The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury

By: Robert Kirkman, Jay Bonansinga

Narrated by: Fred Berman

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

The zombie plague unleashes its horrors on the suburbs of Atlanta without warning, pitting the living against the dead. Caught in the mass exodus, Lilly Caul struggles to survive in a series of ragtag encampments and improvised shelters. But the Walkers are multiplying. Dogged by their feral hunger for flesh and crippled by fear, Lilly relies on the protection of good Samaritans by seeking refuge in a walled-in town once known as Woodbury, Georgia.

At first, Woodbury seems like a perfect sanctuary. Squatters barter services for food, people have roofs over their heads, and the barricade expands, growing stronger every day. Best of all, a mysterious self-proclaimed leader named Philip Blake keeps the citizens in line. But Lilly begins to suspect that all is not as it seems.... Blake, who has recently begun to call himself The Governor, has disturbing ideas about law and order.

Ultimately, Lilly and a band of rebels open up a Pandora’s box of mayhem and destruction when they challenge The Governor’s reign - and the road to Woodbury becomes the highway to hell in this riveting follow-up to Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga's New York Times best-selling The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.

©2012 Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

AWESOME ADDITION TO THE WALKING DEAD

Profound! Sadistic! Ruthless! Twisted! SURVIVAL! Fear humankind and the zombies!

I could not put this book down. I wish they would have incorporated more elements of The Road to Woodbury in the TV series. Elements that do appear in the series are: Penny, Philip, the heads in jars, and the town. I may be forgetting a couple more.

This book explains the Philip and penny storyline and how Philip came to power. The book is fast paced, filled with teeth gritting, breathe holding, horror.

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

The Walking Dead.

What made the experience of listening to The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury the most enjoyable?

....Short Answer....

The book is awesome. It picks up right after the Governor takes power, with a small group of refugees entering Woodbury.

....Medium Answer....

This book adds to the series perfectly. Following a group that finds their way to Woodbury a few weeks after The Governor took control of Woodbury. The group does not know the history in which The Governor came to rise to power, but they start to see the rot under the veneer. Eventually the group is thrown into situations far deadlier than the Walkers.

....Long Answer....

The Walking Dead series is a genre in its own. Character development is a crucial aspect to these books. The listener can empathize with at least one character. Everyone who listens or reads zombie fact/fiction books has the “I know what I would do.” quote, but what would you do if your first and typically only plan didn’t pan out as expected. You would eventually end up like characters in these books. Would you be an Alpha or a Follower? These books give an insight into how the world would be if civilization crashed and an ever eminent threat loomed over them. This installment follows a group of unsuspecting individuals that are welcomed into Woodbury where the Governor has risen to power. They know all is not as it seems, but a safe place to sleep. The entrance of this new dynamic help start in motion the events change the future of all the characters and Woodbury.

What did you like best about this story?

I always like the interactions between characters. The way these authors build them into people and not just "characters," and put them into real world situations.

Which character – as performed by Fred Berman – was your favorite?

That would be Josh, although the Governor is pretty tempting too.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Buy it NOW awesome series!! More please!

Awesome series. There were a few zombie twists/scenes that were unexpected and nothing was really cliche. Characters were believable. I swear I'm still laughing at the exchange between Sara & her stoner boyfriend in the back of the pickup truck. "Dude you totally farted and it was girl fart" I'm telling you Fred Berman could be on a stage somewhere. He's good!

I mean I swear I listen to alot of books and this is the first one where the material, the scene setup & the presenter made me laugh outloud!

I actually liked both of the books in the series and was pleasantly surprised by that. I LOVE the way the authors set up a chapter so you know what's going to happen but you do NOT know the outcome. Talk about suspense! LOVE it!!!

If you're a walking dead, zombie, apocalypse or syfy fan you HAVE to get these books. I just wish there were more!

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

WOW!! How good was this book!! Must read!!

Ok, first let me rebut my first review of the Rise of the Governer. I complained somewhat that the author was "trying too hard to make as detailed and analytical " & "It just distracted me to much from the storyline". Boy was I ever wrong. I just loved the detailed in this book. It was just in aw how he kept using these adjectives and they were just spot on! I have read all the comics and I have recently re-read just past the prison in Comic books. Let me tell you there are charactors in this book that tie into that series of issue of the prison and Woodbury. And it's just cool to seem them in both. So I give a 10 out of 10 for this audio book!


**Semi Small Spoiler Alert**
all -(Spoiler Alert)- I -(Spoiler Alert)- have -(Spoiler Alert)- to -(Spoiler Alert)- say -(Spoiler Alert)- is -(Spoiler Alert)- that -(Spoiler Alert)- my -(Spoiler Alert)- favorite -(Spoiler Alert)- part -(Spoiler Alert)- was -(Spoiler Alert)- the -(Spoiler Alert)- clown -(Spoiler Alert)- zombies -(Spoiler Alert)-. it -(Spoiler Alert)- was -(Spoiler Alert)- like -(Spoiler Alert)- Stephen -(Spoiler Alert)-King's -(Spoiler Alert)- "IT" -(Spoiler Alert)- meets -(Spoiler Alert)- The -(Spoiler Alert)- Walking -(Spoiler Alert)- Dead. -(Spoiler Alert)- Very -(Spoiler Alert)- cool!! -(Spoiler Alert)-

-Big Art

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Someone found a thesaurus!

What disappointed you about The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury?

Poorly written storyline that used an absurd amount of adjectives and adverbs creating a much longer story than necessary. Not only did it feel long but it also did not develop the characters properly leading to large leaps in relationships that were unbelievable.

Has The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury turned you off from other books in this genre?

It has not turned me off from this series because I am addicted to the "The Walking Dead" series as a whole, but I will admit to reading this book as a guilty pleasure and feel a little ashamed.

