Awakening

By: J. D. Demers

Narrated by: Joshua Story

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's Summary

After a contagion engulfs humanity, zombies rise to feast on the few survivors that are left. But they are not the worst monsters to come from this plague. There is hope, though: Christian Hunt is immune. But how many lives will it take to bring his gift to what's left of mankind?

©2015 Jacob D. Demers (P)2015 Jacob D. Demers

Awakening is Phenomenal!

Excellent! This is my first J.D. Demers book, and he does not disappoint. Fantastic storyline and Joshua Story does a terrific job narrating. Definitely going to keep plowing through Demers work! \ : 0 )

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Very good first days of the outbreak book!

This book is open-ended so of course there is a second one. Over all I enjoyed this book very much. I'm partial to outbreak zombie books rather than 50 years after books so this was up my alley. A canine sidekick is featured which I always enjoy, characters are a mix of retired military and every man, well fleshed out and interesting, and I am definitely in for book two. No huge new zombie ground broken here - attempts at which I am sick of as they rarely go well - but a solid entertaining story with solid writing and characters.
Great female character I hope to see more of as well!
Medium gore, mild swearing, no sexism, no animal abuse, no sex (thank you to the author), and no military jargon rants or long equipment descriptions that will annoy civilians.
Very solid first book in a series. Narrator was invisible.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

I wish I had thought of that!

When I sat down and wrote my journal-based zombie book, I was just getting my feet wet. Admittedly, when I look back on it now, I can tell. There are some clumsy bits and awkward moments. I tended to introduce too many "background" characters and such.

THIS is the book that I wish I had written. It is a fun ride that has you shaking whatever version you have and hoping that more will fall out. (I used the audio book version, so that would be my phone getting throttled.)

J. D. Demars brings a lot of the standard zombie fare to the table, but then he mixes in some special ingredients and turns the zombie into his own beast. Also, he has the best utilization of a canine companion that I have read in the genre. he makes this pooch into an integral character in the story that you will have real feelings for in a short time.

Besides the zombies, there is a bit of that evil monster known as "man" that pops in and proves that the zombie might not be the most feared creature out there. Also, Demars makes you hate Fish. The person...not the food. (Although I suppose it is okay to hate both.) The Fish protagonist is an excellent foil for Christian (who I wanted to slap and demand that he kill Fish in his sleep on several occasions.)

Overall, this is a wonderful introduction to an author I look forward to reading more from. Considering this book only covers a month in the time line of what we are told is a year, I would say we have a lot to look forward to. The audio book is 4.5 stars for me. Honestly, I held back the half a star just because there were a few glitches in the production quality of the audio book. The story was a smash. Did it have a few hiccups? What story doesn't? But not enough for me not to say that I loved and enjoyed this tale.

24 of 30 people found this review helpful

It's Pronounced May-Lay.

Any additional comments?

I wish book 2 was out so I could immediately start listening to it! I loved this take on zombies. The scabs were something new. There were times when the author could have elaborated more, but didn't......like the zombies eating vegetation.
The narrator was good, but not the best. I just have to point out, and I hope he reads this, it's pronounced MAY-LAY, not mee-lee. Melee is "may-lay." Also, at one point, Cambell slipped into a Latino accent. It was just a one liner, but I caught it and thought "huh???"
And last, this book would have been close to perfect if he'd just said, "if you hurt my dog again, we're done." He didn't have to threaten to kill him. Just split up. Don't let someone throw your dog out the window of a moving vehicle and not reprimand them!

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Not your Father's Zombies

A great addition to the Zombie genre, “The Hunt Chronicles” takes readers through one man’s experience at the start of a zombie apocalypse. I’ve read tons of zombie books, and the really great thing about this one is these aren’t your typical zombies. I won’t ruin it for you here, but it’s got two interesting twists that I really like.

The book is well written and the author does a good job of mixing action, storytelling and setting the scene. The main character is likable and he feels very real in his approach. He’s not a hero right out of the gate which makes him feel very real. The other characters are a motley crew each which their own flaws which again makes it feel as if this could actually be happening in the present.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this book is that it doesn’t tell the whole story. It sets up the next book in the series nicely but it feels a bit incomplete because there isn’t a resolution to the characters’ situation in the end. That’s a pet peeve of mine, otherwise I would have rated it 5 stars.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

Mr Story does a great job with the narration. He differentiates between the characters nicely and really brings them to life.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

A very worthy zombie novel

I have listened to many many zombie stories. Its a limited genre. By this I mean you have your dead people trying to eat the living, the world has broken down, and often other survivors are trying to kill you. Its the nuances within these confines that make or break the novel.

Most importantly in my opinion are character development, plot, and how the writer writes. In Awakening, Demers is most concerned with introducing a few characters. They are unique from one another. Which is good. Each one has a unique personality. Demers invests the needed time to investigate who they are instead of focusing on gun battles and non stop action.

The writing is not sophisticated. The gold standard of genre writing in my book is Micheal Connelly, the guy who wrote the Harry Bosch books. His stories stick to a single character, but weaves sophisticatedly in the styles in which the writer chooses to unfold the narrative. Demers writing style is like a steady moving locomotive. It gets the job done, moving from point A to point B but never leaves the tracks.

So... this is not a runaway action novel. It invests time in exploring characters. & Demers is a good enough writer to pull off a satisfying apocalypse story that will salve any zombie hankering you might be encountering. Its worth reading/listening to.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

World War Z meets Zombieland meets I am Legend!

When this book was recommended to me I wasn't sure but I am REALLY glad I got it! I listened to it in just 2 sittings. This is not just another Zombie book, the storyline is awesome with great character development.
This is the best fiction book I've read all year, I can't wait to get the next book! awesome reader too! Get it, you won't regret it.

12 of 17 people found this review helpful

Great Book

The book grabbed my attention immediately from chapter one and continued to keep me entertained until the epilogue. I'm buying the next book, I have to know what happens to Christian Hunt!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love this Series

If you enjoy the walking dead you will definitely enjoy this book. I usually have to listen a couple of chapters before I can get Into the style of the narrator. The narrator Joshua Story is hands down my favorite audible book narrator I’ve come across so far. He instantly had me hooked. The story itself keeps you interested and makes you feel like you’re right there. Even with the gore it’s an easy to listen to book. I’m almost done with the third in this series and am anxiously awaiting the next book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great!!!

This is my 7 zombie apocalypse series. So far it has not disappointed me at all. Plus POGs need to stick together. Haha. Haooh! I do recommend this if you looking for a good zombie apocalyptic read

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

meaty storyline

Nice find in a sea of mediocre Zompoc storylines... captivating characters, flowing plotline and believable scenarios. All in all a great listen made all the better by a good narrator who didn't over act the scenes or blow up the good writing by ruining it with ego driven narration... good job all around!!!

really enjoyed this book

loved this book kept me interested and just got the 2nd book cant wait to see were this gose

Amazing

Great story. Definitely suggest if you are into zombies. I want book 2 now. Amazing