Zombody to Love

Journal of the Semi-Dead, Book 1

By: Richard C. Crossley

Narrated by: Paul Burt

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A contract enforcer for a drug kingpin steals a car, brutally murders a young couple in their home, and begins an epidemic that will eventually turn half the world into flesh eating zombies. And he's the hero!

Tapper wasn't always soulless. In fact, he was a decorated patriot of high character and honor. But this story isn't about any of that. It's about the man he was after the operation. The man the doctors said had lost his soul.

A lost soul with such training and expertise should have been guided, not abandoned. But he's not bitter. In fact, he's loving life. It's simple with no moral values to weigh you down.

He made one little mistake though. The couple he killed wasn't on his hit list. Now, his employer has decided he should "retire".

Offended by the boss' human resources representative, and the attempt on his life, Tapper decides to take the advice of his associate, Cootie, and use his employers money to fulfill his retirement dreams. Those simple plans are made more difficult with the whole zombie apocalypse problem.

With a nagging rash on his hands, and the world quickly changing into a place where everyone you meet may be a flesh eating semi-dead, Tapper realizes it may well have all started with his little mistake.

More importantly, Tapper himself is changing, and he's not a damn bit sure he likes that.

This is his story, in his words.

Tapper's sense of humor may be as contagious as the zombieism he started, if you can see in the dark.

This premiere novel starts a new journey for Tapper, and may provide him a road to redemption.

©2016 Richard C. Crossley (P)2020 Richard C. Crossley

Make your mark!

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this tale. To my surprise, my interest rose equally as I got further into the story. Our protagonist Tapper, a career criminal, finds himself and his partner on the wrong side of their boss after bungling a hit. Through this incident, Tapper unknowingly spreads a virus that will turn the population into ravenous zombies. The stage is set. Thus begins Tapper’s odyssey into the world of the semi-dead. Tapper meets Lucy, a biologist who plays a key role in Tapper’s evolution from criminal to…something else. An intriguing tale to be sure, stick with it. The story is listed as the first volume of a series but it could surely stand on its own considering the heartfelt epilogue. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Entertaining Story with Surprising Character Arc

Spoiler Alert!

The premise of Richard C. Crossley's Zombody to Love was a clever one: a hit man is responsible for creating a zombie apocalypse because of the infected shotgun shells he is using to wipe out his targets--those he kills are shortly thereafter resurrected. What made this book enjoyable from the get go was the callous attitude of the protagonist, Tapper. His crass narrative was portrayed exceptionally by narrator Paul Burt and often had me laughing. I also enjoyed the contrasting character of Tapper's sidekick, Cootie, and was sad when he perished about halfway through the story. What I didn't see coming was that, from the point of his friend's death, Tapper's outlook began to morph into a character with more feelings. By the end of the story, Tapper has evolved, ironically for this story, into a character who was now more human than he had begun and we are given an emotional scene between Tapper and the woman he developed feelings for. This compelling and heartfelt moment that completed Tapper's character arc was delivered well equally by Crossley's diction and Burt's skillful ability to shift tonally to convincingly express Tapper's matured temperament.

Entertaining and worthwhile story!

Loved the story. The author states that it is his goal to take an unredeemable character and somehow redeem him. I will admit that I had my doubts for a while that Tapper, the main character, could be redeemed. But by the end I was rooting for him to get his happy ending. This story made me laugh out loud a few times and made me cry a few others, and I love that. It is fast paced and action packed, narrated by the unreliable narrator of Tapper, a hit man, who has a unique, biased and somewhat cold perspective that ultimately changes when the circumstances of his life are pitched into a state of cruel chaos and he finds something worth really living for.

The reader is good. He gives Tapper a voice that suits him. He does have a couple weaknesses (mostly in the form of inflection slip ups or mispronunciations) but he more than makes up for them in the particularly emotional scenes! The man can convey emotion with startling depth.

Overall, i really enjoyed listening to this story and look forward to more. It’s the kind of story that had me thinking about it for a while after it ended. A true representation of the raw beauty and vulnerability of human emotion, and how sometimes it takes an extreme situation for us to understand what we are capable of.

A Zombie Story With Feeling

With the amount of zombie stories out there it is hard to find ones that aren't the same rehashed story line. This one definitely is an original zombie story that is outside of the standard rise of the zombies or post-apocalypse survival. Even with its unique plot it is a beautiful love story between two zombies. For someone who is very picky when it comes to listening to zombie stories I will say this was a great story that will hopefully lead to a great series. Fans of zombie stories definitely will enjoy this one.

I didn’t fully get into the book until about half way through it. It jumps in with both feet but I wasn’t quite sure where it was headed and for what reason it was heading there. About half way through I was on board and really started to enjoy the story. I plan on going back to listen to the whole story again as I think that will help me understand the buildup that the first half is establishing. Either way my point is don’t give up on this book if you aren’t happy with how it starts out.

At first I didn’t like Tapper at all, I assume that was the point. He wasn’t a great guy and I do believe he was soulless. It wasn’t until after the apocalypse that he finally finds his soul as well as soulmate. The transition for Tapper really was in my mind what the story was about and I believe that it is a love story. What I thought was going to be just another zombie story actually turned out to be a really neat story about how someone who is dead inside can become alive while everything else is dying.

Paul Bert was a great narrator for this story. I love his character voices and after listening to multiple stories he has narrated I have to say he really changes his voice to provide the right tone and character voices for the story. He did a great job voicing Tapper and really provided the right sound for such a gruff character. Bert really does a great job of breathing life into the story and wouldn’t have been as good without him. I look forward to hearing him narrate the next one.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Original and Endearing

Definitely not your normal zombie story. Not often does the MC turned zombie become more human and endearing as the story plays out. Starts out with a military survivor turned hit man after an accident left him with no feelings or memories. Though after contracting the zombie disease, Trapper starts to feel things he hasn't in his new life. Great story, great writing, great narration. I received this book for free for reviewing.

Everybody needs zombody

What starts off as a crime story quickly turns into a zombie apocalypse with an unusual love story
Once again excellent narration from Paul he’s definitely one of the best in the business
It’ll be interesting to see where the author takes the series after that ending
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

GREAT READ!

I really enjoyed it! The narration was great and kept me entertained! The author did a great job with the character builds and plot! This was my first book by this author but definitely not my last! I look forward to reading more books by this author! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Really loved it!

First Pail Burt is an amazing narrator and can bring life to so many characters, even if they are dead.....
The story is really original and draws you in. Tapper starts to find his humanity only after he starts to lose his life due to a zombie virus.
He and Felicia are very intriguing characters and I can’t wait to see what happens in book 2. I actually teared up at one point.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

wow what a GOOD twist on zombie stories

really different, gritty, great. loved the 2 leads. its so different from the 'norm'. try it. i'll even re-listen and i have a LOT of books.

Great

Took a chapter or 2 to get in but once I was in I was in. Great book! Narration was great.