The Rot

By: Paul Kane

Narrated by: Chris Barnes

Something has happened to the world.

People are going mad, the very foundations of society are crumbling. Only Adam Keller, testing a prototype environment suit, apparently remains safe - but for how long?

Can anything be done, can any of it be reversed, before everything goes to rot?

The latest post-apocalyptic tale from award-winning and best-selling author Paul Kane (the sellout Hooded Man, The Disease, The End of the End) presents a nightmarish vision of a possible future, blending social commentary with pause-resisting action. This is one that fans of The Road and The Walking Dead will really not want to miss!

©2016 Paul Kane (P)2016 Horrific Tales Publishing

Interesting but...

I liked the story. It was interesting and fun to listen to but there was nothing really original here. Perhaps the only piece of this story that I haven't seen in similar zombie-like stories is the "fake skin" the narrator wore for a time. Aside from that, almost everything seemed to be pulled from something else I've read/listened to.
BUT, to be fair...as they say, there are NO NEW STORIES, just new takes on the same of stuff. With that in mind, this one a pretty good story.

STORY: Nicely written but could have used a few more surprises.
NARRATION: The narrator's voice fit the story well, but some of the scenes (showing surprise or the like) seemed forced.

If you like zombie stories, I recommend this one...

The Rot

I enjoy all of Paul Kane's work & this tale in particular was very enjoyable. I recommend it to fans of the genre.

28 Days Later meets I am Legend

In this case, my title is more about the Matheson novel than the crappy Will Smith vehicle.

There are no zombies in this book, just crazy people, so 28 Days later in tone and feel, I am Legend due to the loneliness and despair the MC undergoes.

This has some great potential and I think it just missed a few important things that could have made this great. Fleshing it out more would have helped. I don't need detailed explanations of why things are occuring, I mean Night of the Living Dead never tells you what started the Zompocalypse and I don't need to know how the Rotpocalypse began either. I did like the idea of the SKIN suit, though. Cool concept.

Barnes does a good job story telling, but I do think he could have done a bit more. Don't ask, it's kind of like asking how and artist might improve a decent painting. Does it need more vibrant colors? Better shading? More detail? You can't quantify it.

All I can say is that I would get another book written in this setting, maybe about someone else at the start and seeing how they handle things.

Definitely unique!

This is going to be a hard book to review as I don't want to spoil things. The story is centered on Adam. He is testing a revolutionary new suit, called a Skin. From what I gathered, it recycles your waste, sweat etc and makes it so that you don't need to eat or drink etc. While in the suit, some event happens that causes everything to start rotting, I mean everything!! Adam seems to be the only person immune to it because of the suit. Is he it? Is there hope for him and his future?

While I liked the concept and originality of the plot, it felt rushed at times. I know it's a relatively short read, but I do think that the overall world building suffered because of it. I wanted to know more about how the Rot came about and about the suit.

Same way with the character development. We never really got a sense of who Adam really was. He goes through a lot during the Rot, but he never seems to grow. Again, I know it's hard to have all the elements in a short book, he still could have grown a little.

My thoughts seem all doom and gloom about the book, but it's not all bad. The overall story was good and I liked it, I just wanted more from it! I will check out more from this author though, as he has a wonderful imagination!!

Narrator Chris Barnes did a great job with this book. It's told in a format of recordings from the main character and the narrator really knew how to bring him to life. He captured the hopelessness, the sense of lose from the character perfectly and gave a brilliant performance. I've listened to quite a few of the books he has narrated and never once has it been a less than stellar performance!!

*I received a free copy of this but voluntarily reviewed it. This in no way affected or influenced my thoughts.*

Love a good zombie story

Let’s be real, there isn’t a lot of variation between zombie stories. They have slightly different causes, but the monsters are generally the same. In this story, the disease referred to as “the rot” turns people into zombies but also causes everything in existence to deteriorate. New cars rust away in record time. Buildings lose structural integrity. Weapons become non functional. The main character, Adam, survives as long as he does because he is wearing an experimental environmental suit at the time of the collapse of society.

I found this to be bleaker than most zombie stories. This is a true end of humanity scenario and I am here for it. It is well written and the narrator is great. I devoured this audiobook in one sitting.