roads Less Traveled: The Plan is crafted with such beautiful and terrifying scenes, you'll think you are one of Kasey's friends, running from the dead and preparing to live in a dark new world. Her prose crackles off the pages and into the mind's eye. By the time you've finished reading, you'll be clamoring for more from this exciting new author!" (Clyde Wolfe, author of Down Darkened Paths)

Loved this series

Absolutely loved this series. Was searching audio books of one of my favorite narrators and came across this series.......I am glad I did, now I have another favorite author. One of my go-to series now. I cant count the times I've listened through them. Love the characters and the story. Got mad, got sad and everything in between. Will and have recommend this series to others.

Solid traditional no frills zombies... yeah!

I have put off listening to this one for sometime, not for any other reason other than I didn’t like the art work on the cover, and because I have never listened to a book with this narrator. I know I am sad person, but with so many great titles all fighting for my money, and with me being such a stingy scrooge… you get the picture. But, then it became available at a special price. I can never look past a discount. Perhaps, that explains my life, surrounded by broken cheap things!

I know this one has been reviewed a lot, and honestly those reviews are pretty well written. So I wondered why should I even bother writing a review on this one? However, the more I thought about it the more I came to realization that the zombie genre really has delivered some pretty impressive curve balls of late. So perhaps a more recent review with some contrast to some of the newer one’s might help some people make a purchasing decision.

A zombie title without werewolves, vampires (we are all looking at you Mark Tufo), and terrorist attacks, God v Satan battle, artificial intelligence, robots with zombie drivers inside, or even a ninja in a squirrel outfit is really a rarity these days… Yes there really is a zombie book with the main character wears a squirrel outfit. Perhaps in the next one or two books in this series some or even all of these things will appear… but I doubt it. This seems to be your classic run to the mountains, follow the plan type deal. I’m not saying this is bad or good. Just letting you know so you can make informed decision on what you are buying.

Personally I like my zombie titles with a lot of humor, comic style (very adult) comic style violence. I’m not a real fan of those zombie stories, which take themselves too seriously. So titles by Jake Bible are my favorite at the moment.

More recent ‘serious’ zombie titles like the ‘Arisen’ series written by Michael Stephen Fuchs and Glynn James step the modern times and action up a notch or two. But the ‘Arisen’ series suffers by the fact that it is really just one or two books divided into multiple parts in a cash grab type deal… Yes I am back to my stingy nature!

So this title falls right in the middle of these types of zombie genres. Others do the humor better, others do the action better, some even do the story line better. But, and there is always a but! This title does nothing wrong. I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t help but think, ‘that’s a good plan, I think I would do the same’.

I am going to purchase the rest in the series even if it is full price! Yes you heard it here… Just don’t tell anyone as I have a reputation to uphold!

Oh and I almost forget to mention the narration. It is pretty good, easily listened to at 1.25 speed without any problems. And really I wanted to speed it up more so I could hurry up and find out what happened! Only on a couple of occasions did the female narrator struggle to do the voice of some of the male characters. But it certainly didn’t distract me from listening to it. Elisabeth Rodgers is no RC Bray but I would have no problem purchasing a title she narrates in the future!

Characters I liked. A fast paced believable, story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It was enjoyable and interesting, Showed that the best laid plans...ect. I felt the characters were people I'd like to meet, and I cared what happened to them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Roads Less Traveled: The Plan?

(Spoiler alert) Jakes death hit me hard and I didn't see it coming.

Which character – as performed by Elisabeth Rodgers – was your favorite?

Casey. I can see her clearly in my mind,

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I both laughed and cried...that's the best kind of reaction I think.

Any additional comments?

I just hope the next one isn.t too far away. I want to know what happens next.

Character depth in question

I liked this book. I like zombie stories because they usually dig deep into the mind of characters and show me things I want to know.
That being said, the main character in this book has lots of missing pieces I would like to know. How did she get to where she lives... what is her connection with the distant friends. Why would they discuss zombie survival. Where is her feelings on lost love ones before the book starts. What was her life like before the zombies.
It's like you came in 15 minutes after the movie started. From that point on, it worked much better. I liked the interactions of all characters and the story plot.

