Wicked Awake

By: Merrill David

Narrated by: C.J. Grey

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Military veteran Jake Hathaway is facing the beginning of a zombie outbreak, one that forces him to take lives and sees him wrongly convicted of murder. As he fights to prove his innocence, he also learns that he unknowingly played a role in the outbreak's origin. The world outside the prison descends into the chaos of a zombie plague. Jake, along with his friends Mack, Duy, and a Belgian Malinois named Roscoe, determine that they must put an end to this Infection Armageddon. What follows is a journey both exciting and horrific.

©2020 Merrill David (P)2021 Merrill David

Too much back story /secondary details

The author has decent writing skills and telling several good stories but for some reason trying to tell them all in one book and all at the same time.
The author provides too much detail on secondary characters that wont move the story forward. I gave up in the 6th chapter as I already found myself fast forwarding through details I didn’t need and I was only 30 minutes or so into listening
Again good writing and story telling skills but needs to pick the topic and stick with it
I lay the blame completely on the editor/publisher.
Narrator was doing a fine job - unfortunately I returned as I was getting frustrated

Exemplary Horror Zombie Apocalypse Audiobook

"And so, the decadence and decomposition of man begins..."

I know that the horror genre isn't for everyone. I know this cover may be icky to look at; but I also know that great writing and storytelling isn't limited to a genre. Case in point, Dracula and Frankenstein are classics for a reason. Stephen King is an iconic bestselling author for a reason. The reason is simply a good story is good story when in the hands of a creative writer.

Wicked Awake by debut author Merrill David is the epitome of creative storytelling. There are so many surprises and twists that I need to be careful in my summary to not give any spoilers away but still convey what a fun twisty ride this zombie apocalypse thriller is to experience.

Jake is ex military and now a police officer with the most loyal police dog, Roscoe, as a partner. The story opens with Jake on trial for murdering his brother and sister-in-law. That is all I can say except that you will be treated to tense courtroom scenes, a wild escape, a rescue of Roscoe that will make you love Jake's friends, a very satisfying look back on how Jake met loyal girlfriend Amanda and a jaw dropping reason for the Zombie outbreak and Jake's connection to it.

I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead and all its spinoffs. The zombie gore is ingenious on the shows and worthy of creative emmys. But I have never missed an episode because of the characters and how well they are written and portrayed by the actors. Narrator @c.j.grey is equally as talented when portraying these characters. The accents and voice changes are phenomenal and I was shocked there was only one performer on this audiobook.

Wicked Awake is book 1 of a 6 part series. The next two books Wicked Awake Too: Slaughter Before Slumber and Wicked Awake: Liquor When She's Dead are already available. In case you didn't notice this writer has a wicked sense of humor too.

I received a free copy if this audiobook from the author for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

terrible

don't waste your money. bad story ans the narrator is horrible . don't waste your time or money

Excellent

This is a great read. I loved it and can’t wait for book 2 on audio.
The characters are well written, smart and capable.
I want to know about how things spread… we get a bit of education on that but I feel several other characters would have been infected though sex. So I’m eager to see how that plays out. Oh and the baby…… need to know what he will become. Also why were the kids left with Jakes girlfriend and not an actual family member?
I will say the way the zombie plague plays out time line wise it a lot different than 99% of the zombie books you’ll read. 9 months in half the country is still acting like nothing has happened and are having hay rides.
Narration by CJ Grey was amazing.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A MUST READ

The author is so creative in his descriptions that makes you believe the stories were true. His way of telling the stories make you believe this apocalypse could happen in real life. This book has so much action, humor, and some romance that makes it enjoyable. I was drawn to all the characters and the events that took place. The author took time to research the places that took place in the book as well as educating me on some of the places I never thought or knew before. You’re in for a treat with this zombie apocalypse if you want something different. I highly recommend this book to everyone even if you’re not a fan of zombie stories. A MUST READ!

Original and engaging

I love this book. (Just had to get that out of the way so I can pretend to be completely objective in my review of Wicked Awake.) But, if I am being honest this book hooked me right away, and less than halfway through I was already planning on reading the next book. I am blind, and I listen to multiple audio books every week so I come across a lot of books in my favorite genres that are just kind of “meh” or so bad they are unreadable a chapter or 2 in.

This is not one of those books.

