Fighting to Survive

By: Rhiannon Frater

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Picking up where The First Days ends, Fighting to Survive features the further zombie-killing, civilization-saving adventures of a pair of sexy, kick-butt heroines and the men who love them.

A hundred or so survivors of the zombie plague have found tenuous safety in the walled-off center of a small Texas town. Now the hard work of survival begins - finding enough food; creating safe, weather-resistant shelter; establishing laws; and fighting off both the undead who want to eat them and the living bandits who want to rob and kill them.

Fighting to Survive won the Dead Letter Award for Best Novel from Mail Order Zombie. The first book in the As the World Dies trilogy, The First Days also won the Dead Letter Award and was named one of the Best Zombie Books of the Decade by the Harrisburg Book Examiner.

Also listen to the first book, The First Days.

©2009, 2011 Rhiannon Frater (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Romance in a time of zombies.

I have been reading the whole series of these books and am currently on the third book. This is a well written and narrated series. This is not your typical zombie book that is all about killing zombies. In fact the zombie part is only half the story. The other half of the story is about creating a society that will function within the dire circumstances and building new relationships.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Still as good a the 1st one.

While often a sequel, especially in this genre fails to live up to its predecessor, this was another terrific book by Rhiannon Frater. The characters continued to deepen, and remained fresh, and the story and challenges remained exciting. Not a dull moment. Another one I would highly recommend. I am eagerly awaiting any more in this series.
Bravo!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

OK OK she LIKES both SEXES..MOVE ON ALREADY! JEEZ!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Less KISSY and MORE KILLY please!

What was most disappointing about Rhiannon Frater’s story?

What happened? The first book was great action and even with the sprinkles love story here and there it was digestible. This book was painful. It's the Zompocalypse people...if that calls for a handful of survivors having time to sit around and mope about their sexuality and love interests and "hurt" feelings, I will be choosing to lead the zombies.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene that didn't make me think this was a Jackie Collins book.

Did Fighting to Survive inspire you to do anything?

Yes, wonder why female writers usually become so cliche.

Any additional comments?

Being a female reader, I was so excited to support a female writer, especially as it relates to a good Zombie story. The writer is obviously talented and intelligent but the writing on this book assumes the reader is not. True story line is overshadowed by predictable plots, 1 dimensional characters and silly scenes. I KNOW..let's ALL split up and clear out a dark hotel and get chewed on by hidden zombie ninjas. Anyone think of having one person scream in the lobby...PIZZA IS HERE and then wait for any undeads to come to you as you pick them off in a safe spot??? A few of the cattle calls and you are sure to get the highly mobile ones first and eliminates the whole...Oh crap , there's a zombie behind the door that I forgot to check.

11 of 14 people found this review helpful

First book was better

Katie and Jenni settle into the compound in this book and the story revolves around it, how they retake the hotel and expand the "fort". Because they don't move around life is kind of comfortable. Unlike other books where survivalist compounds are often just a passing chapter, this book centers around it. The book is about how they rebuild, fight off bandits and the social and political life of the fort.

They don't have any problems with electricity, water, food or flushing toilets. I think the people on board the Carnival cruise ship Triumph had it tougher, apart from people dying, in rather stupid ways I think in this book. Everybody split up and do search and destroy missions in the hotel, which leads to needless deaths. Otherwise the action is pretty good, that Israeli Nerit is great. But then it dips into lovey dovey stuff.

The story spends seemingly even more time on girlie stuff than in the first book. Romance and ball room dancing and dresses. Its not easy to listen to these parts as they drag on. Shane comes along and ruins the partying though and now the author shows that she just doesn't understand male culture. If the author understood this she would know that Shane would not be allowed to talk the way he does and create all the problems that he does. Like the hierarchy in a pack of dogs, things would have already been settled in the first book. But the supporting male character, Travis, has no gonads and so it drags on the way it does. The author just doesn't know what to do with male characters aside from being pretty bimbos on the arms of the leading women.

This book is actually a pretty good 9 hr long zombie book, but then these annoying parts were tacked on and it became 12 hrs long. So at least I got my credits worth of zombie telling and forgot about those parts as soon as I got through them. I went on ahead and bought the third book in the series; Siege.

I'm starting to like the narrator more and more though, I think shes great.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Alive

Where does Fighting to Survive rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At top

What did you like best about this story?

The story picked up from the first book good story line...

What does Cassandra Campbell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Life

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes Love story between Katy and Travis

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Very Enjoyable!

What made the experience of listening to Fighting to Survive the most enjoyable?

Kept your attention from beginning to end!

What did you like best about this story?

Great story of survival!

Any additional comments?

Unlike a lot of other zombie books, this one depicted people actually finding somewhere to be able to create a safe environment away from the horror. Many zombie books have the survivors continually running from place to place instead of making one place habitable as best they can. I also liked that it showed other dangers, as in the bandits.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Gives Dawn of the Dead a run for its money!

What did you love best about Fighting to Survive?

Characters fully develop, friendships deepen, and the story matures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fighting to Survive?

Jenny getting locked in the hotel room, whilst they are clearing the hotel. Intense!

Have you listened to any of Cassandra Campbell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. She is always great, but she really excels with this series.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made my stomach knot during some of the more intense parts.

Any additional comments?

This is my favourite book in the series. The story really gels and matures here.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Too much interpersonal distraction

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Women zombie story readers

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Much less interpersonal strife and agonized decision making. More action

What does Cassandra Campbell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Role plying

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

I wish I could resell used audiobooks so I won't have to just delete this from my iPod.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

I Wasn't Disappointed

After reading the first book in this series, I immediately downloaded the second book. It's as good as the first book. The fort is coming along nicely, but now we find outlaws in the Dead Lands, as well as the Zombies. The action is pretty non-stop.
My only complaint is that I didn't really need Jack's point of view at the end. I'm not sure why that was even in the book. But still, I rated it 5 stars.
Now I'm waiting on book number 3. After hearing the epilogue, I know it's coming!

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

Another Great Listen!

Frater dies it again! I first read this a few years ago when first published. It’s one of the reads that started me on my zombie lore reading. This, the second of three in the series, didn’t disappoint. The performance was excellent and I look forward to the next installment!