zombies

Audiobook Reviews 4/5 Wendigo Fever by Kevin Hardman

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Horror, Paranormal , , , , , ,

 

Summary:

Errol Magnus, a deputy Warden for lack of a better title, sort of inherits responsibility for the region when his older brother, Tom, goes missing. Something big and scary is out there taking down people.

Additional Comments:

– Not sure why this book isn’t just called the Wendigo. It’s not really about the Wendigo Fever, that’s just sort of a sidenote. The cover confuses this issue even more as it makes it seem like WARDEN is the title and Wendigo Fever the subtitle.

– The worldbuilding is decent for such a short story. I think if I remember correctly, it’s one of those post-apocalyptic, set so far in the future we’ve come full circle to the past sorts of settings.

– The book is surprisingly lighthearted for being a horror story of the creepy things that go bump in the night variety.

– Errol’s fairly fleshed out as a character, but pretty much everybody else isn’t. Gail had potential, but she does little more than give Errol somebody to talk to while he explains stuff the reader needs to know.

– I can’t really talk about my favorite side character because that would be a spoiler, but suffice to say that there are a lot of colorful characters in this world.

Conclusion:

Interesting, short horror story.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 … not kidding, that’s basically it.)

Amazon Prime

 

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – a kid deals with her parents’ divorce, bullies, and the wonder of discovery.

Try The Dark Side of Science – Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.

Movie Reviews 3.5/5: Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies

Julie Gilbert comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Movie Reviews , ,
General promo pic for the movie. Nope, I don’t own it.

3.5/5 Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies –  you guessed it, spoilers are possible.

Summary:

Neither masterful, nor terrible. This is a quirky, shallow, comic, horror movie. The original Pride and Prejudice isn’t my favorite book, but it was probably one of the best books they made me read in high school.

Additional Comments:

  • Getting ready for ball intriguing; nice weapons.
  • Featherstone’s demise … ha. That’s pretty much going to be a thing.
  • The fights always went to slow motion… kind of a cheap trick.
  • Darcy babbles about Lizzy after the fight. Jane takes down a zombie on the way to tea with the Bingleys.
  • Lizzy catches the flies that would tell if her sister was bitten or not. Ha.

Other Observations:

– Wickham is still a jerk.

– Turning down Collins was still epic.

– Wickham’s zombie friendly philosophy is odd.

– Lady Catherine as a great zombie hunter. Also, same actress as Cersi Lannister… that’s awesome.

– Darcy’s confession of love is beautifully awkward. I don’t remember it being quite so awkward in the original tale. Their conversation is more interesting as a fist fight though.

– The woven tale of Wickham is nicely done.

– Rekindled love over a zombie graveyard. Cliche but fitting.

Random:

  • Logistically, the sound goes crazy high whenever there’s any kind of special effects or fighting. While I’m sure that’s awesome in a movie theater, it’s really jarring at home. One needed to keep the volume pretty high to understand the dialogue.
  • It’d probably be pretty slow and boring without the random acts of violence that crop up against zombies here.

Conclusion:

Worth watching, but the audiobook is way better.

Associate links to follow…

(If you click through and buy something, there’s the chance I’ll earn like $0.04 … not kidding, that’s basically it.)

Amazon Prime

 

Audible – If you’d like some free codes, please email me at [email protected] with requests for any of my works.

Try Awakening.


OR


Audiobook Reviews: 3/5 Zombie Park by Mark Cusco Ailes

Julie Gilbert Audiobooks, Horror, Reader Resource , ,

3/5 Zombie Park
*mild spoilers possible in discussion; sorry about name spellings, I heard the audiobook*

Summary:

Mad scientists create zombies for the government to use as soldiers. A down-on-his-luck guy submits an idea he clearly got from a video game to a local business man and wins the idea lottery. Boom – zombie park is born.

Character Comments:

 

  • With a ridiculous premise, one expects to have to suspend disbelief. Even so, there are quite a few giant coincidences that are hard to accept as a reader/audiobook listener. Ie. Forenstein has close ties to the military and General Poe. Why would they need Ben’s idea? They could have come up with something on their own or killed him and swiped the idea. Ben just happens to see and ad for Forenstein’s  “I’ll make you rich” scheme and just happens to submit his idea.
  • The general’s not exactly a people person yet he seems to be doing a lot of the leg work involving people.
  • The scientists clearly can’t stand each other, but their rivalry seems very childish as presented.
  • The emotional markings and cues are all over the place and not very believable. Nicholas Hollman’s reaction to certain events is completely incomprehensible. Even Ben’s reaction to an event when he’s in the donut shop is cold-hearted and unbelievable.

 

 

Additional Comments:

  • content warnings: It’s a zombie book. There’s the requisite descriptions of fountaining gushes of blood scattered throughout as well as a relatively high body count for a book this small. Number of curse words is minimal.
  • The premise of needing “smart zombies” to be soldiers is silly, but let’s indulge it for a moment. If thought about, it actually becomes dangerous as an idea. If you need humans to create zombies then it’s not about making soldiers, it’s about who becomes the soldier. At this pt, it’s actually kidnapping, assault, and ultimately slavery. (creating something/someone to fight for you)
  • The cost/benefit analysis doesn’t hold up. A program like this would cost billions with a b. The government could get hundreds of thousands of willing soldiers by less objectionable, less highly illegal recruitment methods. I am all for mad scientist books, but it needed a little more logic to make me buy in.
  • I’m not sure why pages are wasted on Gus and his two gamer friends. This is a relatively short book, and Gus doesn’t really seem that important. Perhaps he comes into play in a later book.
  • There are fun references to Jurassic Park and several zombie movies.
  • Book is decently narrated, but some of the voice choices were hard to listen to. (ie. Billy)
  • The story doesn’t really have an ending, it just sort of ends. There’s a distinct, this-is-the-first-in-a-series vibe that kind of stomps all over any sense of closure.

 

Conclusion:

If you’re willing to just read/listen without thinking, it’s a decently fun zombie book.

 

As Always …

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Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Julie C. Gilbert

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