4.5 Stars"The balance of our world has been changed forever. Mankind is being cleansed from the face of the planet. Purification has begun."Book 3 of David Moody's Autumn series comes to a well put together ending in this book Autumn: Purification. This is the final book of the main storyline even though there are two additional books in the Autumn world. The best aspect to this series is the consistency from one book to the next. This is not your everyday meat grinder zombie story where the heroes are all killing machines. This series main plot revolves around survival and coming to grips with loss. Loss of loved ones, of life's achievements, and of course loss of hope.Michael, Emma, Cooper, Jack, Kelly, and Steven are all back in this final installment. The survivors from book two go through more trials and tribulations in their pursuit to try and find somewhere that they can be safe. A place where they can at least survive the new horrors of the world. They have all come to accept that they must outlast the decaying undead. Moody paints a bleak picture in this series and it is very easy to identify with this group of likable characters. Moody's writing in this book is more polished, more descriptive, and down right just better written. He adds a great deal of feeling and emotion to this book with descriptive prose and also through implications of the unsaid as well. A good example of both is the following action scene:"Ellis didn’t have time to think or speak, instead he concentrated on letting bullet after bullet fly into the rotting crowd. An unexpected arc of flame burnt through the air just ahead of him, illuminating the full horror of the scene for a few heart-stopping seconds. The twisted, grotesque faces of hundreds of corpses were suddenly exposed and Ellis found himself staring at them in disgust and revulsion, praying for the light to fade and the dark to return. The nearest corpses were less than ten metres ahead"The corpses in this series, the undead, or zombies, are not like Romero's forever copied creepy shufflers. The undead in this series undergo a great number of changes, of which I will not add any spoilers by explaining what they are. These changes however, are mimiced and expressed in that of the survivors. I loved all the hidden truths and the gravity of the situation that our cast is exposed to and which they go through. Moody gives the reader a great deal to think about and to feel as this one comes to its conclusion.The slow building of tension and danger of this book, coupled with the slow changes to the world and to the undead, after such an incredibly fast destruction gave this series an awesome feel. I really enjoyed these three books and am a fan of Moody's writing style and characterizations. To me, this series is a post apocapyltic must read. Great read.
So far I have enjoyed every book in this series better than the previous one. Although the beginning of the zombie infections are usually my favorite aspect of a story, I have to admit this is by far my favorite book in the series so far even though the beginnings of the infection are now long gone. Due to the ending of the last book and I think partially from the cover art I was expecting most of this book to take place in and around the military base the characters ended up at in the last one, but they got away from that pretty fast. The group finding another group of survivors was something that really caught me off guard. Looking back I should have expected lots of other little groups of people left in the story, but David Moody does such a good job and telling the story in a way that makes the world seem so bleak and the characters feel so alone that it never entered my mind others would come into the mix.It was a slight relief that this new group had their shit a bit more together, because frankly the group of characters we had been following through the first two books were pretty damn incompetent. It was also nice that some finally came up with the idea of heading to an island, and idea I always feel is under used in Zombie lit. But the biggest relief plot wise was there was some kind of explanation for the zombie outbreak given. It's presented in a way that both the characters and the reader can either take it at face value, dismiss it out of hand, or go for some mid ground so it's no real concrete answer. But I'm okay with that, what had been bugging me was that it seemed no kind of answer was forthcoming at all.The end of the book was exceptional and like all David Moody books that last third is really hard to put down and keeps you turning pages and keeps your heart racing.
What do You think about Autumn: Purification (2011)?
Third in Moody's series of zombie novels that never mention "the z word". Because rotting corpses... well, rot... things are getting slightly different for the survivors. The creatures that have been tormenting them are changing. They are less on the attack and more on the move for self-preservation. Will this be better or worse for the survivors? Since the survivors are perceived as a threat to the survival of zombies, you do the math.Our intrepid band, holed up in the underground military bunker they discovered at the end of the last novel in the series, ends up on the move again as, just as Michael predicts each time we think they're safely ensconced somewhere, things begin to fall apart. Helicopters, car chases, zombie fights, stolen vehicles, airplanes, mass attacks, and ambushes abound. It seemed to me there was more action in this novel and less waiting around, which was a nice change of pace. You know, don't want your scary novel to get too slow or anything! Not a chance of that here.This is another quick read. These books are like movie theatre popcorn. I just can't put them down where there are a few kernels left to uncover.
—Katie Kenig
4 out of 5 zombie bitesThis was a solid build-up of "creep." These zombies are changing and surely not for the better; and the humans aren't anything to sneeze at either. Well-written story again from Mr Moody, and the zombies decided not to play second fiddle to our main characters. They have evolved... ...with the future so bleak, can our human survivors cope with these new changes? Is there any true escape, and if so; is it all physical? What happens now? This story had me tense and on edge throughout; can't wait for the next book.
—Alondra
Having read David Moody’s original book Autumn online for free a bunch of years back and gotten The City a few months back with a Border’s coupon, I knew I had to pre-order Purification when it popped up as a suggestion for me on Amazon back in March. Mr. Moody’s portrayal of survivors among a billion dead makes for an astounding read. There are always those people you want to shake, or hug, or just leave alone. While reading the books, I couldn’t find a single character I could shrug off and not care whether they lived or died. Of course, there were some I just hoped would die, but I wasn’t apathetic about it.His descriptions of the rancid population made reading the book by lantern light during a hurricane even more fun. I had to close the curtains to makes sure the wandering dead couldn’t see the light flickering in the window. No, I’m not kidding. It was creepy.
—Rebecca Snow
