Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End

Spettacolare!! Da quando ho iniziato a leggerlo è stato difficilissimo metterlo giù tanta era la necessità di sapere cosa succedeva man mano che andavo avanti con la storia...leggevo anche in coda la mattina andando al lavoro!!
Tutto il libro è un susseguirsi continuo di azione, suspense e un icredibile realismo, nei fatti e nelle situazioni descritte; poi ci sono anche momenti di umorismo, nonostante la drammaticità della situazione che vive il protagonista, nella Spagna invasa dai Non-morti.
Bello veramente, non vedo l'ora di poter leggere gli altri due capitoli della serie. Consigliatissimo a chiunque (sempre che vi piaccia il filone zombie ovviamente).

P.S. Il grande eroe del libro resta comunque il mitico gatto Locullo!

I do not generally read zombie novels, but with the inception of "free" books for my Amazon Kindle - every genre is now worth exploring. Once I started this book, I could not put it down. Apocalypse Z: The beginning of the End is so realistic, I had to stop reading on occasion just to make sure that I was reading a book and this wasn't really happening.

A man and his best friend, an orange ball of fur cat, watch as the world crumbles around them. A deadly virus, unleashed from a secret location in Russia, is killing everyone it touches. The news reports from around the globe are vague - sharing way more questions than answers. People are dying at an alarming rate - the pandemic spreading rapidly across the globe. People are stooping to show more cannibalism. Within two weeks, all communication ceases. They find themselves all alone - except for those groaning "creatures" stumbling around outside.

What makes this story unique is that the main character is like the reader of this book; daring to move forward without knowing the truth about what is taking place around him. His survival is based upon instinct and "on the job training" as he leaves the security of his fortress-like home to learn more and to seek out other survivors. The author is very descriptive throughout the book, painting such clear pictures, that will leave some readers with mouth agape and stomach queasy. In his quest, the main character doesn't always do the right thing, which sometimes caused him to be trapped without any visible way of escaping. I believe his furry friend shared its nine lives with his beloved owner.

I do highly recommend this book and look forward to the next installment to see how this story continues. Great job Manel!

John Podlaski, author
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel show less

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Spanish author Manel Loureiro is the first volume of a zombie trilogy. Set in Spain, I found this a particularly grim story, as rebels break into a Russian laboratory and accidentally release a terrible disease. At first Russia tries to downplay what is happening but this sickness cannot be contained and it quickly spreads across Europe and then to the rest of the world.

The main character is a young Spanish lawyer who is still grieving the death of his wife from a car accident. He lives in a walled house which enables him and his beloved cat to sit tight during the first horror filled weeks as the numbers of walking dead increase and eventually overrun the so-called “safe zones”. He knows show more that he must leave as he will starve if he stays so he manages to get himself and his cat away to the coast and takes control of a sailboat. Of course, this is just the beginning as it soon becomes apparent that finding a safe zone is going to be an almost impossible task. After a number of adventures he has found three others to travel with him, a Ukraine pilot, a young woman and a Catholic nun/nurse.

I found this one of the more realistic zombie stories with a definitive cause for the outbreak that rang true. I enjoyed the setting and found the characters quite believable. The main character isn’t exceptionally brave, he has never used guns and makes a lot of mistakes. He remains alive mostly through sheer luck. His number one priority is his cat and keeping it safe, which isn’t easy given the nature of cats and the situation they are in. One thing that drove me crazy was whenever he described an attractive woman, she had blonde hair and green eyes – this happened frequently and, yes, you guessed it, when a real, alive woman joined him, she had blonde hair and green eyes. As the book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and as I have the next book on my Kindle I will certainly be reading on in the trilogy. show less

