The Undead, Part 11

By: R. R. Haywood

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

A Message from The Author

Writing The Undead is a humbling experience. I am eternally grateful to the readers and listeners for the incredible support you always show.

Dan Morgan superbly narrated Parts 1 to 10, but unfortunately he was not able to continue. To my delight, the wonderfully talented Joe Jameson has now taken the series on. His range and skills are superb.

I am aware of the feedback about the voice of one of my characters, Dave. If this change has upset your listening experience then I can only apologise, but both Joe and I, and everyone at Audible, have listened to the points you made and take them very seriously. It is a wonderful thing to have such responsive fans, so willing to listen and work to make it better, plus the interactive nature of the series means you the listener can speak out and say what you like and don't like, otherwise how would we know?

We've got some cracking days ahead of us. Some real stonking rip-roaring storylines to come and both Joe and I can only hope you'll stay with us on this journey.

Take care,

RR Haywood.

It is the morning after the storm. Thick fog covers everything. In the stifling, claustrophobic atmosphere, Howie and his group head out for supplies.

Skirmishes and tense fights take place and there are messages left in blood at key sites: 'he's coming'. As the day progresses, Howie becomes increasingly darker in thought, and more demanding of his team. By the end of the day they have discovered a munitions factory, but can Howie hold it together?

©2016 R.R. Haywood (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

No. Just no.

I find Joe incredibly insulting in the way he portrays Dave and all the women. Thank you Mr. Haywood for a wonderful ride in the first ten books but unfortunately I won't be supporting the series anymore. The only thing more disappointing than Joe's narration is that I already bought the next two episodes before I heard this and I've wasted my money because I'm not going to listen to them.

Miss Dan as Narrator!!!

I could not get into this book, mostly because of the way Joe's voice portrays everyone. He makes Dave sound like he is slow, and can not think fast. Dave is not slow. I feel like Joe thinks because Dave has ASD that he would talk slow and not think fast, but this is not the case. He also has Nick speaking very slow, and having severe dyslexia does not mean you think or speak slow. Very disappointed in the way he reads theses parts.

please go back to narrator you had before <br />

this new one makes Dave sound dumb I will listen again if you do other wise I am done

terrible narrator change

It was hard to get into this one. I made it about 5 minutes in (far enough to hear Lonnie's annoying voice) and then deleted it. I was told it got better and was convinced to give it another try. While the narration sucked the whole way through (can't believe the next few have him as narrator), the story was still good. Ughhh. He made Dave seem dim-witted. The narrator seemed to completely change his personality. I would suggest reading the rest of these and not listening. Listen to the preview before buying. Hopefully it has a clip of Dave and Lonnie. That in itself will be enough to convince you not to bother. I hate the idea of giving up on the series, though.

new narrator is brutally hard tip listen to

I could barely finish this book due to the narrator turning every male character into what sounded like sleepy dull wits and every female sounds like screachy nit picking crows. the story was also obviously rushed and poorly executed. i'm going to give it one more try with part 12 but, if it doesn't get better, I'll be done with this series

Try it at 1.3x speed!

Update: I originally returned book 11, but months later decided to try again because I love the series and was really curious to know what happened next. As previously stated, my main objection was the narrator. However, when I turned up the reading speed to 1.30x everything was better!! Dave's voice is even near perfect. It's usually a tough transition between narrators mid-series, and this was like a record scratching, but I'm glad I gave it another shot. I still think Paula sounds like an old lady, but now I can see that the narrator makes room for the younger, hipper chicks introduced later in the story by presenting her as older & more matronly. Enjoy!!


Original review:
Apologies in advance for being blunt, and I realize that others won't have the same opinion, but he's almost intolerable. He sounds like he has so much saliva in his mouth that he's spraying rather than speaking. I'm afraid he's going to drown himself! The only way i could tolerate his performance was to set the reading speed to 1.25, but the effect is still there (yuck!) He also ruins how kick-bu** Paula & Lani have become (and other female characters) by making the women sound like prudish old ladies. In agreement with others, he slaughters Dave's voice, which actually erodes Dave's character as we've come to know him. This is the 1st of any of R.R.'s books that I have awarded less than 5 stars--this installment was such a disappointment. Because I like this series so much, I'm actually going to try the next book, but if there is no improvement I'm going to buy the kindle book instead and let the automated voice read it...maybe I'll select the one with a British accent (lol). As for the plot, I don't want to give any spoilers, but suffice it to say that it's very pessimistic and depressing. I hope the next installment is better!

Different does not equal bad...

Any additional comments?

I love that RR Haywood follows "a logical path" in some ways. It's predictable only to keep the story familiar and relatable. But then he adds the genius...he includes unexpected and realistic conflict between main characters! Its been like this for almost the entire series and I love it! *** Give Joe Jameson a chance *** Initially I was not happy with the change in narrator...then I read that Dan Morgan refused to continue this series. Joe Jameson stepped up to continue one of my favorite audio series of all time, so I felt that I owed it to Howie & Co. to start fresh and give Joe a chance. By the end of this book, I realize that Joe is an incredibly talented actor! His voices for EVERYONE are better! IMO, Dan Morgan's Dave was the only voice better...That said, Joe's "Dave" is far more realistic given who Dave is. We got used to Dan's more human sounding Dave, which made him so likeable. More great news: Joe is such a pro that he has taken the feedback and made some changes to Dave's voice going forward.

Please give Joe a chance and let the story continue!Ultimately, another great addition to the series! Enjoy!

WHY?!?! Did they change the narrator?!

I can't believe they changed narrators this far into the series!!! I'm only 3 minutes in and I'm already hating this guy.

