Plague of the Dead

The Morningstar Strain, Book 1

By: Z. A. Recht

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

The end begins with a viral outbreak unlike anything mankind has ever encountered before. The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate. Death. But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth.

When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic. In one fell swoop, the necessities of life become much more basic. Gone are petty everyday concerns. Gone are the amenities of civilized life. Yet a single law of nature remains: Live, or die. Kill, or be killed. On one side of the world, a battle-hardened General surveys the remnants of his command: a young medic, a veteran photographer, a brash Private, and dozens of refugees, all are his responsibility-all thousands of miles from home. Back in the United States, an Army Colonel discovers the darker side of Morningstar virus and begins to collaborate with a well-known journalist to leak the information to the public...The Morningstar Saga has begun.

©2006 Z.A. Recht (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

My Pet Peeve: Characters acting stupid

Cool setup is ruined by the stupidity of the characters and the tactics they use against the zombies. Apparently nukes, email and cell phones didn’t exist in 2007. I wanted to like it but the dumb decisions of the characters ruined it.

Exciting Listen!

Listened to this 3 times, intriguing story, with tons of detail! To bad we lost this writer so soon...

One of the best Zombie series out there

The Morningstar Series is fantastic and keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times.

Script for a Michael Bay film

Just imagine reading a Michael Bay movie. If you like the sound of that, then enjoy! If not, stay far, far away.

So bad it's funny at first, but then it's just bad

Wow, what an epic stinker! I couldn't do it - made it about halfway through the first part, then had to bail out. At first it was very amusing because it could easily be an Ed Wood, Jr. movie, of which I am a huge fan. But the deal is with Ed Wood movies, they're only about an hour and a half long. After about three hours of this I was ready to put on the dress blues and polish up the chrome revolver. It reminds me of the scenarios and dialogue my friends and I would come up with when we played army back in the 6th grade, just puerile and nonsensical. Don't misunderstand me, I'm a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan, but good sci-fi always has at least some believable elements to it. I can suspend reality and accept the idea of the Morningstar virus, but the stilted, stereotypical dialog and actions of the characters in this novel is WAY too far beyond belief. If, as some reviewers are saying, this is way above the norm for zombie-themed novels, then my mind boggles at how bad the rest must be. I want my three hours of life back.

Couldn't get through it

Would you try another book from Z. A. Recht and/or Oliver Wyman?

I liked the reader, but the story was unrealistic to the point of bothering me. Every time they think they have it 'contained' it is so obvious that they dont. At one point they block off Africa with ships and land forces at Suez to try and contain it. Like no one has FLOWN out of Africa before the lockdown? I could have forgiven that if there was more zombie action. However, the zombie excitement/action/suspense part was pretty thin.

What could Z. A. Recht have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

More realistic. More zombie action

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

I liked his performance. He is also the narrator of the Tim Dorsey books and is great

What character would you cut from Plague of the Dead?

The General

Any additional comments?

Nope

Borrrrrrrring

I am a zombie purist, I look for the zombies I grew up with...the slow, shambling, brainless ones brought back to life by George Romero.

Despite the rave reviews, this is NOT great, not even good, and not much about zombies.

This is a juvenile's idea of war.....dimension-less/cliché/predictable characters in a “war” against- insert zombies- but could have been anything. Bits of action followed by meandering/meaningless/inane dialogue... the only reason I finished the listen was the hope they would be bitten.

The absolutely BEST book about surviving zombies is Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne, who just happens to be a real, active duty military officer. It is the “real” thing!!

Poor writing, unbelievable dumb characters.

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

Better writing. Every character seems to have no common sense. Over and over they are doing things most people would be smart enough to avoid.

Would you ever listen to anything by Z. A. Recht again?

No. This was the first audiobook out of the 70 or so I've purchased that I never finished.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was narrated rather well except for one or two characters.

I really wanted to like this book...

This novel started off strong, but after the first few chapters it became hard to listen to. The characters were very cliche' and the battle scenes felt like they were written by someone who didn't do enough research. Also there were some gaps in the novel's time line. The book was broken into two parts and I gave up after 20 minutes into the second half. If you are looking for a good Zombie novel I suggest World War Z or Day by Day Armageddon. Sorry to Mr. Wyman, but it felt like this novel needed some more editing and polishing. Great first 20 minutes though!!!

struggled to finish

it was very hard to finish this book and I tried hard but the glaring truth is that the writer has no idea about the military. Generals don't go AWOL.