Rain

A Zombie Novel

By: Shaun Harbinger

Narrated by: Brian Grey

Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

The dead rise....

A doctor returning from the mountains of India unknowingly brings a deadly virus to the western world. The nightmare begins.

Society crumbles....

Alex Harley is hiking with three friends when all media channels shut down to be replaced with the Emergency Broadcast. Civilians are warned to stay in their homes. Isolated and afraid, the four friends begin a fight for survival.

The end of the world is here....

The military sets up Survivor Camps to separate the infected from the uninfected. As a U.N. rescue mission is put into operation to save survivors from the clutches of the zombies, Alex and his friends must deal with the undead and power-crazed soldiers.

But while they fight to survive, the authorities consider drastic measures to rid the world of monsters....

©2014 Shaun Harbinger (P)2014 Adam Wright

Mediocre Zombie Outing

I've read and listened to many zombie books. You could say I'm addicted to the genre. That said, Rain was disappointing. The narrator did not fit my auditory picture of a young video gamer turned zombie apocalypse survivor and his attempts to convey excitement or tension seemed shrill and unconvincing to me.

The interaction between the characters was often jarring. The narrator Alex is pathetically grateful to his friend Mike the jock for allowing him to be his friend and Mike usually acts like a jerk and gets away with it. Then we have to hear the horny adolescent fantasies of Alex regarding Lucy (one of two girls he and Mike are on a hike with at the beginning of the book). Lucy and Elena (the two girls) never really emerge as characters; they exist to illustrate the emotional ups and downs of the two boys (we can't really call them men).

The plot follows the usual conventions of the genre. The four main characters exhibit initial disbelief followed by descent into social chaos followed by randomized killing (zombie and otherwise) and the death of a major character or two, and at the end, the set-up for the next book. The characters often behave stupidly but that's much S.O.P. for a zombie novel (and the horror genre as a whole for that matter).

Bottom line: if you're a zombie apocalypse fan and you enjoy reading about geeky, socially awkward young post-adolescents who get the girl in the end, you'll probably like this book.

Disappointed

Any additional comments?

Overall I was disappointed. The narrator's characterisation sounded quite whiney which got annoying. The story was rambling with no climax and an ending that really didn't go anywhere. This is my second zombie book I've consumed, the first being World War Z, and wow, the gap in quality between the two is HUGE.

Entertaining and Addictive

Would you listen to Rain again? Why?

I would definitely listen to Rain again. It does a great job painting a short time post apocalyptic world. The characters are vivid in some aspects and vague in others, but all to the point of being able to imagine yourself in their shoes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is Alex, the main, because he has a common sense approach to the apocalypse. He becomes a capable survivor.

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

I wouldn't necessarily say it was an extreme reaction, but there were a few times i was on the edge of my seat saying "Come on, you guys are idiots...don't go there!"

Horrible

This is the first book in which I actually cheered for the zombies. All of the characters are just awful except for one who gets arguably the least development and the story is utterly lack luster. The Narrator apparently missed the memo about the story taking place in England and a few other European countries so any local accent is replaced with the average American accent. I also feel like the narrator tried way to hard to narrate in a way that the reader would actually think to themselves.
Pretty much everything about this book sucked.

Entertaining.

I enjoyed this book. It's a good listen and worth the money. I would certainly purchas another of his books.

Rain: A mediocre pulp action zombie story

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Not much. Narrator was of poor skill in improperly chosen for a novel from the UK. The story was mediocre at best: standard cliche macho-man alpha male zombie action plot presented with a rather dull, juvenile, unimaginative schoolboy prose.

Has Rain turned you off from other books in this genre?

This genre is 90% miss anyways. I listened to this book as background noise. Other though, they may like this simplistic action pulp. It is was it is.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The writer is either Welsh or English, yet the reader of the story is American, and doesn't have a great voice. He obviously wasn't familiar with English turns of phrase and it shows. I found myself getting a little peeved at this rather important oversight. You can't get an excellent listening experience unless the reader can really get a feel for the story, the language, the emotion, and the characters.

What character would you cut from Rain?

The main character was annoying passive, while his best friend really was not a very nice person. The two girls were about 1 dimensional as it comes. This story fails the Becdal Test quite easily.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't spend the money on this audiobook unless you like: pulp action, teen horror, simplistic run & gun zombie (with not a lot of zombie) stories, cliched alpha male horror fantasy.

dont like the main characters

stupid people you get mad ad through the book.
the rain idea is okay but the main characters are stupid and gives bad reasons fore killing others.

nothing unusual here this book was pretty straight

even though it was not an extraordinary performance for a book I still enjoyed it an easy read and a good zombie book.

