The Beginning of the End

Apocalypse Z, Book 1

By: Manel Loureiro, Pamela Carmell - translator

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The dead rise…

A mysterious incident in Russia, a blip buried in the news - it’s the only warning humanity receives that civilization will soon be destroyed by a single, voracious virus that creates monsters of men.

Humanity falls…

A lawyer, still grieving over the death of his young wife, begins to write as a form of therapy. But he never expected that his anonymous blog and journal would ultimately record humanity’s last days.

The end of the world has begun…

Governments scramble to stop the zombie virus, people panic, so-called Safe Havens are established, the world erupts into chaos; soon it’s every man, woman, and child for themselves. Armed only with makeshift weapons and the will to live, this survivor will give mankind one last chance against…Apocalypse Z.

©2012 Manel Loureiro (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Interesting journey

I really liked this zombie/survival adventure. It took me a few chapters to get into the book because of the narration. I seriously wanted to scream anytime the narrator tried to pronounce the places he was interested in or wanted to travel to. The pronunciations were cringeworthy, and it happened alot. Other then that I enjoyed the book.

Pretty good zombie novel

Maybe I don't like cats enough but I can understand owning a pet and keeping it safe. this is a story about luck and barely scraping by. overall entertaining with enough humanity in it to keep it interesting. Great performance despite the less than stellar tale.

Just average...

I like a good zombie story as much as the next person, but with the sheer number of books in the genre these days, the bar is set pretty high.

The good:
-I liked the fact that it took place in Spain, I found that to be a refreshing change of pace.
-The narration was pretty good overall, although a few times I think he kind of over-acted it.
-The ending leaves you somewhat with a sense of hope, purpose, and sets the stage for the next book.

The bad:
-The dialogue I felt was very repetitive, at times almost to the point of being annoying. Example...the phrase "I shuddered at the thought" or some variant involving the word "shuddered" came up time after time.
-The writing style (that of journal entries), while different, I think hinders some of the story. For example, it would have been interesting to see how the boat captain's reaction to getting the wrong briefcase would have played out, but because there are only journal entries the reader never gets this satisfaction.

Overall I thought the book to be middle-of-the-road average and I'm just not interested enough in the characters to continue the series.

bland, tells too much of the obvious

Storytelling was weak and a lesson in why storytellers should show instead of tell. Too much "I was shocked" and other redundant and obvious phrases. Sounded like a journal I would have written if the younger me experienced a zombie apocalypse, and I know that would've been unfit for publication.

great concept

What made the experience of listening to The Beginning of the End the most enjoyable?

love the history plus real world outlook. Manel has grasped humanitys largest fear of losing our control and humanity. a modern classic.........can not wait for the next installment.

stupid ending

The ending was just terrible and the story was very predictable. I should have passed on this one

Can't wait for the Next Book!

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

Great book and Characters! felt like I was right there with them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Beginning of the End?

My favorite part would have to be on the sail boat during the storm.

Which scene was your favorite?

There wasn't any one scene that was better the the rest, they were all really good.

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

This was my lunch time and drive book listened to it ever second i could.

Brilliant engrossed narration

Nick does a brilliant, engrossed narration of a well-written story.
I was fearing for the end, lest it may be a sad one. Thank God, Manel did not end it that way/
He has given hope to the Lawyer.

The story is different from similar ones in following ways:
1) Its NOT set in USA. Its set in Spain.
2) Its not all Gung-ho like Morningstar Strain or Peter Clines ones. Its more personal.
3) Characters are less.
4) Surprises galore in both pleasant and unpleasant ways.

Really really good

I started this with a friend, her idea. Knowing it’s not her type of thing. I loved it. Not sure if she will finish it. I loved hearing about other countries and a bit of history was thrown in too.
The characters are very well written and one happens to be a fluffy cat. Not a talking cat or anything. Just a main character that will do anything to keep his cat alive. I’m an animal lover too. I have 4 dogs so I can understand his need to protect his furry companion. I am not sure how long it will be before I can afford to finish this series but I will definitely do so when I can.
I really want to know what happens next.
Narration was excellent. I believe this is the first book I’ve listened to narrated by Nick Podehl and it will not be the last.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.

An intresting, Non-American View on Zombies.

First off, nothing wrong with American zombie movies/media/whatever beyond the obvious of it is, in my experience and mind the vast majority of the genre. As such, this means that there is often a hammer/nail problem of guns solving everything. As an American myself, i get that but it can make zombie things stale. After all, this means we can at times miss out of things like the spear gun usage in this book. All of that said, there does seem to be some translation weirdness at times. This non-american viewpoint is in my opinion what interested me and kept me somewhat captivated. Now, before i go onto some minor spoilers below i have to say the performer was very good, though i did notice a few hiccups here and there.

The cat.

Oh my gosh this book was almost unbearable at times with how much i worried about the poor cat. For those who worry about critters more than maybe is healthy in books like this, keep aware that this is present in the novel. I will say this as the very ending of my review as a i believe beyond what i have mentioned the stars mostly speak for themselves.

(Thankfully, the cat is ok. There are other house pets that do get hurt though.)