This Rotten World

Choking on the Ashes

De: Jacy Morris

Narrado por: T.L. Howell

As our survivors near the coast, the road takes its toll. Falling apart physically and emotionally, they are drawn to the siren call of the beach. Seaside awaits them, a town demolished by a tsunami and crawling with the reanimated. With infants in tow, the survivors must band together to fight for a new home. All that stands between them and the future is an army of the dead. Will they succeed, or will they find themselves Choking on the Ashes?

©2021 Jacy Morris (P)2022 Jacy Morris

Excellent narrator and Story! Wow!

A friend recommended this series to me because 1) I'm a zombie fan and 2) Im born and raised in Portland. it was A LOT of fun hearing the incorporated landmarks. Jacy didnt always come out and say what building he was talking about and it was fun figuring out what some of them were. It also made it more fun to think about what I would've done. I enjoyed listening to the author's note at the end of this book. Im happy to hear that it doesnt end here and it was also validating to hear him address some of the same feelings I had about the books (because I agree, appreciate, and respect the purposeful decisions made around the story and character development --so good!). I overall enjoyed the entire series and LOVE that characters were killed off indiscriminately. I have been looking for a zombie series that was alittle more realistic and practical in regards to the challenges, series of events, character decisionmaking and practicality, and how you never know whats going to happen next. i 100% agree with the decisions around who survived out of the original group and that Jacy did not use the normal character development formulas that is popular in other zombie books. You dont always need the typical, romanticized hero that is always ever-present in story lines. You don't need to have a hero who has the full package and build a story where s/he somehow always comes out ontop. I also love that he had a villain plot that he just threw away because it wasnt worth it to the characters. But in other books, the main characters would have righteously chased that storyline to its end. The deciscions he made in here are so deliciously good and masterful. I highly recommend this series. Also, Im a bit of a voice actor snob. Im picky. TL Howell does an excellent job at bringing all the characters to life. I hope to he'll narrate the next book.

okay seriously chapter 14

had me yelling NOOOO lol. and here i was AGAIN listening to it in bed at night lol. I can't say how much over and over again how much I have enjoyed this series. You did not let me down Jacey.

what a bittersweet ending.

I've really enjoyed following the characters over the years. While there were plenty of sad moments, there were also some happy moments along the way. You never really knew who would be the next to fall and you could certainly never guess how a character's journey would end. I've eagerly awaited the audio releases over the years and, that in part has to do with the stellar performance by T. L Howell. Hats off to Jacy Morris for sticking with him to the end. It's not often a series with this many books does this and for that, I'm grateful. This book is a great end, possibly the best end we could imagine for our loveable survivors. The quality of Jacy's writing never dips and for that, as well as everything else, I would give this book 5 stars. I'd also like to add that it isn't often, heck, it's quite rare a story will give me as much dread and anxiety as this series has. Whether that anxiety is for the characters I've grown to enjoy or the writing and situations being so..real..that I could see myself in the same situations. Just one more reason why this series is one of my all-time favorites. Thanks again Jacy for 1. teaching me that no one is safe in This rotten world 2. For ripping my heart out repeatedly until I learned this truth. I'll be sure to do my best to remember this truth but no promises, after all, your characters are just too darn enjoyable :)
So, if you're reading this review and haven't yet started the series, prepare yourself.. now what are you waiting for?? jump on this rollercoaster already!

my favorite book thus far in the series

This is so good! I enjoyed every character and it was so exciting!! Keep it up!!!

A exciting, exhausting and heartbreaking ride.

Thanks Jacy. Enjoyed thoroughly. T.L. Howell does a great job with narration. Would have been thrown off if a new narrator had come in to replace.

Gripes…

Having all the unassuming characters survive instead of the perceived leaders/heroes is definitely not anything new. While I agree that things shouldnt be super easy, there doesnt have to bs around every corner either. Having both Walt and Whiteside get struck by lightning….really?!?!

The zombies are attracted by sound but then having some of them ignore sounds that they do hear is super contradictory. This is even moreso annoying when it occurs even when the characters havent been spotted by ani’s yet. In those instances, characters cant throw an object to make noise in order to give themselves a few secs to escape while the anis investigate???

Then the tsunami….yes, Oregon has earthquakes but most are below a 3.0 and that wouldnt be strong enough to cause the devastation that occurred in this part of the story.

Also, I hope you don’t go the hybrid route with Stranger. She should either die early or be a carrier of some sort. There should be no way that Kate was infected and carried her as long as she did without having passed something on.

I plan to continue listening to the series because (momma didn’t raise no quitter) and because I want to see what else I can gripe about.

Jk on that last part…

By far the best and realistic zombie apocalypse book series I’ve ever heard

This is the realist thing to a EMP . By far the best zombie books series I’ve ever listened

unexpected MASTERPIECE!!

I completely binged this entire series in about a week on audible! I Couldn't get enough! the disjointed chaotic beginning of the series was perfect! nothing about the apocalypse should be "orderly " the gut wrenching, heart breaking end was scintillating in brutal honesty. life is not fair. read this, read then all!!

Amazing

Awesome story for any zombie lover. I highly recommend this series as whole. you won't regret it.

The best in the series (GET THIS NOW)

One of the things I mentioned in my review of the previous books, was how It always felt like this series was a death march. The characters, unlike in other zombie franchises, don't get to build a community that then crumbles, then they move to another community, that then crumbles, etc etc. from book 1 this has felt like these people can't stop long enough because the dead are always coming and they don't stop. This book in particular highlights that. It makes you feel the exhaustion of the characters, follow the by a non-stopping force which are the zombies. And even though there might be times of settling down for a while, the pacing of the book makes it feel like those times are fleeting in comparison to the oncoming horde.
There's so much creativity, thought, and inventiveness that goes into this book. Especially during the final big set piece. It feels overwhelming. where other series might have just had your nearly superhuman characters shoot (with the endless supply of bullets they seem to come upon during the zombie apocalypse for some reason) and hack through thousands of zombies over and over until they stop, with only side characters meeting their end, Morris gets creative. This feels researched, planned, thought out. This is people trying to survive by the skin of their teeth. And not all of them will survive of course. He set up this "Return of the King" level battle for survival since the past book. What others might have considered just a random bunch of characters meeting their end due to a natural disaster, is actually Mordor amassing their army.
I've enjoyed this series from book 1. And for anybody who didn't see that Morris had a clear vision going into this, this book is testament of just how clear his vision of his story was.