I made the mistake of reading other reviews before writing mine. Here's the thing, ANY BOOK can be picked apart, flaws can be found, humans write them. Humans are flawed creatures. I look for books that make me FEEL. And I loved this story. I loved the diary format. The lawyer is a generally nice guy. AND HE LOVES HIS CAT. That should be enough for anyone. The fact that the cat played a major role in his decision making was...profound. I was so worried about that cat.We always forget our pets in the Apocalypse, they are left behind. At least authors choose not to tackle that hard subject, this one chose to face it head on. I guess some things may have been..improbable. But come on folks, its zombies, lets have fun, lets be scared and show more all that jazz. I have put this in the top 10 list of my favorite zombie novels. I will trowel the interwebs ( with spear gun in hand, wearing my trusty wetsuit) for more translated copies of his other novels. show less

I made the mistake of reading other reviews before writing mine. Here's the thing, ANY BOOK can be picked apart, flaws can be found, humans write them. Humans are flawed creatures. I look for books that make me FEEL. And I loved this story. I loved the diary format. The lawyer is a generally nice guy. AND HE LOVES HIS CAT. That should be enough for anyone. The fact that the cat played a major role in his decision making was...profound. I was so worried about that cat.We always forget our pets in the Apocalypse, they are left behind. At least authors choose not to tackle that hard subject, this one chose to face it head on. I guess some things may have been..improbable. But come on folks, its zombies, lets have fun, lets be scared and show more all that jazz. I have put this in the top 10 list of my favorite zombie novels. I will trowel the interwebs ( with spear gun in hand, wearing my trusty wetsuit) for more translated copies of his other novels. show less

Book Review - Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Manel Loureiro

Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
Manel Loureiro
Trade Paperback
333 pages
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Publication Date: October 23, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1612184340
Advance Reader’s Copy – Uncorrected Proof

More zombie goodness…

Normally I keep extensive notes when reading so that I can use those notes to develop my review of the book based on my “in-read” impressions. In the case of Manel Loureiro’s Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End there just wasn’t time. I became so engrossed in the story, so entertained, that I neglected (plain forgot) to keep a single note on the story. Here’s why that’s a good thing: 1) The story grabs you from the start and show more doesn’t let go until the last word. 2) In a word, Realism – The story, characters, and scenes are very realistic in every sense of the word. Yes, we are talking about zombies here but insert “ambulatory plague victim” and it still works on every level. 3) Very Fast Read – Apocalypse Z is an extremely fast paced story and therefore a very quick read. I think I read it in just under eight hours. 4) Settings – All the action is set in Spain and on boats off the coast and that lends an unusual European feel to the zombie situation. I thoroughly enjoyed the locales that were so very different than those found in most of the zombie stories I've read. 5) Zombies – It’s another freaking zombie story! (Period.) 6) The main character could be you or I – Mr. Loureiro’s zombie apocalypse survivor is an everyman. Not a hero, not a macho, over-the-top caricature of a survivor but the embodiment of the normal man attempting to survive in a harsh and dangerous environment. He makes mistakes and he pays for those mistakes and that’s what makes this character and the entire story so compelling.

The book begins as a blog from a lonely man in Spain who’s just recently lost his wife and is looking for something to keep his mind occupied. But some very strange stories are coming out of Russia. Little by little the story unfolds that something has escaped a government facility and a pandemic is spreading. What would you do under the circumstances? Where would you go? For one man, the search for a “safe” place is not only a quest but an inward journey for survival.

If there’s any negative criticism I can make it’s that the story touched very little on the fall of civilization and the wake of societal disorder. Obviously, the story is about the personal journey of one man but by making him a blogger reporting on the fall of mankind I thought the concept could have been better developed and carried through more in the story.

File with: All the other good zombie books you've read this year!

4 out of 5 stars

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin show less

El apocalipsis zombi se desata en Daguestán, extendiéndose al resto del mundo, y a nosotros nos lo cuenta un abogado de Pontevedra en primera persona. La idea de escribir el libro como entradas de blog o de diario en un cuaderno que el prota conserva le da un aire entretenido a la novela, aunque cada tres páginas nos encontramos un "las últimas horas han sido una locura" y expresiones similares.

