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Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village spellmonger in the remote mountain valley of Boval. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the Five Duchies, on the world of Callidore. There were cows. Lots of cows. And cheese. For six months things went well. Then one night Minalan is forced to pick up his mageblade again to defend his adopted home from the vanguard of an army of goblins bent on a genocidal crusade against all mankind. And that was the good news.
The finale of the Zombie Road tale. It's been a month since the outbreak, and the survivors of the zombie apocalypse have started a new life in a walled city. There are still a few enemies that need to be dealt with, the kind that can think and plan, and they can be more devastating than a horde of the undead.
The people that tried to kill the world almost succeeded. They were fiendishly clever but they didn't take into account the vets, the truckers, and the two-fisted fighters who didn't know how to give up. Gunny and his band of survivors continue their journey along the Zombie Road, saving as many as they can along the way. They power through the undead hordes with their modified semi-trucks to beat the ticking clock of nuclear meltdowns.
Pre-med student Coral is on vacation in Idaho when something terrible happens. The black cloud is followed by a wildfire and searing heat that lasts for days. She survives deep in a cave but emerges days later to find the world transformed, with blackened trees, an ash-filled sky, and no living creatures stirring - except for her. So begins her desperate journey to find water and food and other survivors...and the answer to the mystery of what happened.
After decades of planning, the contagion was unleashed, and overnight hundreds of millions died and came back as rampaging, undead monsters. The living that had been lucky enough to survive the first day of carnage, lucky enough to be in the right place, and lucky enough that some of them had the skills to survive soon found out there was much more to worry about than just zombies.
Jack Walker and Michael Talbot come from two worlds; the same, yet different. They both find themselves transported into an alien one, where things aren’t as they seem. While it appears similar to the ones they come from, there are some terrifying differences. Is it a dream? Or has reality been somehow warped? Jack comes from a world filled with nocturnal creatures that were once human, but now seek to destroy the last vestiges of humanity.
Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village spellmonger in the remote mountain valley of Boval. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the Five Duchies, on the world of Callidore. There were cows. Lots of cows. And cheese. For six months things went well. Then one night Minalan is forced to pick up his mageblade again to defend his adopted home from the vanguard of an army of goblins bent on a genocidal crusade against all mankind. And that was the good news.
The finale of the Zombie Road tale. It's been a month since the outbreak, and the survivors of the zombie apocalypse have started a new life in a walled city. There are still a few enemies that need to be dealt with, the kind that can think and plan, and they can be more devastating than a horde of the undead.
The people that tried to kill the world almost succeeded. They were fiendishly clever but they didn't take into account the vets, the truckers, and the two-fisted fighters who didn't know how to give up. Gunny and his band of survivors continue their journey along the Zombie Road, saving as many as they can along the way. They power through the undead hordes with their modified semi-trucks to beat the ticking clock of nuclear meltdowns.
Pre-med student Coral is on vacation in Idaho when something terrible happens. The black cloud is followed by a wildfire and searing heat that lasts for days. She survives deep in a cave but emerges days later to find the world transformed, with blackened trees, an ash-filled sky, and no living creatures stirring - except for her. So begins her desperate journey to find water and food and other survivors...and the answer to the mystery of what happened.
After decades of planning, the contagion was unleashed, and overnight hundreds of millions died and came back as rampaging, undead monsters. The living that had been lucky enough to survive the first day of carnage, lucky enough to be in the right place, and lucky enough that some of them had the skills to survive soon found out there was much more to worry about than just zombies.
Jack Walker and Michael Talbot come from two worlds; the same, yet different. They both find themselves transported into an alien one, where things aren’t as they seem. While it appears similar to the ones they come from, there are some terrifying differences. Is it a dream? Or has reality been somehow warped? Jack comes from a world filled with nocturnal creatures that were once human, but now seek to destroy the last vestiges of humanity.
Blake was never one for taking chances. He lived in a world of formulas and equations. A statistician in a controlled society where everything had become predictably mundane. That world disappeared the day the dead got up and began attacking the living. Now, the end is here. Blake finds himself fighting for his life in a world that is rapidly spiraling out of control. He struggles to keep himself alive and must risk everything to find his family.
