Dead Surge

White Flag of the Dead, Book 5

By: Joseph Talluto

Narrated by: Graham Halstead

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

It's been seven years since the Upheaval. Seven years of fighting the hordes of the undead. John Talon and his family are hoping to finally settle down and start their lives over again. But in the grasslands of Iowa, a new danger has emerged. A new form of the Enillo Virus, unlike any seen before, threatens to unravel the fragile new country. John, Charlie, Duncan, and Tommy will find their skills put to the test as they face off against the worst of the virus.

©2012 Joseph Talluto (P)2016 Tantor

action from start to finish

the action continues through the whole book as the heroes fight a new threat. as usual the writing is great however most characters take a back seat to the main 2 which isn't bad just don't expect any character development. I enjoyed it and if you have already invested in the series you won't be dissapointed.

Least favorite of the series

The book skips forward I think around 4 years and I really want to hear about events mentioned in the times between such as Denver. Seems like something happened with the relationship with Duncan and so there are gaps in story. I also felt a lot of it was predictable, but won't spoil that. I love the rest of the series so far, but feel this one in particular was lacking.

Boring

More of the same…the invincible John T and his gang chasing zombies across the US never losing, now they’re immune, killing child zombies. Seems like they still somehow have ammo after all these years and gasoline! Which is the biggest crock!

Math Fail and Repetitive Word Usage

If 15 zombies are in the middle of the road and Sarah runs over a dozen, “instantly” killing them, then how does she turn the truck and run over another dozen that hadn’t died during the first pass? AND how does John and the others have another dozen “or so” to finish off?
Author has become obnoxiously lazy. The same word will be used in the same sentence or the very next sentence.
Definitely belongs in the free listening category.
Narrator is ok, though ALL his male voices sound the same, it isn’t too difficult to follow the story (especially given the 7th grade writing level - and that’s being generous).

Confusing

More action here than in any of the previous books but too often I felt like I had missed a story cause of all the references here. Mind you I’ve read all of these books back to back so far but with this one and it’s time skip it feels like there’s a book missing. Overall it’s better than the previous book but not by much.

Book 4 and 5 should have been one book

What would have made Dead Surge better?

The author should have combine book 4 and 5, I feel cheated that it were two book rather than one...I hate buying these so call 5 hour books and then the next book that come out is 5 hours as well and realize that just one story broken up into two books just to make more money.

What was most disappointing about Joseph Talluto’s story?

the story was perfect other than the author making you wait to get the complete story, I wish his next book be longer and a complete story.

What does Graham Halstead bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He make the story come alive for the listener and I love how he change pitch of each characters

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Dead Surge?

none the story was great just sad that the author rather make money then tell a complete story.

Any additional comments?

Please next time tell a complete story in one book rather charging the listener for two books and one story...this is my last 5 hours books I will purchase if you continue breaking up the stories.

Half a book-should have been half a credit

This book and the next book should have been joined into one. Nothing happens in this book that gets finished. It’s literally the front half of a story and too short to be worth a full credit. I think someone decided to split this book and the next in half to make more money while making the listeners pay more for what it’s truly worth.

Graham Halstead is amazing as always.

The mid book twist

The mid book twist just felt abit rushed. Like it needed to be run past the editor again. It felt as though the book was telling one version of the story and finalized the chapter as such, but decided to change direction before even beginning to write the next chapter.

Don't get me wrong, I like the direction the story ultimately took for the mid story twist. But it just felt like a jarring left turn from the story up to that point. Maybe I'm just uncultured. I'm still enjoying the story though.

All that said, the final reveal right at the end made me feel like everyone was kinda dumb. Like it was painfully obvious what the answer to the question everyone was asking the whole book was. So much so I thought it was a Red herring. But maybe thats the point? You spend so much time looking for some overcomplicated solution to the question that you somehow gloss right over the simplest answer. And when it hits them in the face, we the reader face-palm as well.