Shana Festa

Review copy

Shana Festa is a new author, but make a note of her name. She's going to be big, very big.. You may already know her under her alter ego, The Bookie Monster, a website where Shana reviews horror and paranormal books, with an emphasis on (but not limited to) zombie fiction.

Shana has put all that reading to good use and has written the first in a proposed trilogy of zombie stories, Time of Death: Induction.

Maybe you're thinking what I was thinking; new author, reviewer, how good show more could this possibly be? Well, it's better than that. Actually, it's really, really good. Shana, doesn't write like a novice, she writes with the skills of a seasoned professional. And she gets right to the point in the prologue, like an arrow shot from the bow of a champion archer.

As I read, I tend to make little notes for myself on things I may or may not include in my review. One such note, "written by a true dog lover." Later, I learned that the lead character's dog, Daphne, shares a name with one of the author's dogs. THAT is a dog lover.

As if dealing with a zombie outbreak isn't bad enough, there is also a category 3 hurricane bearing down on Cape Coral, Florida and Shana manages to combine the two disasters with aplomb and pulls no punches in describing all the horrors found in this changing world. "The wandering corpses had begun to thin out and I wondered if they were migrating elsewhere or if someone else was killing them. I knew they hadn't begun dying off from decay because the ones that wandered into our vicinity looked like they had gone through a meat grinder. The air had a constant rancid odor that I suspected would only get worse as the days passed. Through my rifle’s scope, I got an up close and personal view of the maggot riddled corpses. What I first thought to be the heat creating a rippling effect in the air turned out to be millions of maggots infesting the undead. They writhed in open wounds and fell out in clumps as the zombies moved."

By the way, kudos to the author for allowing bad things to happen to good people. Too often select characters survive when the story would be better served by their demise.

Time of Death: Induction is not fun and games zombies. This is serious business. Every bit as enjoyable as the best episodes of The Walking Dead.

In my opinion, the best zombie stories are ones where the zombies almost become incidental. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of zombie gore and mayhem in this book, but there is also a good story, with romance, pathos and comedy. I loved it.

Time of Death: Induction, from Permuted Press, is available from a wide variety of online retailers in both paperback and eBook formats.

Highly recommended. show less

‘Time of Death: Induction’ is the story of student nurse Emma, her husband, and their dog, as they struggle to survive a zombie apocalypse.

I bought this right after reading the author’s brilliant short story in the ‘At Hell’s Gates’ anthology. This book contains a fairly typical set up for a zombie apocalypse story, but it is set apart by the amazingly well written characters and the authenticity the author’s real-life experience as a nurse adds to the book. I was captivated by show more these characters within the first few pages, not wanting to put the book down until I got to the end. I cared about what happened to them, which really amped up the suspense when they were put in peril.

The journey the characters go on is a satisfying one, with plenty of tense and shocking moments throughout. There is a definite sense of hope buried under the horror and there are moments when this shines through, only to be torn apart again by the realities of life during a zombie apocalypse. This made for a read that was both dark and entertaining.

Overall this is a captivating read that should entertain and satisfy fans of this genre. I think it would also be an excellent introduction to anyone who is new to zombie fiction. Highly recommended - can't wait to read the next book in the series! show less

We can't imagine what it would truly be like to live during the zombie apocalypse, but author Shana Festa does a great job giving us an idea. Chaos and destruction rains down on Emma's life as her and her husband set out to escape the rising dead during a category 3 hurricane, with no time to prepare.

I'm not really sure what to say about INDUCTION without giving away spoilers. Emma was easy to follow. I would like to think I would be as strong as she was while having to deal with the end of show more the world as I know it. She has a deep loyalty to those that mean something to her, but is able to get past losing people as well. There are a ton of characters throughout the book that we meet. A LOT are lost of course but I had no trouble following along with who was who.

Everything that happened felt so genuine. The author really did a good job with her world building and keeping things real. You get romance, action, zombies and a great storyline all in one with INDUCTION. I'm very excited to see where this story goes next. If you're looking for a new zombie read you've come to the right place.

* This book was provided free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review. show less

Emma Rossi is within spitting distance of graduating college with a nursing degree. Unfortunately that is never going to happen. Before Emma get a chance to work as a fully qualified nurse her world is shaken to the core and everything she took for granted is turned upside down.

The basic tenets of life are you're born, you live, you die, you stay dead. Not any more! If you are really unlucky you come back to life as a ravening, ravenous monster. An infection passed on through a bite causes show more people to die and become reanimated as zombies, hungry zombies with a taste for living flesh.

Emma, her husband Jake (and let's not forget her dog Daphne) struggle to survive in this new world. Not knowing if today's best friend might be tomorrow's worst enemy means having to be vigilant at all times and prepared to commit acts that only days previously were unthinkable.
Shana asked me if I would like to review her début novel and I jumped at the chance. Just recently I realised I was reading the same old stories by the same old authors and it felt as though I was in a reading rut. I needed something different to shake up my reading life and this novel certainly managed to do that. I never bothered with zombie novels before this one but this turned out to good to resist. It would not surprise me if it ended up being the best zombie book of 2014.

The opening sets the scene of small town, working man, life as normal America and as soon as we start to invest in Nick Michaels he is dead and responsible for the zombie outbreak that brings America to its knees. From then on all the focus is on Emma. She copes with a hurricane, the loss of family and friends, the despicable behaviour of some other survivors with strength of character and razor sharp wit that engages the reader in such a way you can't help but like her. The story is fast paced but believable, the characters are engaging and the reader is put through a roller coaster of emotion.

I found myself picking up my ereader when I was supposed to be doing other stuff simply because I needed to know what happened next. And now the book is finished I'm already wanting to read the next in the series.

I came to this novel without many expectations, a new author in a genre I don't usually read, it will pass the time I thought. By the time I had finished I realised I was lucky enough to come across someone who is going to be a very big name if she keeps up this quality of writing and I am most definitely a fan.
5/5. Go download the eBook straight away you won't be disappointed. show less