Lauren Russell often wondered why her father had been so adamant about teaching her skills that most other fathers wouldn't even consider teaching their daughters. Ever since she was little, she had been taught how to live and survive outdoors, and how to use firearms to protect herself and those around her. Some of the training had been a bit extreme. Or had it been? Many of her questions were answered the day the world as she knew it ended.
Meet Joe Ledger, Baltimore PD, attached to a Homeland task force … who’s about to get a serious promotion.
The worst of nature and the worst of science will bring the human race to the brink of extinction. Master Sergeant Reed Beckham has led his Delta Force team, code named Ghost, through every kind of hell imaginable and never lost a man. When a top secret medical corps research facility goes dark, Team Ghost is called in to face their deadliest enemy yet - a variant strain of Ebola that turns men into monsters.
When Micajah Fenton discovers a crater in his front yard with a broken time glider in the bottom and a naked, virtual woman on his lawn, he delays his plans to kill himself. While helping repair the marooned time traveler's glider, Cager realizes it can return him to his past to correct a mistake that had haunted him his entire life. As payment for his help, the virtual creature living in the circuitry of the marooned glider, sends Cager back in time as his 10-year-old self.
If society collapsed, could you survive? When Morgan Carter's car breaks down 250 miles from his home, he figures his weekend plans are ruined. But things are about to get much, much worse: the country's power grid has collapsed. There is no electricity, no running water, no Internet, and no way to know when normalcy will be restored - if it ever will be.
When your fairy godmother threatens to enslave you with a curse - when a malevolent piper solves your rat problem but steals your children - when you seek revenge on the prince who turned you into a frog - who can you turn to in your hour of need? The band of scoundrels known far and wide as the Bastard Champions - the swashbuckling trio who travel a world of legend, seeking adventure and righting wrongs - as long as there's enough gold to be earned.
Indian Hill is about an ordinary boy who grows up in relatively normal times but who finds himself thrust into an extraordinary position. Growing up in suburban Boston, Michael enjoys the trials and tribulations that all adolescents go through, from the seemingly tyrannical mother, to girl problems, to run-ins with the law. From there he escapes to college out in Colorado with his best friend, Paul, where they begin to forge new relationships with those around them. It is one girl in particular that has caught Michael's eye, and he alternately pines for her and laments ever meeting her.
In a steel-and-lead-encased bunker 20 feet below the basement level of his house, a soldier waits for his final orders. On the surface, a plague ravages the planet, infecting over 90% of the populace. The bacterium burrows through the brain, destroying all signs of humanity and leaving behind little more than base, prehistoric instincts. The infected turn into hyper-aggressive predators, with an insatiable desire to kill and feed. Someday soon, the soldier will have to open the hatch to his bunker, and step out into this new wasteland, to complete his mission....
Those who would seek a new world order have unleashed the most devastating virus onto mankind, and even they do not know the secrets hidden in their weapon. Follow along as Harry, a CDC scientist, races to figure out what exactly the virus is and how to stop it. It will be up to him and a group of marines led by Major Sanders to stop the zombie fallout before it ravages an unsuspecting world.
For dinosaurs, it was a big rock. For humans: Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet's most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages. In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation's recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line. Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild.
Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.
The town of Lake Woebegotton, MN is a small town, filled with ordinary (yet above average) people, leading ordinary lives. Ordinary, that is, until the dead start coming back to life, with the intent to feast upon the living! Now this small town of above average citizens must overcome their petty rivalries and hidden secrets in order to survive an onslaught of the dead.
...or at least a televised mini-series as a comedic companion piece to AMC's "The Walking Dead?"
This book is hilarious. And the people who will find it hilarious are those that find Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" hilarious and also enjoy the odd zombie story from time to time.
This is not for those looking for a gritty, gory, zombie apocalypse blood-fest, or for those who don't appreciate satire. The story is more about the people and the personalities in a small town than it is about zombies or survivors toiling in a post-apocalyptic world. Each character is distinct and well-drawn. They have secrets and quirky foibles that more often than not lead them to their doom.
But what makes the audiobook is Phil Gigante. The man is a genius. He's got Garrison Keillor's cadence and raspy-throated storytelling down perfectly.
Keillor fans should not feel insulted. You can tell, both Geillor and Gigante conduct their mimicry out of love and respect.
