Containment: Alaskan Undead Apocalypse, Book 2

i was excited to pick up this 2nd installment after enjoying the first book. strong start. well the 1st 20 minutes or so. it tells the story of what happened to part of the military. but by the time i finished, yes i finished, i was disappointed.

where's the editor? did a zombie eat his or her brain. it was like...hmmnn...i think i'll try adding this character for a little while. no, i don't like her. so, i'll make her disappear. hmmnn...let's try adding this plot device. no. i'll end it with a shot.

this story was all over the place! 1st, there's this wacko christian lady who's overly judgmental. yes, her character was annoying. she and the cop, ivanof, bond over a warped fundamentalist worldview. you get the feeling she's going to do something really bad, but she doesn't. well...not really. then, she's gone for the rest of the book. it was like a hour filler. whew! i though. maybe i can listen w/o cringing so much.

then, there's this kind of love triangle that forms b/ween neil, megan, and this other guy. ok, kinda interesting. he gets shot by officer ivanof, who's slowly been going insane. boom! that filler ends. neil and megan act pissy toward each other for the rest of the story.

btw, ivanof's slide into madness isn't dramatic or interesting. he sits alone, imagining his daddy.

the rest of the story follows the group running through the city being chased by zombies. the 2 kids, danny and jules, are hardly mentioned. they're quietly playing, sleeping in the other room, or keeping up with the adults as they run through the city. it would've been nice to get some commentary from them, but they're mostly an afterthought.

however, there ws one unique aspect that i haven't come across in any other zombie novels. the group runs across another group of survivors who have been hiding in a bus since the beginning. their story was harrowing! that could be made into an interesting zombie novel by itself. ahhh...i digress. anyway, they are decrepid, stinky, and weak from lack of food, water, and movement. but they can run! sorry, i'm being facetious.

gore: very little compared to the last story.
action: light. lots of running and lots of talking.
sense of dread: non-existent. sooo unlike the 1st book.
zombies: not that threatening.

overall...hard to make it through the book. i had high expectations for the 2nd book, but it fell flat.

only if you dont have to wait for the next instalment. I actually enjoyed this zombie story, but it ended like the first one with no real ending.

he was a good story teller

no i want a proper ending, I wont get the next one because the author will just do his same old trick to keep the story going then probarly kill everyone off

no

The first and last hour were okay but everything between was soooo boring. I kept hoping for a story but it was more like hours of descriptions of things that didn't matter. There was too much conversation and not enough happening for hours and hours. I almost stopped listening but wanted to give an accurate review. This is the worst zombie book I've read.

Its not too often that a series actually improves on the original but this time it did. The story and characters deepened considerably. Almost the entire first book was a great scene setter for the first stages of the infection, which is usually just the first few chapters of most other books.

This second book doesn't rush through anything either and plenty of time is devoted to the characters and group dynamics. Even a secondary character gets plenty of depth through the telling of an plot-irrelevant but interesting WW II story.

Neil is a great leader, although he doesn't take up too much space. Malikai turns out to be a really interesting character. And Kim...oh Kim...I still think about her!

The book is also unpredictable, nothing turned out as I expected it would.

The one stupid thing is with the car; I'm with Emma (think it was her) on this and don't know why they didn't try to find another one. Who wants to be out on foot for any reason let alone a zombie apocalypse? Bicycles would be better!

The ending is, similarly to the first book, kinda weak. I described the ending as a cliff hangar in the first book, but its not really. With both books perhaps its more like a speed bump. Both the books just kinda end with little climax and resolution. Maybe that's just the zombie style ending the author is going for, not everything has to end with a bang and happy feeling.

All the same, this is definitely one of the better zombie series out there and its now one of my favorites.

It's like two totally different stories instead of the second book in the series. Good grief. Zombie Apocalypse turned into moral second rate "Left Behind" story. I'm very disappointed. Characters are weak, story is disjointed and I it felt like I was being preached to. Nothing wrong with a strong religious undertone if it is the FIRST book and in keeping with the series. Its like the author decided to turn it over to someone else to write and he put his name on it. Disappointed!