Savage

First things first: I didn't realise until I was well into the book that this was the 3rd book in one series and the 7th in another. I much prefer to read a series in order and may well have skipped this if I'd known sooner. That being said, this can easily be read as a standalone novel and is a complete story in itself.

The story is well written with plenty of detail, loads of action and well developed characters. There is plenty going on and the pace is good. The trouble with zombie stories though that they will invariably be compared to The Walking Dead TV show and this is no exception, in that, as per usual the main conflict soon evolves into being not between humans and zombies but between different bands of humans. I'm sure I'm not show more alone in drawing comparisons between the book characters and those on the TV show. Personally I stopped watching The Walking Dead once Negan was introduced as I hate the psychotic, bullying megalomaniac types. Samuel in this book fits that mould and is a similar character to Negan, in my opinion.

Still an entertaining read though not really my preferred subject choice.

The Narrator, Nigel Peever, does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life, each having a unique voice and with plenty of emotional depth in the dialogue and general narration.

The real downside for me was the sound effects. I listen to audiobooks while driving a refrigerated van for work and as such I have the volume quite high. The "jingles" between chapters as well as some of the incidental music is absolutely ear-piercing in places and even some of the background sounds detract and distract from the story. While they were quite well done I feel the audiobook would have been better without the added sound effects.

I received a free copy of this audiobook either from the author or a promotion or giveaway and am voluntarily writing an honest and unbiased review. show less