Dado que son tres libros que se leen como uno solo, pondré en éste todos mis comentarios sobre los tres.

En general, y esto puede interpretarse como crítica a la vez que como halago, me he sentido leyendo esta serie como me sentí al leer a Dan Brown. No es que el autor sea igual de bueno o malo que Dan Brown, es que yo me he sentido show more igual al leerlos a ambos.

Empecemos por lo malo y así nos lo quitamos: La serie de libros está terriblemente mal documentada: En cuanto a la parte de fact checking, si lo cuento desvelo partes importantes de la novela, pero habla de que una granada se cuela por el respiradero de un BMR (¡que jamás tendrían un agujero de l tamaño de una granada comunicando el exterior con el interior!), de que un petrolero con un incendio en cubierta explota todo él, con sus doscientas mil toneladas de petróleo, a la vez . En cuanto al estilo, no sé si el autor tiene mala memoria o escribió las novelas echándoles ratitos sueltos, pero hay un montón de fallos de coherencia de la historia. En un párrafo el autor nos dice que se enfrenta con optimismo al nuevo día y dos párrafos después nos dice que está absolutamente hecho polvo por la sucesión de los acontecimientos pasados. ¿Qué es, ciclotímico el prota? ¿O el autor no se acuerda de lo que nos ha contado hace dos párrafos? Demasiadas veces el autor nos repite cada pocos párrafos cosas que ya ha contado varias veces. Hacia el final de la novela, y esto es un spoiler tochísimo, dice que la enfermedad acabará desapareciendo porque los zombies se van muriendo y los niños nacen sin el virus, pero no tiene en cuenta que los padres están contagiados y que por tanto todos los niños se contagiarían en contacto con sus padres y necesitarían también de la medicina para siempre. Haría falta una generación entera de padres que no tocaran a nadie para que el virus muriera.

Otra cosa que me ponía muuuuuy nervioso: el prota descubre muy pronto que el ruido atrae a los zombies. Y durante toda la maldita novela NO PARA de hacer ruido TODO EL RATO. Cada vez que se acercan a un sitio les da igual romper cristales y pegar tiros. Es desesperante.

Más: En la mitad de los combates a tiros en que se mete el protagonista, ¡amartilla la pistola cuando ya le han perseguido cinco o seis zombis! Lo de amartillar es para el autor como un sinónimo de tragar saliva muy fuerte. Cuando lo leía, veinte minutos después de haber entrado en zona infestada y de repente amartillar, me decía ¿Y todo este tiempo qué diablos ha hecho con la pistola en la mano?

Por último, la calidad literaria es, como dicen socarronamente los british, "subpar". No hay lugar para la imaginación, el autor cae en una furia descriptiva que causa que todo, todo, todo quede por escrito y el lector no pueda usar su imaginación para nada. Ejemplo de descripción que mata la imaginación: "Era un silencio total, absoluto, tétrico. No oía nada salvo el rumor de las aguas... La ciudad estaba silenciosa, oscura. Muerta". Las hay peores en el libro.

Los personajes no es que sean planos, es que son lineales. Sus emociones son el cansancio, la ira, el miedo y las ganas de follar. Hay algo de camaradería y tal , para disimular. No hay la más mínima reflexión intelectual por parte del protagonista, que parece una máquina de procesar estímulos para a continuación quejarse.

Y ahora, lo bueno. El prota, a pesar de todo, te cae simpático. La historia genera interés, dan ganas de seguir leyendo, a pesar de todos los impedimentos literarios, porque sentimos genuino interés por el destino de los protas. Los giros argumentales son psicodélicos pero el autor se ciñe a ellos y los explora.

En resumen, sentimientos encontrados. Leí las tres novelas en ocho días, lo cual dice bastante a su favor a pesar de mis quejas en esta crítica. show less