• The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1 (Volume 1)

  • By: Peter Meredith
  • Narrated by: Basil Sands
  • Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (2,048 ratings)

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The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1 (Volume 1)  By  cover art

The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1 (Volume 1)

By: Peter Meredith
Narrated by: Basil Sands
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Publisher's summary

Greed, terrorism, and simple bad luck conspire to bring mankind to its knees as a viral infection spreads out of control, reducing those infected to undead horrors that feed upon the rest. It's a time of misery and death for most, however there are some who are lucky, some who are fast, and some who are just too damned tough to go down without a fight. This is their story.

©2013 Peter Meredith (P)2014 Peter Meredith

What listeners say about The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1 (Volume 1)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,127
  • 4 Stars
    557
  • 3 Stars
    182
  • 2 Stars
    82
  • 1 Stars
    100
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,088
  • 4 Stars
    473
  • 3 Stars
    210
  • 2 Stars
    66
  • 1 Stars
    58
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    470
  • 3 Stars
    192
  • 2 Stars
    73
  • 1 Stars
    113

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

ATE HIS FACE

KISS A@@ UNTIL YOU SMELL OF SH@T
After reading the other reviews, I feel a strong urge to defend the book. This is life as it would mostly be like during an apocalypse. The characters are real people with real faults. The characters are very well developed, but all are not lovable. Some are lovable and if you don't see that you probably didn't finish the book. It takes a while for the characters to develop, but like a George RR Martin book, they don't always do what you expect. That is an example, I am not saying Meredith is as good as Martin, but who is?

Pros
The characters: At first I thought oh no, another He Man Conservative propaganda novel. The novel starts out stressing, might means right and peace loving liberals who recycle will not survive. One main character is a short slim Jewish man in his 30's, who has manners. In the beginning of the novel he is made fun of and you are lead to believe that he will die early. It turns out he is a survivor. A teenager (who is the cut up of the group and provides comic relief). The black girl from the hood is the most controversial character. She is a racist herself and has a huge chip on her shoulder. She is the cause of much grief. These people do bad things and good things. They react the way most of us would in the same situation.
The zombies: they are slow and are basically the background for the story. You really don't have to worry about them that much unless, you are badly hurt, surprised or trapped. One zombie is seen to drink from a stream.
The Sex: I get tired of reading stories involving males and females and sex is hardly referred to. Unless you are very young or very old, sex is hopefully a big part of your life. Sex is a stress releaser and fighting Zombies causes stress, it also brings people closer and it is fun. Males think about sex all the time. There is one time when the sex in my opinion was gratuitous. The rest of the time if fit perfectly into the story. There is even one character, you will be hoping does get laid.
Plot: Might be a little thin, the story is mostly the development of the characters, but there is one, although like most Zombie books, it involves going across country.
Realistic: No heroes, no supermen, no serendipity, it's seems to be what would happen in real life. (if zombies attacked!)

HIS INSIDES FELT GREASY
Cons: The Military does not respond the way I believe they would, especially the top brass. PM says he used to serve in the military and that he knows what he is talking about. I don't see a general or admiral shooting the liberal president. I don't see a colonel setting up his own Fiefdom with platoon whores and his own harem. Maybe after several years, but not within hours. I don't see the military going through towns and robbing the civilians. The top brass would not be that macho, they are sons of rich dads who went to big schools and they had to play politics to get the top spots. I could be wrong, but I hope I'm not.
The Sex: There is an in depth girl on girl scene, which did not feel practical. It was almost a side story, put in just to have a sex scene.
Forward: Until the afterword, I figured this was just a come on to get the reader interested. When I grew up, movies would advertise being banned in foreign countries, knowing that portraying themselves as super bad, would draw a large crowd. PM puts down the works of other writers. I too get tired of the military zombie books, that provide bunkers full of food, but that is because of the amount of books that repeat that scenario, not the original concept. I too, am tired of characters who are trained killers, but somebody likes it, cause they sell.
Afterword: I thought it was unprofessional and not worthy. This is not the place for that.

