Zombie Airman

De: David Guenther

Narrado por: Randolf Rebrick

The night of the plague follows sunset on April Fool’s Day around the world. By sunrise, less than fifteen percent of the world’s population is uninfected. The airborne disease is invulnerable to any air filter or disease barrier. The fifteen percent uninfected are still vulnerable to the disease when spread via bodily fluids as the infected seek to spread their disease. These are the stories of those just trying to survive.

Airman First Class Caleb White, dorm rat, burned out on monitoring computer displays eight hours a day in a small cubicle in a large cubicle farm. His few interests off duty, bar hopping, taking care of his beloved truck, and managing to find trouble. A spur of the moment decision sets him up for a night of adventure and more excitement than he ever had in the Air Force.

Major General William ‘Willy Pete’ Peters, has a rotten night. Preparing for his third divorce, he wakes to find his one night stand trying to eat him. She ends up having a fireplace poker sticking out of her skull as he learns that’s the least of his problems. By morning, he comes to the realization he is the senior ranking survivor of all the services.

Lieutenant Gloria ‘Grits’ Alban awakens among dozens of corpses on a bridge. Her uniform is torn and saturated in blood. She has no memory of the long night. She joins her fellow survivors and finds it hard to accept their stories of zombies the night before. Equally hard to believe is the new abilities she’s slowly learning she now has.

©2018 David Guenther (P)2018 David Guenther

3.5* zombie adventure

3.5* -
As another reviewer mentioned, there are lots of abbreviations used by the author in this audiobook. After each new abbreviation, the author indicates what the abbreviation means. The use of extensive abbreviations is interesting. Abbreviations make communications more efficient for people who understand what the abbreviations mean, but they make communications less efficient for people who don’t know the abbreviations and need the explanations. Also, abbreviations are like a secret language that distinguish members of the ‘in-the-know’ group from individuals who aren’t ‘in the know’, either reinforcing inclusivity or reinforcing boundaries (depending on whether or not you’re ‘in the know’ about the abbreviations). This is a long-winded way of speculating that the author likely gained fans who have military (and related) backgrounds by the use of those abbreviations, but had some of us outsiders scratching our heads in confusion each time an abbreviation was used. Yes, the author gave us the explanation after the abbreviation but it caused confusion first, and then we were given the explanation. I think it would have been better for us noobs if we got the explanation first and then the author followed that with the abbreviation. Less confusing for people like me, while also letting the military readers know that the author is ‘in the know’ about the terminology/abbreviations. Sounds like such a minor thing! But there are a lot of abbreviations in this audiobook and each time the abbreviation was mentioned, it jolted me out of the narrative until the narrator could explain the term.

The only other observation that I would make about the story is that this a very action oriented story and less of a character-driven or plot-driven story. My personal preference (your mileage may vary!) is to understand and engage with the main characters emotionally, but this story focuses more on what the characters are doing rather than what the characters are thinking/feeling. It’s like watching old Godzilla movies. When you watch those Godzilla movies, you hardly get to empathize with any of the human characters. There’s usually an underlying moral message of man’s relationship with nature, but that’s more subtle and instead the focus is on the action and the carnage caused by the monster(s). I think Zombie Airmen is kind of like that.

The narration is good for this type of story and this setting. If I could make one suggestion, it would be that the narrator take slightly longer pauses after each sentence -it would have been easier for me to absorb what he was saying.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Interesting story!

I really enjoyed the story! The new take on the zombie infection was very welcome. I enjoyed the excitement and horror the author was able to pull off equally. The only downside was the narrator, especially when a female character was being voiced.

A different take on the zombie apocalypse

This story was a different take on the zombie apocalypse because of the added aliens. There is a lot of characters to keep track of. I very much enjoyed the story line of Gloria and the little boy she protected. The narrator did a great job and has a very interesting voice that added to my listening pleasure. I received this for free for an honest review.

Interesting twist to the zombie genre!

Here we have an interesting zombie tale with a few twists. The most interesting being some of the infected military did not turn, although their eyesight, strength, and endurance improved. These semi-infected carriers could walk among the undead without being attacked. This twist opened up new options for the author, expanding the tale without being too ridiculous. The story focuses on an overrun military base regrouping, gathering resources, and trying to set up new operations at another base. The characters are well developed and likable. The zombies are plentiful with lots of action to go around. From the sound of the epilogue there is another book coming. I look forward to hearing how Caleb and Gloria make out. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

The best Zombie tale this year

Zombie Airman. The best Zombie book I've read/listened to in a long time. It has a fresh twist on the genre, it's gripping and fast paced. Full of action.
It is a full novel but I was so engaged by it - I wanted it to be longer.
Narration by Randolf Rebrick is excellent. I've never listened to any of Randolf's work but will look out for his narration in future.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.