Contamination Boxed Set: Books 0-3

I was a little apprehensive after reading the initial reviews. However, the story was captivating and I didn't stop until I'd finished it. The narrator's southern drawl actually made the setting more believable.

It is always a difficult prospect when you read the works of your peers. You "know" them and they "know" you through various circles and crossed paths. So, when I picked up T.W. Piperbrook's Contamination Box Set, I did so knowing that I might have to hurt some feelings. Thankfully, that is not the case.

I found this series to be entertaining. Perfect? No. But very little is in the world of zombie fiction. What works for one may not do so for another. My rule is that I have to be honest, despite what might result because of it. (The Indie scene can be a nasty place for those not in the know.)

Here is what REALLY worked for me. For one, this was not standard zombie fare. This had a story as to why, and it was definite and (mostly) plausible. It has some elements of a conspiracy theorist's wet dream. Evil government plot, delusions of grandeur. All that good stuff to make you mistrust the government. The story did not rely heavily on gore, but rather on real(-ish) people who, for the most part (more on that in a sec) act normal and have real feelings and emotions. They were not all "Hey, it's the apocalypse, so we can just switch over to where killing people even if they are bad is an okay thing."

On the down side, the "evil" government types were a mix of ruthless killers with a plan and the Keystone Kops. They fell victim to being a bit cliche and reminded me a little too much of "Rhodes" from the Romero "Day of the Dead". I would have been more impressed if the bad guys won in this one. It reminded me of when I saw "Predator" in the theaters. If Arnold would have died in the end instead of surviving the atomic blast, it would have been an all-time classic instead of just another 80s action flick.

Overall, this story has some great elements and is worth the time to pick up and sink into for a while. The narration sometimes gets a bit much when Mr. Duran is trying to "shout" or sound excited. However, when he is simply telling the story, his voice is velvety smooth.

A more accurate tale of how a zombie-like virus could hit and affect the US.

I haven't found such a enjoyable post apocalyptic/zombie series since Cameo Renae after light saga. And both are far better than the Stand. Plowing thru each audio book with pleasure & trepidation

This is one on my favorite series as the author tracks you through the last days of the south western America. This isn't your typical zombie apocalypse and the characters add depth to the story.

A cool little story about some good as well as bad people, worth your time to get started

Book zero starts and the reader is looking into the life of Dan, a police officer, who wants nothing more than to get home to his family. Little does he know that he and the rest of the town are in for a really big ordeal.

The audio for book one was amazing. The narrator was perfect and paced his words with enough pauses so my mind could wrap around the imagery. As I listened to Dan discovering his wife, just sitting in a chair, neither talking or averting her eyes, I knew something serious was going to happen, I just didn’t know when. Fortunately for Dan, he had his spidey skills working and knew something was amiss. Unfortunately for Dan he did not know his wife was about to go all crazy up in their dining room. She did have the presence of mind to lock their daughter into her bedroom before she went all crazy zombie (not zombie though, just crazy). The narration was seriously spot on for this. There was enough intensity but enough curiosity in Troy Duran’s voice that it was like watching a movie. You know something is going to happen by all the dang clues but you don’t know how or when!

What’s weird is I really do not know what these people are. We do find out that it’s an experiment on the town and how it is happening but not why. Book one ends on a massive cliff hanger, but not before lots of people get their guts ripped out. I only know that the people behind this “experiment” must be sadistic bastards because this was intense!

Book two starts with some new characters. Same great narration and audio. Story lacks a bit of something that book one had. Maybe the intensity and the introduction is now over so it’s missing something. Still fantastic. I’m curious if the characters from book one are going to show up somewhere later in the series. I’m really hoping readers aren’t introduced to characters that mean nothing to the overall story, but this is horror so it would not surprise me. Overall this one didn’t have enough oomph but still solid for a beginning to the story.

Definitely do not read book three, Crossroads, without the others. You need the beginning character set ups to understand what is going on. Not much set up is in this because the characters are already explained in the previous books, in detail. The overall pacing has picked up, and there were already parts where it was crazy! There are some slower portions where the characters catch their breath before they have yet another issue to deal with!

Overall the stories are amazing. I’m very glad I got to listen to the first few one after another. Made for a great read.

If you don’t like “zombies” that run, this may not be for you. I pictured this like that Crazies movie. Again, narration and audio was spot on!

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

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Yes, it was a good book and since I listen to audiobooks at work and I'm sure there are parts where I missed something.

The narrator did an amazing job with the story. I really liked how this was an original story and I wouldn't have imagined the way the infected become sick. I've already recommended it to friends and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I was pretty skeptical about this book from the synopsis... but I am really glad I bought it. It was a great story... a different twist on PA fiction. Well worth the time to listen.

this book is for you. full of gore and combat. it was not for me.