Summary
I liked the book and gave it five stars. I have the second book in my wish list along with the first book in another series PM started. This probably ranks fourth among my favorite Zombie books. Those being Cattle, Cell and the Mountain Man series.

The narrator is okay, he did not take away from or add to.

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85 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Decent story at heart, cluttered by author issues

I had a really hard time coming up with a complete and coherent review to this one. The core story is a decent example of the Zombie genre, more reminiscent of "The Walking Dead" and "28 Days" than some of the more mystical approaches. Nice usage of contemporary political and terrorist elements in the creation of an apocalypse scenario.

But, the story is bogged down by the author's personal issues. The actual narrative is laden with latent sexual frustration, assumptions of gender issues, and a racial sub-plot which could be an effective side-story, if not for the author's decision to include both a forward and afterward note. These notes are so angry and defensive, it colors the entire production, and one has to wade through the chips on the author's shoulders to reach the story. Rather than simply standing by what he's written, or even taking some input for future stories, the author lashes out at readers (listeners) before they've even started the tale.

Basil Sands provides a solid, if somewhat un-nuanced narration of this one. I found him excellently matched to the backstory and general narrative, but stilted and awkward as a love scene narrator. To be fair, I didn't find the love scenes particularly well written, and thought they should have been alluded to, and then skipped past.

I think if the story had a good thorough editing to clean up some of the baggage, it would score a solid 3.5 - 4 stars, as it stands the clutter left me feeling like I heard the entire thing from a literary arm's distance.

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84 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

OK story. The author racial views are highlighted

I thought it was a decent story. Highlights how shitty some people can be during a apocalyptic life or death world. The thing for me is the author does a disclaimer trigger warning in the beginning and at the end of the book on how he is not racist and the characters are the way they are because it depicts real life and that's how people actually are. Which is whatever, Im not easily offended. But when I finished the book I quickly realized there is only one black person in the entire story and she is the one who super ghetto and makes really dumb decisions and ends up being the evil villain. She is from Compton so I get it, but the protagonist watches her get gang rapped and does nothing while treating her like shit but is protective to all the other characters who are white, . Me being a black person it is very obvious that the author thinks that this is how all black people are, he says as much in his disclaimers. Also the only latins are mexican gang bangers. That was super lame to me, have more diversity in characters especially when it takes place in California. Im born and raised in California and know better. But with ignoring the authors personal racial ignorance, its a decent story. Audible has such an amazing return policy that its worth checking out and deciding for yourself if its a keeper or not

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54 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Was Hoping the Zombies Would Win

The characters in this book were so unlikable I was hoping the zombies would win...

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Undead: A New Appreciation for Living

Phenomenal! Mr. Meredith is masterful at developing adroit, intriguing, multifarious characters. Graphics made this one exceptionally heart pounding. Start to finish, "The Apocalypse" had me... hook, line and sinker!

Personally, I was reminded to be more grateful for the random, little things so easily taken for granted... A bath\shower whenever I desire, access to clean water, and nourishing food. Novel 1 brought up numerous, additional poignant social messages/topics for further reflection and discussion.

This episode reinforced no-one should be quick to trust and always be alert and oriented to your surroundings. Unfortunately, there are never any no do-overs or learning curves here!

Always us extreme vigilance when considering individuals you would want in your confidence when the sh-t hits the fan. Choosing well, is all too often the difference between life and death for these survivors. Really getting to know each other ( strengths, weaknesses and motives) is critical to working together and gaining trust. However, insight into ones inner-workings and psyche can/will just as likely be used as an impetus for those with ill-intentions to harm others who present a barrier in their quest to gain power and secure survival - at any cost...

Many in this group of survivors, as different as they are from each other, did manage to start to form bonds of trust and faith in their fellow members, bringing new meaning to the term: “United we stand and divided we fall”

Weed out the bad apples early ( unfortunately, this group gave their bad apple too many chances) because the repercussions (as proven in this first book of the series) can have long-term, devastating effects.

