City of the Dead

Brian Keene is officially my hero. I'll get into that more in a little bit though. Remember Jim Thurmond? In The Rising, Jim traveled across five states to find his son, Danny. The ending of The Rising was left wide open, and the issue of Jim's son did not get resolved until this book.

The zombies, if we can even call them that, since they are actually demons possessing corpses. Basically, the demons want to kill every human on earth to make God mad and to punish him for sending them away. When a human dies, a demon crosses the void and inhabits the human. It can recall all the human's memories, which is how these zombies can drive cars and shoot guns and talk intelligibly. There are also zombie birds, which can strip a man to the bone show more in minutes, and zombie dogs and rats too.

Jim Thurmond and his party manage to make it to New Jersey, and then get rescued by the helicopter team employed by an eccentric billionaire who built a disaster-proof skyscraper in New York City. When the only humans left alive are in that building, the zombies prepare to wage war. Their plan cannot enter its second stage until all the humans are gone.

It is absolutely essential that The Rising is read first, otherwise nothing in City of the Dead will make sense. It's totally worth it though, since both books are awesome. The Rising did start off a little slow, but quickly picked up the pace until the last 250 pages were basically a tidal wave of blood, death, and horror.

Back to why Brian Keene is my hero: first, he employed zombie suicide bombers, which is an awesome idea, especially since zombies can't technically commit suicide since they are already dead; second, his zombies sang a paraphrased version of The Bloodhound Gang's "The Roof Is On Fire", a song that I've loved for a long time; and finally, because Brian Keene had the guts to end the book the way he did. I've been saying for years that someone should end a book that way, since it's so unexpected and shocking and not happily-ever-after, ride-into-the-sunset, and cop-outish like most horror books. The ending surprised me so much, and I'm so glad someone finally ended a book this way. show less

3.5/5 stars!

CITY OF THE DEAD has been on my TBR pile for a year or two, (and on my physical bookshelf), so when I saw it listed on my Audioboom! email, I immediately requested it. I'm glad I did!

This book picks up right where THE RISING left off. Most of the group is now trapped in a house and you can't help but to root for them. The zombies they are fighting are not your normal zombie-they can be fast, use weapons, and drive cars. They are led by Ob, and in this book we learn more about him and his mission on earth.

Fast paced and filled with lots of fun action,(zombie crocs and birds anyone?), there isn't much time to rest here, and why would you want to? There are plenty of gross outs and characters to root for and not of lot of time show more for quiet moments, fancy prose, or reflection. If this is the type of book you're in the mood for, then CITY OF THE DEAD is the book for you!

I listened to the audio, narrated by Joe Hempel. It took me a while to get into his narrative style, but once I did, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

Recommended for those in the mood for bloody, smart-zombie fun!

Thanks to Audioboom! and Joe Hempel for this audio copy in exchange for my honest review. This is it!* show less

This book was a powerhouse of action. You hardly had a moment to catch your breath in between the attacks and battles. As fun as the first one, The Rising, but even more brutal and graphic. Full of good characters fighting the good fight, and with a healthy dose of unscrupulous and mentally unstable characters alike, you never know what's going to happen next.

This book picks up where The Rising left off. Jim has just made it to his son's home, and the zombies are closing in outside. The book opens at the home of his ex-wife, while you wait to learn whether or not Danny is found alive and whether they make it out alive, and it ends at the Ramsey Towers in New York, where survivors are holed up against the zombies milling around show more outside.

One thing I should note: This book is not suitable for children. It is extremely violent, vulgar and there are many moments of graphic sexuality, including zombie sex and multiple accounts of genital mutilation. Please be forewarned.

Overall a fun story, but a little sad and depressing at times. show less

This is my fourth Keene read, all of them recent. While the first three all fell into that "entertaining and gory with the occasional chuckle but not hugely memorable" category, this one steps things up a notch. It's the sequel to [b:The Rising|216213|The Rising|Brian Keene|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282960198s/216213.jpg|209323], but it's much better than that first book. Intense.

A good read, but really depressing. Our survivors from book one are on the run from the zombies, but survival does not look good. Realistic ending, but rough. Characters are great. I am glad that I read it though, if only to have resolution from the Rising.

While I described the first book in the series as a “good corny”, this book took a few scenes from the “bad corny” handbook. The book continues the story of Jim Thurmond and his search for his son. The story contains the same main characters, and adds a few more. The core story is still there, and if you liked the first book you will like the second book. However, while the first book hung on to a somewhat respectable read…this one does not. I feel like Keene simply banged out a second book after the success of the first. The discussion scenes are horrendous, but the detail is still there. If you read the first one, just keep on trucking to the second. Don’t expect the same type of read though.

*SPOILER ALERT*
This was a pretty good book. I am not one to think every book has to have a happy ending, but to have every major character die in the last 5 pages is a bit much. Especially after reading about them for 2 books.