It was entertaining.

Was a decent story. I liked it. A narrator with a British accent would have been nice though.

Incredibly Boring- Couldn't Finish

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

12 year old geeks going through puberty.

What do you think your next listen will be?

A book with a gazillion reviews? A trusted author?

Would you be willing to try another one of Brian Grey’s performances?

I'll pass.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Rain?

I despise audio books with sound effects.
This is a ridiculous story of a sexual frustrated nerd.
The 2016 campaign adds on the radio are more entertaining than this garbage.

OMG it could have been so much better!

It started well but went on a bumpy journey downhill from there. It takes a different stance on the zombie genre by looking at the military and how they behave in the apocalypse.

What surprised me was the American narrator for English speakers most probably living in Wales? There were a lot of Americanism so why set it in Wales?? I won't bother with the other books.

meh

The story was fine, traditional zombie outbreak, small group of survivors with different ideals and skills, 'humans are the real enemy' with a nice new take on the virus. However I really disliked that this is set in the UK but written and narrated by an American. The writer doesn't seem to have a good grasp of the English and their typical behaviours, uses American words frequently and for me I struggled to believe in the characters. It felt disjointed particularly when you realise the main characters are probably Welsh - there is no understanding of Welsh culture! Perhaps if the narration had at a least been from a Welshman or Englishman it would have added a little credibility a to these characters. I don't understand why this book was based in the UK except as a loose plot device because it rains on and off here frequently. So an enjoyable mindless read (excuse the pun) and I'll probably stick through the others to see how this new idea with the rain develops but not the best in it's genre.

Learned to love the rain

What made the experience of listening to Rain the most enjoyable?

Improved my night time runs (as if the night wasn't creepy enough!) I could relate to the character 'Alex'

What did you like best about this story?

This is how people would act. Some would be realistic, some hysterical and some would not want to believe the facts.

I wouldn't put my faith in the army either

Have you listened to any of Brian Grey’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This is my first time

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

The family on the boat and the light house moments (i will say no more)

Any additional comments?

I was slightly confused at first as the story takes place in England, but the narrator was American. So i thought the place names he mentioned was America till he mentioned a few which are English only.

It really is a good book. I really would like to listen to more of this author

Not convincing.

Disappointed that the narrator was an american reading a book set in Wales, plenty of English and Welsh people who couldve done the job better.
Also 3 days from infection to make a army camp full of survivors? Not for me, sorry.

A physical push

I listened to ‘Rain’ whilst doing some work in the garden. I’m levelling the ground and putting paving slabs down. Sounds easy enough but, when your a 21 year old nerd with an okay physical strength, rain pouring down on you and wind sending the rain sideways. Things become difficult, especially with sludge under your feet and copious bits to move first. However, Rain was an excellent audiobook to listen to. I genuinely felt like I was part of the story during certain scenes due to what was physically happening at those moments!

My only criticism is with the female voices. It’s a difficult decision to make with a male voice and unfortunately created a very slight disconnect at times but, other than that it was excellent!

To finish the work off I’m now moving on to listen to ‘Storm’!

Best audio book I've listen to up to now.

First of all Brian grey is also the best Narrator I've herd.He brings the story to life, Shaun Harbinger should be proud of how Brian as told his wonderful story. I was gutted to finish book 1, but eh 2 more to go. This is a MUST read book for any apocalyptic fans and zombie fans. Truly a great listen. I would recommend this 100%. EXCELLENT!!!!

One word: Bland

I tried my hardest but I practically forced myself to listen through to the end. Terrible book! Poorly written and the Narrators voice was just awful when telling the story! I don’t recommend this book and I won’t be listening to or reading any other books that have been written by this author or listening to any with that narrator.

Waste of time and money

This book reads like it was written by a Fourteen year old child save your money and give it a miss.

What happens when the ZA starts and you are unfit?

What happens when the ZA starts and you are unfit, a gaming and zombie book reading geek????
If you want to know you need to listen to this book!!
Good story. I like it because is set in the UK where I live. It's always America where the ZA books are usually based on, so this is a good change.
The characters are believeble and well constructed. The dialogue is good. And the story is also good.
The only thing I don't understand; and this is a personal one; is why is the narrator American? No disrispect to Brian Grey, he does a great job. But this are English people in England.....
Apart from that I loved it and will buy Storm book two.

Very disappointed

Sorry but did not think much of this story,
Just pants and a waste of time.