The combination of a completely different approach to an often written about subject (zombie apocalypse) and the amazing choice of narrator kept me not just engaged, but caring about, and excited about what came next. I want to be careful and not give anything away, but I love the way Merrill David approached the timeline of the story going on in the world around the main characters.

By not rushing into anything the reader gets the chance to know the characters at an almost intimate level before the bucket of poop thrown into the fan changes everything around and about them. The characters (except one) live their lives pretty much removed from the chaos building around them and closing in. However the book never lagged for me or seemed like it was going to slow. In fact, quite the opposite, I found myself wanting more time with the main characters before the story progressed. This is unusual for me as I am not a patient person.

Wicked Awake combines all of the story types that I enjoy the most. It has elements of several popular book genres, including crime, legal, spy game, horror, psychological thriller, pre/post apocalyptic zombie survival, and an impending dystopian future. Merrill David pulled it off amazingly well without it being “too much”.

Wicked awake has the distinction of being one of the only (for lack of a better word) “zombie novel” That I would recommend to readers that don’t normally enjoy that genre. I have already started the kindle edition of Wicked Awake 2, and I will listen to it again when it comes out in audio form.

Don’t believe the 3,4 & 5 star reviews.

I didn’t give one star because I love reading zombie books, I have read some fabulous ones and my share of bad , this one is really bad. The juvenile use of words ruined a really good story. I actually purchased and listened to all three. It was like a train wreck and I couldn’t look away. Honestly I thought that the author would evolve and grow with each book but it just didn’t happen, it makes you wonder who proofread these for him.
The use of man meat, meat thermometer, lady love, clam, drain the vein, there are so many more that are so ridiculous I can’t remember them all. The conversations between men that were policemen and supposedly professionals was sophomoric and the characters didn’t get a voice that was believable. The narrator was okay, he tried to make the best of just bad writing. The repetitive description of people and actions was tiresome. There were midget jokes and comments about because there were zombies the midget jokes were okay. I am not thin skinned or a person that gets offended easily, I understand authors are not politically correct when writing. I just really like zombie books and have nearly listened to every one of them on Audible over 7 hours in length. If the author would read a few other books in this genre like Mark Tufo’ s Zombie fallout for example to see how characters and events are well written. If a person, anyone that has ever read a well written book would be honest with him, they could go back a rewrite this series of books and make it really good. The premise and idea was entertaining but I couldn’t in good conscience recommend this book simply because the writing was so awful.

Different beginning to a zombie apocalypse

This zombie apocalypse story started out a little different. I like the way the characters were introduced and their background, although it made for the beginning of the story to be a little slow it was needed to understand the characters and what they were all about. The story progresses and builds in a good way. The spread of the infection is slower and feels more realistic as to what would might actually happen in a case like this. The narrator was OK, I thought he was a bit slow so I listen to the book on 1.3 speed and it worked out very well

not a typical zombie story / Timeline issues

the story was a good one but not a typical zbie story. this was more of a murder investigation. Also the author needs to go back and review his timeline. everything seems to take place over a short period of time a few days even a few weeks but some points in the story don't seem to line up with this.

Great zombie story

I enjoyed this book. Everything from getting to know the characters and their backgrounds to the action packed scenes. The narrator did a great job portraying the different characters - very easy to listen to.

Narration and Story Equally as Poor

Don't waste a credit. Narration from the start was awful as was the book....story picked up after a while and then was a rushed ludicrous load of unresearched sentimental wish wash.

Awesome

Follow Jake and Mack into the darkest pits of MERRILL DAVID's imagination, as they fight to survive against the infected, alongside friends and lovers, losing both to the horde as the world around them falls apart.
looking forward to listening to the next part of the story, to see what happens to both loved and hated characters.
The author and narrator worked perfectly together to bring the story alive.

Zombielicious fun

Dear Zombie horror fiction sub genre, I've really missed you. I know you had your high and lows through the years but lately, mainly your lows.
Please meet your lord and savior Mr. Merrill David and his Zombie gospel 'Wicked Awake'.

This is a fast paced, action packed horror ride that will leave you clenching your stomach at times both from the terror and laughter. This thrilling ride of a book will have you both scared and pissing your pants laughing as it has it all: gore, horror, plot twists, bullet fast plot, well written characters that you love or hate accordingly, conspiracies, super fun times and lots, lots, lots of Zombies.

Not just a zombie story

This isn’t just your every day zombie story. There is so much detail and back story too. Very well written and great choice of narrator too. Highly recommend!