A very enjoyable audiobook. I've listened to it more than a few times, and it makes me smile every time.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful
I wasn't too sure at first of this book at first. I hadn't read any reviews, so I had no idea what I was in for... other than the zombies. I was pleasantly surprise. I haven't laughed out aloud at the antics in a book for a long time. It was definitely worth the token (and the late nights staying up to listen to it).
9 of 9 people found this review helpful
Anyone who is a fan of Garrison Keillor will get a huge kick out of this book. Unlike other recent parodies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies springs to mind) this novel is more than a one-trick pony. In fact, the zombie part of the book is pretty straight on. Maybe it’s because I am from the Midwest, but the characters in this book felt extremely real to me and the way they dealt with the zombie apocalypse seemed more realistic than in many other zombie/post apocalyptic novels I have read (and I have read quite a few). So the zombies are not the joke, it is the setting that is endlessly—and lovingly—lampooned.
It is evident that the author admires Keillor’s Lake Wobegon stories; only someone who appreciates the sly wit and self-awareness of those yarns could have written such a spot-on imitation. The people of this tiny town in the middle of Minnesota react to the rise of the undead with a laconic “Well, that sure is somethin’ ya don’t see everyday” attitude that made me laugh out loud. Short asides examining everything from the nature of winter (“it wasn’t as cold as the first time he went fishing with his father as a boy, the coldest winter on record hereabouts, when your ears would pretty much just turn to ice and snap right off”) to how to make hot dish could have been taken from any of Keillor’s stream-of consciousness Lake Wobegon radio stories. The characters, too, exhibited Keillor touches, like the kid who had taken a college course in zombie literature and kept trying to analyze the zombie mayhem around him (“"It seems to me we're dealing with the classic George Romero Night of the Living Dead sort of zombies”) and the Norwegian bachelor farmers. And like the object of his parody, the author understands that beneath the perfect façade of a perfect small town, there lurk enough nutcases to fill several novels.
Many times, I caught myself wondering if Keillor actually did write this book, that’s how good it was. I must add that I listened to this book in its Brilliance Audio version, narrated by Phil Gigante. This actor does a really fantastic imitation of Garrison Keillor that added even more to my enjoyment of the piece. He does many different voices, too, so that each character really comes alive. I will definitely be listening to it again, on the next road trip my husband and I take to Minnesota.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Witty, twisted, funny and well read. I was hilariously suprised by this intelligently twisted humor spoof of a zombie invasion of Lake Woebegone. The story like a zombie infused twilight zone version of, 'A Prairie Home Companion' and kept me laughing. The narrator was very good at trying to master many different types of voices and characters, shining at a few and doing quite well with the rest. This audio book is a great treat!
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
This book was ok - not like the guts n gore of the Actual Zombie APOCOLYPSE _
I thought there were some pretty funny parts in this - its story line is weak they author could have really played more into some of these characters - the book has a lot of potential to go deeper if there were a #2
:)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Zombies of Lake Woebegotton: i bet Goldilocks wood have liked it: not to silly not to stupid but just rite.
However Goldie probably didn't know s*** about zombies, but fortunately I do. At least a thing or two bout zombie stories. And this one is pretty good. It’s cute. Cute that is as far as a zombie story goes. It has good killing and gore and such, it is a zombie story after all. But it is a story of a small town, with small town folx and small town scenarios. The small town zombie story. If you have ever lived in a small town you'll know what I mean. If you have never lived in a small town you might not like it.
Now days, there are two types of zombie story: serious or funny. The funny ones are usually dumb. But the funny in this one is subtle-ish. It is small town funny. And that is what separates it from the funny ones that end up being dumb. And the humor is not a focus of the story.
there are a good series of character surprises that are truly surprising. like the old man school teacher who is a chainsaw serial killer in secret. Or the lady who is married to the guy that has paraphilia: person who enjoys sex with objects, like chairs or fire hydrants or cars.
I do have a pet-peeve when it comes to zombie stories: when they mention zombie movies or stories. Don’t know why this bugs me, but it does. Guess what – they do it here. I was bummed, at first. But they did it better or different than anyone had ever done it before: part of the guys liberal-arts class in college.
In short this story is not Chekhov, but zombie books never are. This is a nice break away from the hustle and bustle of serious literature, a fresh take on a dead genre.
yup – woebegone is a good time for the slightly twisted.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Where does The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Very High
What did you like best about this story?