I'm sure the story is a 5 but I just can't with the voice-switch..

Why

I have loved this series Its incredible. But why would you change narrator after 10 books? I don't know if I'll be able to finish it..

Couldn't handle the narrator change *Updated*

This was probably a good story, I really liked the first books in the series but the new voices change the whole tone of the book and I couldn't finish it. I'd finish the series if the released it with the original narrator.

Update 11-18-2019. I listened to this series from the beginning again and gave this narrator another shot. By the end of the book I got used to the new voices. By the end of the next book (Part 12) Dave’s new voice didn’t bother me anymore and I just finished Part 19. I think the narrator change was probably a good thing. The author adds a lot of new characters and the narrator does a great job with them, every character has a unique voice that is easy to identify. Good job Joe Jameson! 5 Stars!

R.R Haywood... Why would you do that?

I’ve absolutely loved parts 1-10; but like so many others, I simply can’t listen to the new voices performed within part 11.

A change of narrator/voices wouldn't have ordinarily bothered me too much, as you soon get used to how a new narrator performs; but I can honestly say, that if the current voices had been in part 1, I wouldn't have made it to part 2.

The general narration, plus Howie and Cookie are fine, but all other main characters voices are poor, with Dave being simply horrendous.

Surely R. R Haywood must have listened to part 11 before release, if so, why would you proceed with it?

I’ve persevered for three hours, but can’t listen to the lobotomised version of Dave any further… I've checked the reviews for the next parts, but it looks like they are the same, so I’ll just pretend that the series ended on part 10!

I'm gutted to leave such a poor rating... by far the worst I've left in over 100 audible books.

Dave does not have a brain injury

How does the narrater feel making a key character Dave sound as if he has had a brain injury, my son has Aspergers he speaks normally and so does his friends with this condition , why do you feel the need to mock with over exaggerated voices , I am a huge fan up till now , how dare you mock mental health , you would not use a cheap 70s style Chinese accent to narrate Larny so why Dave!!

Just shows how vital a narrator is

I couldn’t agree more with other reviewers, I wish Joe Jameson had listened to the previous narrator’s work before setting out on this. His general narration is very good, it’s the voices and characterisation that are so bad. Howie, Cookie, Blowers and even Clarence are okay, but the women are jaw-droppingly dreadful. They sound like total airheads. And don’t even get me started on Dave!

Such a massive disappointment and it has really affected my enjoyment. In fact, I found my attention wandering during this story, for the first time since Book 1, and I’m not sure I’ll bother with the rest. What a pity.

Oh how I've missed these books!

What did you like most about The Undead?

I've waited so long for the next instalment. Good story, well paced. I'm holding back on the next ones just in case I have to wait ages for more books. I nearly cried when I thought Audible weren't doing them anymore!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Undead?

Howie's descent in to near madness. Well, he had to go at some point! So much has happened since the first book. Howie and his merry band have been through so very much. Someone had to go to pieces and at least Mr Haywood didn't chicken out and make a lesser character flip out. Well done! I can't wait for more. Well, apart from the enforced rationing I'm making myself go through! More, please!

What about Joe Jameson’s performance did you like?

Hmmm! He was better than I was expecting. Anyone taking over after such an established narrator (Dan, you were fab! Where did you go?) would struggle but I got in to it after a while. The only unforgivable change was, as others have already said, was Dave. I could even forgive Paula! But Dave is such a massive character, to have been changed in to a monotone fool. Every time he said something I felt myself cringe! Dave was always my favourite! If Joe is to stay as narrator please, please get him to change his take on this beloved character! Dan had him spot on. His discomfort around others, the fact he clearly has Asperger's. His relationship with Howie, that has built up in to dependency that means neither can not exist without the other!

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

The end bit. Lhani (?Well, I was listening not reading!) trying her best to comfort Howie after his breakdown!

Any additional comments?

Please keep going. Don't stop this series of stunningly different and engaging books! I am sooo addicted!

Don't like the new narrator

Such a shame the narrator had changed really loved the way Dan Morgan read the previous books nothing wrong with the new narrator but its like the character you have grown to enjoy are different such a shame spoilt the book for me

the first 10 books were great but ...

what the hell has happened?
This new narrator makes everyone, especially Dave sound like a 12 year old retard from Yorkshire!

Joe Jameson has ruined this book

why has he made dave sound like a retard? and why does nick talk so slow? don't even get me started on the women's voices it's completely ruined it for me. surly he must have listened to at least one of Dan Morgans narrations to try and make the characters sound the same????? obviously not because it's shocking

Joe James should be ashamed of himself.

Joe James should be ashamed of himself for ruining such a great series and I can't understand why R.R Haywood would let him get away with some of the appalling voices with Paula and Dave being the worst. If I could give the Performance no stars I would.

UPDATE While I still stand behind this review of Joe Jameson's performance I stuck with it as I'd already used all my credits on the rest of the books and in book 13 Joe appears to have taken all the criticism on board and drastically improves. I've just finished book 17 and gave him a 5-star rating. I really hope R.R Haywood would get Joe to read 11 and 12 again.

Give Joe a chance

At first I was annoyed that Dan Morgan was not to finish the undead series. But half way though the book I started to get used to Joe's voice. okay dave and Paula not so good but the rest is not bad and some voice's are even better. long as Joe carry's on with the series I'm sticking with it.

Was nervous about new narrator

Got used to the new narrator, although didn't like how he voiced Dave and Blowers sounded like Clarence. Good job after having to follow from someone else.

Still love the series and pretty much spoilt for any other novels in this genre!!