Zombie Infestation

A Serena Rouge Novel, Book 1

By: LJ Bushman, Leona Bushman

Narrated by: Anneliese Rennie

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

As seen in the USA Today best-selling box set, Empires of Shadow and Ash, comes Zombie Infestation.

Serena Rouge lives a double life. Writer, according to IRS. Trouble, according to the FBI.

Kick-ass, rough, and yet she can't hide her vulnerable side when it comes to her kids. When the enemy threatens her kids if she doesn't do exactly as they want, things go from bad to worse in a hurry.

A secret branch hiding behind the military is about to release the zombie virus as a vaccination to the whole world. It's up to Serena to shut down the operation with the help of FBI agent Joseph...preferably without him becoming a zombie. But others in the FBI don't want their mission to succeed. Without knowing whom they can trust, Serena and Joseph have to shut down the factory, without becomeing zombie fodder.

But how can they when the zombies take orders from a psychopath with an agenda?

©2013 Leona Joy Bushman (P)2019 Leona Joy Bushman

I <3 Serena!!!

I was given this book at my request and am leaving a voluntary review...

This audio-book was awesome. I think it had me at like page 3. I love Serena's bad attitude and how she feels like shes two different people. A mother when shes around her kids and bad ass zombie hunter when she has to be. The narrator did an amazing job also. Her voice fit Serena so well. She sounded like she enjoyed reading the book. I hate narrators who read all slow and sound like even they can't stand the book. That is most definitely not the case here. I will be looking for more from this author!!

Soccer mom, zombie killer!

A different kind of zombie tale. These zombies are aware, cunning, and normal looking. You can only tell they’re infected by their eyes, and then only if you know what to look for. Our protagonist Serena Rouge is a soccer mom by day and a zombie killer by night. The story is interesting and has potential but seems a bit drawn out. The plot is also somewhat confusing. Is Serena immune or infected? If immune, why is she granted the improved conditions of the infected? The importance of Serena, while keeping her alive, to the bad guys is not clear. The bad guys threaten to release the zombie virus; for what purpose is unknown. As I said, some things are confusing and may not be cleared up in this volume. Three.point.five for potential. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Intrigue, action and a bit of zombie romance

I found the setting to be an interesting take on a modern non-apocalyptic zombie setting. In some ways it felt closer to a vampire story than a traditional zombie one.

The story was an interesting ride and did surprise me in a good way a few times. I found the torture scene to be a bit drawn out and excessive. The whole bit about zombies having sexual allure wasn't really my thing, but it was done well and important to the story.

The vocal performance does a great job of getting across the main character and especially her snark and mom voice. The range for other characters was a bit lacking, several characters sounded very similar.

Smart story with a few hiccups

I got this book for two reasons. First, I am a horror junkie and have a deep love for all things zombie in particular. Second, Anneliese Rennie is the narrator, and I have to say that Rennie is one of those people who not only know their job, but also have the talent and skills to be more than a technical master at the craft of narration. How many times have you listened to a story and thought that it was well produced, technically flawless, and still fell short because the narrator couldn't impart a bit of emotion or drama to the reading?

So the story is original. Average mom is actually a zombie hunter after the kids are put to bed. Never saw that before. The story starts off with a bang, but then sort of slows down as we get background and set up for a while, and this is one of the drawbacks. The other weird thing is that the zombies seem to exude some sort of sex appeal that could make a man with a need for viagra forgo his daily dose. Ok, slight exaggeration, but when did zombies become sexy? Is this a Warm Bodies influence? I'm not sure, but it is something I'd say goes in like a puzzle piece from another box. It sort of looks like it will work, but no matter how hard you press it or turn it, it will never really fit in with the other puzzle.

The MC is a little OP, sorry gaming terms, but she seems overqualified when fighting some times. I would have liked to have seen her struggle a bit more, and maybe met a real match. Other than that it is a fun romp and stomp in a land with living dead. The writing is well done, and the story is fun.

The narration is what holds this whole thing together. Anneliese Rennie has shown me that she can do horror-themed stories really well, I just finished a book by Tonia Brown called Triple Shot of Unnatural Nature in which she just nailed the scare aspects like she was a carpenter with 30 years experience. She does the same thing here. She makes this horror-action novel feel like a big-budget film. I really love her work. Rennie is an emotional and dramatic chameleon who can make you believe she is a fire breathing dragon or a soccer mom punching zombies tickets after hours.

The story isn't perfect, but it is a cool concept and it is fun, and Rennie brings it to life like she had Dr. Frankenstein's notebook, so dig this one up, it is a treat.

Kick butt woman!

Serena is a little rough around the edges in this nonstop action book. A zombie virus is out and for some people it makes them stronger, quicker and improved. Serena is somehow immune to it yet she's "improved" in an Alice from Resident Evil kind of way. When her children are kidnapped she pulls out no stops in getting them back whole and healthy.

This book is well written. The only stumbling block for me was no use of place description or characters. It left a little out of sorts in places. Since I don't require copious amounts of description my mind filled in the blanks. The story is written first person and Serena does a lot of self-talk, some extremely funny which added to the story.

For zombie fans I absolutely think this is a must read.

I Wanted To Love This Book

2.75 out of 5 stars

Zombie Infestation tells a story about your typical mom and writer. Oh wait, she does what at night? Hunts zombies? Okay, you have my attention. The opening of this book hints at this a little bit but it’s not until a little while in that we’re given this actual information. It did jump into action almost right away, but then sort of faded back into a slow-paced zombie story.

I wanted to love this book. It has everything that I like in it but I just could not get into it. I can’t tell if it was the specific writing style of Bushman or what but I had a really hard time getting into the plot of this book. Sure, on the surface it sounds super intriguing and something that I would enjoy but once into the story there were some scenes that just felt a little bit clunky and others where it felt like the story was being drawn out from novella length into short novel territory. I think this story would have been much tighter if it’d been a novella.

I went and read some other reviews (there weren’t too many which shocked me to be honest) and it sort of felt like you either really liked this book or didn’t I sort of fell in the middle, leaning slightly towards not liking it. Which is unfortunate because the audio quality and performance by Anneliese Rennie were great. I honestly finished the book on her strong performance. She was able to put in the right amount of emotion to keep me invested.

Overall, an average book that is a little bit too long narrated by a great narrator that was able to keep me listening.

Also, I’m not usually picky about covers usually only mentioning something that I love about them – but for some reason the woman on the front of this cover did not seem to fit with the story. My mental image of Serena wasn’t quite this Lara Croft-esque woman on the cover. But, that might just be me.

Not your mama's zombies

This is a zombie novel, but not zombies as you know them. At least not at first. They're cunning, smart, use tools and more. At least for a while. This is a different take on the genre and I enjoyed it. Having some who know they're infected and ok with it adds a wonderful spin on the series.

However the main character seems a bit like a Mary-Sue they explain to a degree how she got her skills and toughness but she always has just the right skill for the situation, the times she 'needs help' feels more like a show than true need. That all said I'm interested in the follow up books.

I received a copy of this book at my request in exchange for a fair review.

interesting enough

interesting enough novel. when have lights a bit more backstory on the virus, they should have chosen a different virus than a already existing one

alright

I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. I totally enjoyed reading this book. It’s well written and the characters were fantastic. I would suggest this book to my friends that like this sort of genera. this was a good book.

a grand adventure with intrigue and action

a soccer mom / writer by day and an action hero by night; thrilling story including a conspiracy!

#ad (I recieved this book for free, although I would have bought it with my next audible credit if I hadn't)