Any additional comments?

Outstanding performance by Fred Berman. With out his strong performance I would not have made it through this book.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Very good, as expected

Who thinks they can pitch a tent in the middle of a field and think they're safe during a zombie apocalypse!?

Apart from one or two quibbles, this book is otherwise very good, a must read if you are into zombie literature. I think the previous book, "Rise of the Governor" is better, or at least even more gut wrenching and dramatic. Both books are pretty sad and depressing, although that's the style of the series, I wish it had at least some upbeat parts.

But at least in this book there is a character to like, Lilly. Tragic things keep happening to her and she is just trying to survive. Lilly is someone you can relate to and keep hoping that she pulls through each time.

There are a whole bunch of complex gray morality issues going on throughout the book and all of it well handled by the author. In times like these, what are you supposed to do? Survive.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Solid Story not enough Character Development

Listened for Fun!
Overall Rating: 4.00
Story Rating: 4.25
Character Rating: 3.75

Audio Rating: 3.25

First thought when finished: The Road to Woodbury was much better than The Rise of the Governor! Also proved that the humans are scarier than the zombies!

What I thought of the story: The Road to Woodbury was really the journey of Lily and her experience with The Governer and Woodbury. To me, this is where the story shines because you really want to know how it works out for her. When she is the focus, the story is fantastic!

What I thought of the characters: I am going to be honest, I don't think you are supposed to like or relate to any of the characters in Woodbury. They are a little less one dimensional in this 2nd installment but still not a lot of character development. Lily was a fantastically flawed character with many dimensions and you wanted to root for her!

What I thought of the audio: Narrated by Fred Berman and at a running time of 9 hrs and 56 mins, The Road to Woodbury (or actually the series) is one I would suggest you read not listen too. I just don't think the story plays as well in audio.

Final thought: I have heard that this is a trilogy so I am hoping the final book has more character development. The story was solid and entertaining though and zombie lovers should not pass it up. Though my theory that the people are way scarier than the zombies still stands!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I Don’t get the complaining!!!

This book did NOT have he characters from the tv show in it. Instead, it features a whole new plot line, explaining the governor in depth: who is he and how did his experiences make him into this fearsome villain?? I may be late on the bandwagon, but I am so thoroughly enjoying this series that I bought an extra 3 credits from Audible (and will be buying another 3 shortly) to continue this series. Maybe it is because I just struggled through ‘After It Happened’ which has lass than zero real conflict and characters you couldn’t care less about if you tried, but I am so enjoying this series. Actually I take it back. I’d love this series no matter what I compared it to. TLDR: Just do it! I’ve just about exhausted Audible’s post apocalyptic/zombie fiction selections, and this is definitely a stand out. I wish they were longer. Sooooo good. I recently realized I had an actual crush on Josh.

Always had me on the edge of my seat.

Wow what a great read/ listen. Can not wait to listen to the next book.

Good acting...story kinda boring.

The second half of the story is boring, but great acting. Not as much back story as I thought there'd be.

A must for horror lovers!

I LOVE this series of books! The Rise of the Governor gave us an insight that isn’t available in the graphic novels or TV series. This second book is more in depth still. I never read a graphic novel before The Walking Dead (assuming that at 44 I was a little old for them!) but the whole lot, graphic novels, TV series and now novels are amazing! If you like zombies you will love these books but they are also great on the human level too. Give them a go, you won’t be disappointed!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Darker sicker

No for a weak stomach if your a fan of walking dead then these books are a must!

a shame

i kinda wish I never got this book
it's hard to listen to I have no problem with the voice but it's just the story I thought was really poor
of course other people will have there view on it and think it was really good
for what I did listen to I thought it was boring and regret my purchase in the long run

Brilliant!

I'm really enjoying this series so far. As a fan of The Walking Dead TV show, I was worried it might not live up to my expectations but it surpassed them. It provides more background for The Governor and Woodbury and I haven't been able to put it down as the narrator builds suspense well. Really looking forward to the introduction of Rick and the gang in the next one.

Amazing

such a good book continuing from the first book 10/10 would recommend to any zombie fan

Top notch

A great story in the walking dead series. Can't wait to get stuck into the next one.

If you love The Walking Dead on TV then....

If you could sum up The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury in three words, what would they be?

Engrossing, Tense. Brilliant

What does Fred Berman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Fred Berman brings this book alive, was sooo glad that he narrates all the books.

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

Absolutely

Any additional comments?

If you love The Walking Dead on TV then buy these four books, you will not be disappointed. You will learn so much more about the Governor than you do in the Tv programme.

More Amazing!!

What made the experience of listening to The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury the most enjoyable?

Ok, the first book was good, but this is on a different level! From start to finish it is twitchy, dark, tragic and compelling. Characters are even better than "The Rise" and the utter despair conveyed throughout is on a par with "The Road". At times i found myself shaking my head, staring into space and lost in what i had just read. Its no surprise to fans that the true horror in these books is not found in the zombie hordes but in the decisions and deeds that ordinary people find themselves immersed in but this book captures that essence brilliantly!Best book i have had so far and i have over 120 books in my audible library

Who was your favorite character and why?

Josh. He was hope

Which character – as performed by Fred Berman – was your favourite?

Bob

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You're not locked out, you're locked in!!

Any additional comments?

Gripping from start to finish and the finest performance i have heard so far

walking great

I have been reading the walking dead comic since issue 1 years ago and still can't wait for the next issue each time. Now we have the 2 novels about the governor which is a major story arch in the comic, so to have the blanks filled in on the reason for his evilness was something i just couldn't pass up. Not going to give the story away but the twists in this 2nd novel and the character detail make this a must for any walking dead comic or tv show fan. well written and well narrated.