Ferocious

By: Jeff Strand

Narrated by: Scott Thomas

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Haunted Forest Tour and Wolf Hunt comes another action-packed over-the-top creature feature!

Rusty Moss has raised his niece Mia since she was a baby. Now that she's almost 18, he's worried that the life he's given her - living off the grid in a cabin deep in the woods - is holding her back from her full potential. But that angst gets pushed aside when the undead forest animals arrive.

At first it's just a squirrel - shockingly violent and almost impossible to kill. Followed by a grizzly bear, also aggressive and resilient, even when point-blank shotgun blasts to the face are involved.

Now the cabin is surrounded by all manner of zombie creatures. Rusty and Mia have no way to call for help. The truck that could take them to safety is three miles away, stuck in the mud.

But Rusty and Mia have their courage. They have their wits. And, most importantly, they have an ax and a fully fueled chainsaw...

©2019 Jeff Strand (P)2019 Jeff Strand

Fun, but don't expect it to be too serious

This was a fun story that I really enjoyed. The main characters and their love for each other make this a surprisingly heartwarming tale of zombie animals. Don't go into it expecting a serious and terrifying novel. It's just a quick fun trip through a zombified version of the Hundred Acre Wood. It's not perfect, but it is entertaining.

great b movie horror fest

I love Jeff Strand, so it's difficult for me to not like one of his books. This is a great, fun read. Twist on the zombie story and great fun. If you are looking for something long and dull like a Nicholas Sparks novel - keep looking. If you're looking for something that's like drinking a cold chocolate milkshake on a hot day - this is for you.

I requested this copy of the audiobook and have voluntarily left this review

Christmas Vacation Squirrel becomes undead

Squirrel! Normally not a terrifying word to scream out, but this is the day the squirrel went berserk in the old wood cabin the end of the world started. You basically have an isolationist misanthrope forced to raise his niece out in the middle of nowhere when undead animals start going crazy and forcing the two to try to survive. Odd how funny the book can be at times considering the topic, but it is.

I loved the work Thomas did on this, some great voices and he flips from funny to fearful faster than Ash in Evil Dead.

Loooooooved this book. Do a puma check before reading.

never-ending gauntlet of zombie fauna

Well, the author certainly does have a warped sense of humour.

I enjoyed this campy horror story and wished that he had written it years ago when my son was Mia's age. I used to read out loud to him and I think we could have had a very good time with this story. There are two main (but minor) reasons why I didn't give this story a full 5-star rating.

First, I had a hard time pinning down Uncle Rusty's personality - Introverted mountain man? Warm and humorous family man? Low-key Marlborough man? Thin-haired Clint Eastwood? So, for example, when (SPOILER ALERT!) he slipped and fell on a decapitated wolf's head and caught his arse on fire (END SPOILER ALERT!), I wasn't quite sure how to picture his behaviour and reaction in my mind. I wasn't sure how 'in-character' his actions and reactions were. Similarly, Mia had a very mature temperament, considering everything she went through. She kept herself frosty for pretty much the entire story. I hope she doesn't waste that skill when she grows up - she'd be a good hostage negotiator or bomb disposal expert.

My second minor issue was the never-ending gauntlet of woodland creatures that this pair encountered. Given their injuries and the number of their encounters, I can't understand where they found the energy and focus to use their weapons or come up with plans. That's part of the humour of the story, I suspect, but Rusty and Mia seemed to be as freakishly indestructible as the creatures they were fighting.

Other than these two distractions, I have no complaints and think that the story was structured well, with a good ending.

Scott Thomas was an excellent choice to narrate this particular story. I increased the playback speed slightly (to 1.25x) and found that pace to be the right speed for the action that was taking place in the story. He struck a great balance between disbelief, seriousness, and warmth. I'd recommend him without hesitation.

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

Another winner

I’ve read most of Jeff Strands work, and he has two distinctive styles. Funny and serious with some funny stuff. Ferocious is one of the funny ones. Recommended.

Zombie Forest Animals

After reading this book, I am glad to live in the suburbs so the Animal Zombie Apocalypse occurs I will mostly deal with small animals.

Zombie Squirrels Seem Surprisingly Terrifying

Jeff Strand tells great horror stories, and while I typically shy away from zombie stories since they have become too played out, I wanted to hear Strand’s take on them. I wasn’t disappointed, he did a great job of telling a zombie story without retelling the same old story everyone else does. I thought his take was unique and a breath of fresh air for the genre.

As always, I really enjoyed both the characters and the story. Strand gets you close to the characters and develops a story that brings you in quickly. I was really surprised by how much agony they could endure fighting for survival. Their relationship was great and I loved the playful banter they had between each other. I really felt that Mia was lucky to have such a great uncle.

Scott Thomas did a great job with the narration. I liked his character voices and thought he really brought the story to life.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Zombie Squirells!

I really like this book quit a bit. If you are a the PETA type, you may want to skip this one. My only criticisms might be that there are a few too many one liners for the situation that our subjects find themselves in (some pretty funny though) and the circumstances of their relationship in the first place.

I received this audio book in exchange for my honest review.

Story line left a lot of be desired (spoilers)

So this book started out relatively promising. The 2 characters are supposed to be an uncle and adopted niece but their characters are work essentially the same so she is styled essentially as another middle aged man in a teenage girl body. Not sure if the author has actually encountered teenage girls before.

Forgiving that, the story begins to get interesting when they find a diseased squirrel. They try to take it to a veterinarian to be diagnosed but are blown off........so they just go home where they are promptly surrounded by more undead animals that attack their cabin and tear it apart and they gradually fight/escape from them to get back to town....and that's basically the whole story. Just fighting one animal and then joking about it and then fighting another one for almost entire book. It ends with a very brief explanation that everything was locally contained and it doesn't affect anyone and it'll all be fine. Not an especially satisfying read.

The narrator of the audiobook was very enthusiastic though, and I honestly wouldn't have finished the book if he hadn't been.

I love the narrator of this story

the writer of this book has quite the imagination. I'm sure a lot of people would have found it as engaging as I did, but if you enjoy off the wall humor this is a good book for you. The narrator definitely does this book Justice and more. He has just another enough sourcasm to make me laugh out loud a lot.