I really enjoyed this book over all. The story was great, the characters interesting and the situations engaging. It is a sequel to Dead City not in the sense that it continues the earlier book's exact storyline, but instead it continues the evolution of the world setting as a whole. The new characters we are introduced to quickly form into the people you'd either root for or hope get killed on the next page; and in each new case McKinney does not fail to deliver.My one problem with the book, other than the term "roundhouse punch" (lolwut?), is the primary antagonist. I'd feel bad describing him to you, as it would appear to be giving away some previously unknown info from the story...but that would require the character to be an original concept. The preacher Jasper is not some overused archetype, he is an exact copy of Jim Jones from the Jonestown incident in the 1970's. When the author described the way Jasper looked, I thought "That sounds like Jim Jones". When the author described Jasper's manipulative, yet grand-standing nature, I thought "That sounds like Jim Jones". When the author had Jasper manipulate his people in their private sessions, I thought "These sound like they are a play-by-play re-typing of actual victim accounts from the news in real life in the 1980's". And when the author gave Jasper something important/creepy to say, I thought "Wow, this is a completely plagiarized speech lifted WORD FOR WORD OUT OF AUDIO RECORDINGS OF A REAL PERSON".I was terribly disappointed in the lazy, dishonest and perhaps somewhat illegal manner in which Joe McKinney wrote the main villain. If it was just an inspiration thing with a few quotes, it wouldn't be so bad, but there is literally no action taken by the character Jasper which was not done in real life by Jim Jones (except the zombie parts of the story, obviously).Even after that, however, I'd still recommend this book to read. A great story that keeps you wanting more and doesn't let the pace down for too long. If you can get over the ripped off villain, you'll probably enjoy this story. I typically like Joe McKinney's books. This one was no exception. I didn't like it as much as the ones I read before. But it was a good read just the same. I think my major qualm was all the characters involved. Just when I thought there were only so many people to keep track of, another group was introduced. Plus, the side plots. I understand that in a zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't just have to worry about zombies. Without law and anyone to enforce it, the world would be a terrible place. But, bikers, a religious cult, etc... Too much. I also didn't get why Ben Richardson just kind of disappeared by the end of the book. We are reading a lot of his thoughts and his notebook in the beginning and middle. But by the end I was wondering if he was killed and it didn't register. Only to go back and see his name at the end. There are very likable characters (Ed, Billy, Richardson, Jeff). There are very unlikable characters (Jasper) and here are those that fall in the middle (Nate, Aaron). I would recommend. Especially for the fight and zombie scenes.
What do You think about Apocalypse Of The Dead (2010)?
I found the character build up was excellent, and so was the suspense!
—queridacaro
