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The Gathering Dead  By  cover art

The Gathering Dead

By: Stephen Knight
Narrated by: Joseph Morton
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Publisher's summary

The horde is always hungry...

The zombie apocalypse has begun, and Major Cordell McDaniels is given the most important mission of his career: Lead a Special Forces team into New York City to rescue the one man who can stop the ghastly virus that reanimates the dead.

But as a growing army of flesh-eating corpses takes over the streets and a violent storm renders airborne extraction impossible, McDaniels struggles to find a way out of the Big Apple. The odds of anyone getting out alive plummet further when slaughtered members of his own Special Forces team join the ranks of the gathering dead... with their military skills intact!

©2011 Stephen Knight (P)2013 Stephen Knight

What listeners say about The Gathering Dead

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

what day by day armageddon 3 should've been

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gathering Dead?

without giving too many spoilers, the staircase scene. definitely one of the scariest and creepiest in all zombie genre. really!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

escape from new york, but that's already taken.i would say, "the insatiable horde," but that may sound too risque! lol

Any additional comments?


the horde is always hungry...that's doggone right! this is by far the best zombie horde book i've listened to so far. stephen knight frighteningly captures the sheer power of a zombie horde- its insatiable hunger, its relentless pursuit, its destructive carnage, and its fear inducing power.

the story opens with major cord mcdaniels leading a convoy of hummers up west 58th street towards central park. he and his team of special forces have been tasked with getting dr. sapphire to central park, where blackhawk helicopters are waiting to whisk him away.

i really dug the new york city angle. it offers a rare perspective- a zombie apocylapse unfolding in one of america's largest cities. most of the z-stories i've listened to lately have been based in small towns so i found this aspect refreshing.

this is a military style z-story told in the 3rd person. it reminded me of day by day armageddon series, and what i had hoped shattered hourglass would be. this story is an action-packed thrill ride. the author does a good job of pacing the story. the lulls in action allow for some character development. while there isn't a lot of backstory, which is understandable for this type of story, you do get a sense of each of the characters. i was impressed by professionalism displayed by the special forces soldiers amidst a zombie apocylapse. that seemed to add a layer of credibility to the story.

the narration is pretty good. it took a few minutes to get used to the gruffness of the narrator, but i was soon swept into the story. the narrator's voices and tones match the special forces soldiers he portrays.

overall, i really liked the story, especially b/c it's different than a lot of the other z-stories i've listened to lately. definitely worth your time and credit.

as a side note, there is a really cool gun in this story- an AA 12. it's a fully automatic shotgun. i've never heard of it before so i googled it. wow! great youtube video by a funny and crazy russian guy.

side note 2: to all the men and women who are are serving or have served...thanks for your service! yes, i'm one of those guys who'll approach anyone in a uniform and thank them for protecting my a$$ while i listen to z-books. lol

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12 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

are you kidding me with this narrator

Would you try another book from Stephen Knight and/or Joseph Morton?

Stephen , yes . Not a chance in he'll would I listen to Joseph Morton ever again.... Do you people even listen to these books before you release them? This reading was crap!!! Every single person sounded the same and that made me care about no one. Someone would be yelling"help! I'm being eaten by a zombie , and he would read it like they were saying " hello, it's nice to meet you" the guy has one tone and one speed .... sleep speed!!!! You paid this guy to read this? Come on?

What other book might you compare The Gathering Dead to and why?

Day by day , sort of. And the reading reminded me of " I don't give a carp"

What didn’t you like about Joseph Morton’s performance?

Everything

Did The Gathering Dead inspire you to do anything?

Never listen to anything by Joseph Morton again

Any additional comments?

Please proof listen to your books and or maybe have a group of customers give feedback after listening to it before you make me waste my money on garbage narration ... I'm sorry to be so rough on this guy but, , no , wait, no I'm not . It makes me angry that zero effort was put into his reading of what could have been great .you want to bear what a good narrator sounds like reading a zombie book? Go listen to Christian Rummel reading the Remaining series.. now that's top quality!!!!!

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6 people found this helpful

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

Action packed - but not in a good way

Surprised some listeners objected to the narrator. He did a great job - always does. A lot of the stories he has narrated feature strong characters and relationships and he does a great job with that.. Unfotunately very little of that is present in this book.

I love zombie stories. No, wait, I love well done stories that happen to feature zombies. The problem with this is that it is SO action packed. It may sound strange that this is a complaint, but it is like films that are overloaded with car chases or explosions or special effects. You have to have character development, plot, dialogue, a theme, a motivation for characters, interpersonal interaction, relationships, mood, etc... SO many other factors that make a good story. Get those right, and action can be really compelling. But without those, action is like a pretty package with nothing inside of it. And it is boring. An hour into this story and the action is still being described but no sense of a who the characters are - who even is the main character, who should we care about, what caused this, what is the plot? What is the purpose.. Just endless action scenes of soldiers fighting zombies and various logistics of the fighting... It really doesn't work. It really was tedious - it was the opposite of what action scenes are meant to do.. It didn't give a sense of excitement or drama or tension. With nothing to creat a story it was really, really hard to pay attention to the endless action and logistics of the fight. Too bad as the writer seems capable and the prose is good...Yet, just on and on the action goes... I almost gave up.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Find a New Narrator!

Would you try another book from Stephen Knight and/or Joseph Morton?

Yes, as long as they get a new narrator for this audible story. The story was fine, but I almost didn't get through chapter two because of the narrator's combination of (1) monotone voice, and (2) his making character voices so similar.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tough to get invested fully in any of them, as they're not especially well developed.

Would you be willing to try another one of Joseph Morton’s performances?

Ahhh, so I assume Joseph Morton is the narrator? If so, then no. I didn't enjoy his reading style or monotone voice.

Was The Gathering Dead worth the listening time?

Yes, but barely, as I'm not sure I would use a credit on the follow-up book

Any additional comments?

There's a very, very weird twist to the zombies that were originally special forces soldiers. The book didn't even touch on the reason for this unbelievable and unrealistic "zombie attribute".

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    5 out of 5 stars
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where is the rest of the series?

can you please add the rest of the series, I know there is more, I read them

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

Another excellent addition from The Retreat series

If you love the genre and like a fast pace well written story you won't be disappointed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Stephen Knight knows zombies.

You will never be disappointed with a Stephen Knight zombie story, it's always top knotch. This series is the very first zompoc stories I read and this man's stories will always be my favorites. I encourage you all to read/listen to this series. I also suggest you check out his vampire story.

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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

Great Story!

I like a good zombie action story. What majes this one especially good is the characters. We got to know the Spec Ops group tasked with rescuing potentially the savior of the human population. Great read! Well worth it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Next book

It is a good book and it's fun and good story and very well done

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excellent story

nail biter. very good narration wish the book would be ready. highly recommend it for late and up.

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