Intense!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Roads Less Traveled: The Plan?

The most memorable moments was in the beginning when Kasey is saving her group from a swarm of 'dead heads' while blasting Metallica from her car stereo. Hard core zombie but kicking! Haha!

Which character – as performed by Elisabeth Rodgers – was your favorite?

I have to say Kasey was my favorite character as far as narration. She had just enough country accent without it being annoying. I like how she tried to keep the accent authentic without being over the top.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It wasn't predictable like I thought it would be. There were definitely some surprises thrown in there. I cared about what happened to these people. I was able to put myself in the situations and ask myself what I would do. I could visualize what was happening which made my palms sweat more than once. I would have liked to know some more back story of the characters. I haven't listend to book two yet so hopefully some of my questions will be answered as far as that.

Enjoyable Zombies

I enjoyed this Zombie story, not the best I ever heard. But it falls into the entertaining category and I will continue with the series.

good story to past the time!

ok it's not World War Z but it's a good story to add to the collection. will try book 2.

So bad....

What would have made Roads Less Traveled: The Plan better?

Character development, believable dialog, an interesting story

Would you ever listen to anything by C. Dulaney again?

They say you only get one chance at first impressions and that's especially true for authors. I'm afraid Dulaney blow it with me in a big way

Would you listen to another book narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers?

Yes, she wasn't that bad.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Roads Less Traveled: The Plan?

I would have to tell the author to scrap the whole book.

Any additional comments?

This book is so bad I'm actually angry at all those that rated this book a 5

Not good

What would have made Roads Less Traveled: The Plan better?

This book started slow and stayed that way. Far to much time spent detailing minor things that add nothing to the story. Seems like the author was trying too hard to build toughness into a female lead character. this was as if a second lieutenant took charge then embellished the details later at the bar

What was most disappointing about C. Dulaney’s story?

It was flat out boring and not well thought out. The friend peddling a bike 30 odd miles or so with a six year old riding behind on a zombie interstate was the low point.

Would you be willing to try another one of Elisabeth Rodgers’s performances?

No. She may have contributed to the boredom and over dramatization.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

If I could get my time and credit back then it would be redeeming.

Any additional comments?

Don't do. Seriously just pick another book.

Flat characters lacking in internal consistency

I was hopeful moving into this series having just finished different one and needing a new "long term relationship" for my commute. I tend to like zombie stories and while nothing in particular differentiated it from the standard, it looked like something I would enjoy. I was wrong.

The story was below average. As mentioned above, there is nothing that differentiates it from the standard and arguably already overdone zombie genre. It lacks any nuance or originality. Given that the book was called "The Plan", one would have expected that a plan would be the focus of the book... one would be wrong. The "Plan" apparently only consisted of "I'll come to your house". That's a really bad plan, which probably helps to explain why this is a really bad book.

The characters are flat, single dimensional shells. They lack realistic internal motivation and, more disturbingly, lack any internal consistency in their thoughts, emotions, or actions. To add further insult, the characters motivations fly in the face of basic needs and drives. Every action seems random and only serves to push the story along. Any character could be inserted into any scenario to make the action needed to get to the next plot point.

The lack of dimension to the characters makes it hard enough to connect, but then factor in the amazingly odd insertion then deletion of characters... it was like reading something from a 9th grade English class (the C students not the A ones). For those that have read the book, think Ashton the plucky 7 year-old (wtf?) and Brandon the co-protagonist initially who then degenerates to a secondary supporting but ostensibly important character who is rather unceremoniously dumped. The writer doesn't seem to care about her characters, makes it incredibly hard for the reader to.

I won't even get into the very miraculous timelines...DC to West Virginia on foot in 7 days. A shoulder gunshot wound apparently totally healing in about 3 or 4 days.

I highly recommend avoiding this book. Having already fallen for book one, I will be avoiding the remainder of the series.