Onward to book #2!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

This was an excellent audiobook. At first I thought it might be too dark and that is saying a LOT for me. But as I got into it I was really entrenched into the various characters, their plots , twists & turns and storyline. I cannot wait until the next one. This is a very realistic apocalypse tale. It is not for the easily offended or faint of heart. However, having spent 42 years on this earth as a woman twice divorced, mother of 3 children and a 10 year USAF Veteran (and aspiring author-narrator) had to add my shameless plug in! This is a way that I can definitely see a Bio Apocalypse going down that reanimated the dead. Be prepared to leave your lights on and have someone nearby! Settle in for a thrilling listen!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

surprisingly satisfying

Before I got this I read a couple reviews to see what I was getting into, and I never do that. I will say that the book started slow but all 1st volumes do. once it got started. probably an hour and half into the story everything got incredibly interesting. The reviews I read bashed Peter for being sexually frustrated and a racist. As I listened I started to completely disagree. Some men in the apocalypse would change for the worse and abuse females sadly. Just because the world ended wouldn't change some people's attitude. There's a racist character in the book that is constantly tly causing trouble. if someone takes that as the authors a racist then they are being too harsh. I personally hated the character because she was a bad person for everyone. I'll quit rambling and say that the book was great. It was a great adventure into the world Peter created. I will also it has an ending that kept me on edge the entire time.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Women as mere sexual objects? Check.

The prologue (a.k.a. author justifying his political incorrectness) was a bit... lame... if you know you're being ignorant and stereotypical, why just talk about it instead of correcting it? Unfortunately, this seems to be a fact of male zombie fiction: men writing zombie books seem to have this specific urge to discuss the gathering and raping of women, express a fear of homosexuals, and emphasize everyone's skin color (of course, only if the characters are not white).

It does, however, become increasingly misogynistic as it progresses. In some scenes, the reliance on gender stereotypes shows the author's ignorance more so than it shows his declared interest in demonstrating how a world post-law would degrade to a racist, homophobic and women-hating culture. One of the female characters went to a store and "shopped like a man". Err... wth does that mean? ... what world does the author live in that makes "shopping like a man" a recognizable stereotype?

Well, the fact that Meredith's wet dream, errrr, I mean "storyline" involves a harem of women, some of whom actually enjoy and take pride in being merely vaginas and the rest of whom are at least accepting of this "important" role, really does expose the world this author has in his head.

Post-zombie breakout and a key feature in the storyline is how frequently the men should get blow jobs?? hahahah... omg.... That, and the lesbian scene was probably written "in the shower" (nudge nudge wink wink).

This immature sexual perspective is consistent throughout the novel: women are incompetent in all senses (and even need "training" to perform acceptably in a gang-rape situation - yes, I'm serious, there is a discussion on how women "should behave" while preparing to be raped), all the men see all the women as sexual objects, and, most disturbingly, all women see themselves as merely sexual objects - and all of them, even if they've just been raped repeatedly, need to find "love" by attaching themselves to a man, any man.

The beginning of the novel starts as if it will be about a zombie apocalypse, so it's not until about 1/4 of the way in that this sexual preoccupation starts to interfere with the story telling... and it just carries on getting worse from there. Nearly every event after the midway point involves or mentions this sexual preoccupation. Freud would have an absolute field day with this.

The narrator was okay - his rendition of some conversations was pretty stilted but you could tell the characters apart. There is no graphic sex (just a lot of talking about sex/rape/wanting to have sex/rape), and it's not really very gory. There is some periodic swearing.

I won't be reading any more of Meredith's works.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Engaging story with interesting characters.

The story line and narration are above average and provide good entertainment value. The characters are believable and true-to-life.

Note: My recommendation to the author - write character dialogue the way you envision the characters to be. If you receive criticism from fans, just accept it graciously and avoid telling me why you write as you do. I vote with my currency.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

warning that you are racist doesn't make you less

the author starts off the book with a preface warning readers that the content has been unfairly marked as racist by other readers. spoiler warning : it's very racist.

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11 people found this helpful