Peter Meredith

Okay, I read the sample awhile back and I enjoyed it so much that I purchased it. This is one of those ones that I regret purchasing. I am 55% of the way through and this is just horrible.

The formatting is great, as is the punctuation, grammar, etc. I am horrified by calls by folks for authors to tailor characters to be politically correct, but my gods... this is a misogynistic nightmare. No female characters (to the 55% point) are anything other than women who have understood that their show more worth is only measured by their looks and anatomy and what they can 'provide' men in the sexual sense once the zombie apocalypse happens.

The military isn't portrayed any better. According to this author, once the zombie apocalypse happens, the core values of duty, honor, loyalty, selfless service, and personal courage simply disappear and the folks in uniform (mysteriously devoid of females) turn into little despots, running about and taking civilian's food, weapons, and women.

Give me a break. This is disgusting. I am sorry that I purchased this. I don't know if I am going to finish or not Yes, I am done, DNF'd at 55%. As it stands, it gets ZERO stars. show less

The prologue (a.k.a. author justifying his political incorrectness) was a bit... lame... if you know you're being ignorant and stereotypical, why talk about it instead of just correcting it? Unfortunately, this seems to be a fact of male zombie fiction: men writing zombie books seem to have this specific urge to discuss the gathering and raping of women, express a fear of homosexuals, and emphasize everyone's skin color (of course, only if they're not white).

It does, however, become show more increasingly misogynistic as it progresses. In some scenes, the reliance on stereotypes shows the author's ignorance more so than his declared interest in showing how a world post-law would degrade to a racist, homophobic and women-hating culture. One of the female characters went to a store and "shopped like a man". Err... wth does that mean? ... what world does the author live in that makes "shopping like a man" a recognizable stereotype?

Well, the fact that Meredith's wet dream, err, I mean storyline involves a harem of women, some of whom actually enjoy and take pride in being merely vaginas and the rest of whom are at least accepting of this "important" role, really does expose the world this author has in his head.

Post-zombie breakout and a key feature in the storyline is how frequently the men should get blow jobs?? hahahah... omg.... That, and the lesbian scene was probably written "in the shower" (nudge nudge wink wink).

This immature sexual perspective is consistent throughout the novel: women are incompetent in all senses (and even need "training" to perform acceptably in a gang-rape situation), all the men see all the women as sexual objects, and, most disturbingly, all women see themselves as merely sexual objects and, even after being raped repeatedly, need to find "love" by attaching themselves to a man, any man.

The beginning of the novel starts as if it will be about a zombie apocalypse, so it's not until about 1/3 of the way in that this sexual preoccupation starts to interfere with any story telling... and it just carries on getting worse from there. Nearly every event after the midway point involves or mentions sexual interest (or lack thereof). Freud would have an absolute field day with this.

I won't be reading more of Meredith's works. show less

My original The Apocalypse Survivors audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

This book has made me freak out in so many ways. Book one set the bar for the horror, from both zombies and humans, and this one just raised it. I think my heart was palpitating through a good 80% if not more! This is like running a freaking marathon, but do NOT think about stopping because there is a horde of zombies and crazy people on your heels. If you stop for a second they will show more rape, enslave, or torture you, just for the fun of it. And that's just the humans.

You know there are a lot of zombie books out there so it takes a really good writer, and an interesting story, to get people hooked. This. Has. Me. Hooked. So much so that I read this the day after Christmas.

In my defense, once you get this baby started, you will not be able to stop. It is action packed and now that book one is read, there are so many characters that I want to know more about! That said, you really do want to read these in order. To understand who the characters are and what they are doing because there is not much of a recap in this. It literally jumps right into the second book without a hiccup.

In this one we meet my new favorite character, Jillybean. I love her! I thought maybe she was eight or so but you learn later in the story that she is really only six! SIX! She knows more about survival, due to her fantastic memory (and the help of her stuffed zebra) that she is able to think faster than the adults that she meets. She's watched National Geographic and is able to access these memories. This ability may not seem like much but basically she is able to study how prey moves, slowly and deliberately, to stay alive, and then enacts these movements so she is as slow and quiet as a mouse.

A lot of the previous characters are back and they have all grown and changed, for better or for worse. I have to say, in some parts I freaking cheered, and in others I found myself devastated. The way Peter Meredith is able to weave this fantastic, appalling story is unbelievable but somehow so believable it's scary. It is so much that I mentally almost need a break from the roller coaster, especially after what happens at the end of book two. Without spoiling it what I can say is, you'll be mad at Peter. I know I am! But I was also cheering so I want to be a big girl and get ready for book three because there are character's lives on the line and I need to find out what's happening to them.

Needless to say, the audio and narration for this was spot on. I wear my heart on my sleeve and was listening through headphones and every time I scowled or cheered, or literally cried, my husband was asking me what was happening. I could not and did not WANT to stop the audio so I just pointed to my headphones and he would laugh. I was so caught up in this that real life could have faded away and I would not have noticed. Amazing effort from Basil Sands yet again. Jillybean's voice is so adorable but I loved the zebra (Ipes) coming through her. It's eerie but perfect.

The audio helped keep me into the story and was perfection. Since this is such an intense story half of how it comes across really is through the narration. This kept up with the story and helped induce a feeling of horrifying intensity!

Must read book three now! If you read this, there are six in the series. Be ready to want to read all of them.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator. show less

My original The Apocalypse Crusade 2 audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

I was worried after reading so many of Peter Meredith's books, I thought that I would not remember what happened in book one of War of the Undead. As soon as I started this memories of that book came piling in. It helps that Peter Meredith peppers hints from the previous book. They are scattered throughout so reading these a year apart would not be a big deal. Although, I would definitely show more recommend reading book one prior to book two.

This did seem to jump right in where book one left off. There are many, many characters but the main few who did survive are in this. Interestingly enough, I forgot that the government tried to put up a quarantine zone. As the book progresses the characters that are involved are those in that quarantine blockade and those in the zone.

Since this is another zombie book, some may ask why they should read this. Peter Meredith has a way of making zombies horrific even after we have read about them for so many years. He brings a new edge, a new way of thinking about them, and adds that into a plot that is chock full of twists with characters that sometimes grow through their characters arcs and sometimes die. This is why I love reading his books. Not only that but the zombies in this particular series are just scary!

Unlike zombies in other stories, some of these can think and react to us. They are still people, they are just pissed off people that crave blood. Which of course means that they can think and plan. Not something I would hope for in a zombie. This makes them even harder to predict and harder to kill.

Some of these characters stand out more than others, whether for good or bad, but what makes all the difference is the fantastic narration from Erik Johnson. It's as if he can make the feelings of the characters palpable. Where Peter Meredith makes someone fall in love, Erik makes us feel that and the empathy that goes along with knowing that they are probably going to die! It's a great team for a great horror. The audio was well done but I was way too into the story to notice any hiccups anyway!

On a side note, this is the first horror in a while that gave me nightmares! Something has to be said for that!

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. show less