This story is unique - its not your typical zombie apocalypse tale. The characters of the small town are the focus and their antics made me laugh out loud. The narrator is actually a character himself and his rambling story telling drew me in from the first few minutes. I love the language and I love the humor.
Have you listened to any of Phil Gigante’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No.
Who was the most memorable character of The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton and why?
There are so many! The elderly serial killer, the zealous Catholic priest from Texas, the drunk that lives on the edge of town and calls the zombies,
Any additional comments?
If you are looking for an action/horror story, this is not the one for you. If you liked books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and have a dry sense of humor, you will probably like this book.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
What did you love best about The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton?
All of it. I'm a big Prairie Home Companion fan and the author did a great job of creating that PHC sense of reality. The reader was not Garrison Keillor, but he came close enough and did a stellar job with the multiple voices.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton?
Zombie walleye. Zombie dogs. Oh, and zombie people. Not the metaphysical or philosophical zombies you might be used to in your Zombies As Metaphor class at the Lake Woebegotton Community College. But they're Lutherans, mostly, so dutiful and polite. Except for those "insufficiently dead husbands" that refuse to just lay down and die already. It's been reported by National Public Radio so it must be true. 'Nuff said. An aging serial killer gets a brief visit from the victims he should have concreted over in his basement, but he gets by with a little help from his neighbors. Because that's what good neighbors are for, right? In the immortal words of the Lake Woebegotton Interfaith Anti-Zombie Task Force: "As Jesus said, I've come, not to bring peace but a sword. And the only reason He said sword is because assault rifles hadn't been invented yet." So call your ladies church auxiliary and your neighborhood munitions stock-piler, and you too will be able to survive the end of days. If you need ideas for what to serve at your town meeting announcing the zombie apocalypse, may I suggest the tuna hot dish.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I have read nearly all of audible's zombie books and this book is top 10, worth a listen.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
This is one of the strange books that doesn't really make the jump to horror or comedy much less back again. Would I listen to it again...NO. Was it worth a credit...Maybe. I did recommend it to my wife and she thought it was as cornball as I did. I still don't think it was zombie book but more of soap opera with a zombies tossed in to add drama.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful
I was a little dubious about this title but eventually decided to go ahead and buy it and I am so pleased I did.
Phil Gigante is a delight to listen to as always and the story itself is a satirical tale of stoic Minnesotans facing a zombie uprising alongside the 'usual' real life issues of serial killers and homicidal women. I was entranced throughout.
If you are looking for a zombie novel with a side of dark humour then this should entertain you for a few hours.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Have a story line...
What will your next listen be?
Wheel of time probably
What about Phil Gigante’s performance did you like?
Just a great range of voices and he brings the story to life
Did The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton inspire you to do anything?
No
Any additional comments?
It started off fairly well but went down hill rapidly with no real purpose and no main character.
What did you like best about The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton? What did you like least?
I liked quite a few bits of the book, but hard to tell you which bits or what characters without giving away some of the plot.
I didn't like that some facts changed and some of the characters were so stupid it beggared belief. Cops that forget to read someone their rights and forget to search them etc. And a man who's age is eighty to begin with but is seventy later in the book.
I really hated the middle part of the book where the author put chapters in random order for no good reason that I could see. It was like he dropped the chapters on the floor and didn't bother to sort them out again. And so for the middle part of the book you jump forward and back in time and get stuff happening in an odd order. I didn't see the point in this and found it a little distracting. Others may find it fine, but I didn't.
What about Phil Gigante’s performance did you like?
The narration is very good overall, though I did find the beginning a bit annoying where he seems to either not be using a wind-guard, or is to close to the microphone. This lead to hearing every single in breath he took, and listening to it on headphones it was very annoying. Fortunately it only lasted a chapter or two otherwise I'd have given up on it.
Was The Zombies of Lake Woebegotton worth the listening time?
Yes, I found it enjoyable overall, even if I found the characters a little dumb and annoying. Certainly most of the male characters seemed to be idiots, and some of them having mental issues that bordered on crazy town.
Any additional comments?
I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was that in a whole town of people where the dead are raising - including people that have died long before - that no-one thinks about one of the most obvious dangers to them. It was the first thing I thought of when they learnt the dead were raising, and yet only one person in the whole town did. Didn't feel this was believable.