Plague of the Undead

Dead Lands, Book 1

De: Joe McKinney

Narrado por: Todd McLaren

For 30 years, they have avoided the outbreak of walking death that has consumed America's heartland. They have secured a small compound near the ruins of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Isolated from the world, they have remained blissfully unaware of what lies outside in the region known as the Dead Lands. Until now.

Led by a military vet who's seen better days, the inexperienced offspring of the original survivors form a small expedition to explore the wastelands around them. A biologist, an anthropologist, a photographer, a salvage expert - all are hoping to build a new future from the rubble. But the infected are still out there. Stalking. Feeding. Spreading like a virus. Wild animals roam the countryside, hunting prey. Small pockets of humanity hide in the shadows: some scared, some mad, all dangerous. This is the New World. If the explorers want it, they'll have to take it. Dead or alive.

©2014 Joe McKinney (P)2014 Tantor

good story but any woman's voice is so annoying

I like the story overall but any type of woman's voice sounds absolutely nothing like any woman I've ever heard. it's more like somebody struggling to breathe and talk at the same time

It was an okay story til those strange stories at the end

The story had promise but fell way short. The narrator was okay but the female voices sounded really bad. If you need a filler to get you by til you find your next great zombie fix then this will do it.

Nothing really stood out.

Never read from this author or listened to any other books before. The story was very boring. I was always waiting for it to get better and it never did. That goes especially for the 2 weird and random stories at the end, even worse than the story itself. The narration of the book didn't help at all either. Hopefully the next book I pick is better than this.

Enjoyed the plot -how people thrive in the terrible zompac

Liked characters and how they live trying to survive in scary, tough zombie infested times

Did You Ever Wonder What Technology Emerges?

This is split into an initial novella where an established settlement decides it's time to send explorers to the rest of the Arkansas wasteland. They find it brutal, but also that technology has leapt forward to offer hope for the human race. The other stories are specific character studies in a zombie apocalypse situations. Some you may have encountered similar themes, but several here are worth the listen. An apocalyptical take on Gift of the Magi and my own personal favorite - what happens when you are trapped for weeks at a time with a group of people and food runs out within a few days? How do you survive? One survivor tells his tale of survival in a train car only to pay a steep price of survival, alone on a farm far away from humanity who shuns him.

The narration is solid though voices for female characters are a bit shrill. Not sure what can be done about that. A good free read if you love zombie fiction.

Pretty good story.

The story is pretty good, but the Narrator made all the women sound like chronically constipated emphysema patients.

Thank you for the human narrator

Overall, this was a interesting and creative concept. It kept me entertained the author did a great job, expressing emotion and creating the appropriate emotions at the appropriate places. Human narrators should be supported and utilized.

could have been more

Ok I have a confession to make: I have a life… not a real good one, but I do have one. Sadly, this life has got in the way of my ability to listen to audible books for the past two weeks. This life may have influenced my thoughts on Joe McKinney’s “Plague of the Undead” as I was forced to listen to this one in a lot more broken parts than I usually do. So I will do my best not to transfer my anger and bitterness of my lot to my review ;-)

I choose this book on a whim and a prayer. I didn’t read the publisher’s summary. There were no reviews and I had not listened to the author or narrator before. But it was cheap!

The first thing that struck me was how slow the narrator was. It is no problem listening to this one at 1.5x speed. In fact if you listened to it at normal speed you would probably end up pulling out your hair… oh dear no… now I am feeling depressed about my lack of hair on my head! Can anyone tell me why I am loosing my hair off my head but seem to be gaining it on my back?

The second thing that struck me was this is not your usual zombie book. It is really about a couple of key people from a town who have successfully cut themselves off from the outside world after ‘dead return’. It is those key people’s adventure out into the unknown. It is cross between a western/adventure/sci fi type deal.

I was constantly surprised by it all. Some of the ideas in it are brilliant, but on some levels poorly brought about. It almost feels like a story that hasn’t really been edited or had the time spent on it. But like I said, it might be the fact I wasn’t able to listen to this one in long sittings.

On a couple of occasions I felt like putting it down not to return. I didn’t like the stress caused by some of the incidents in which the ladies where involved. I’m not a fan of listening to rape accounts! But every time as I was about to give it up, the scene would end.

I get the feeling that this one could have been so much more! I suspect the next in the series could get better, but personally I am not spending money on it unless it is on special, and it would have to be a BIG SPECIAL! With the slow speed and the need to speed it up so much it certainly does not become value per hour listening.

A great Zombie Read...

Would you listen to Plague of the Undead again? Why?

Of the many "Undead" novels I have listened to and read, this is one of the few I might listen to again. However, as a rule I don't listen to any audiobooks more then once.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were well developed and "Real!" Instead of impossible luck and kick-ass heros with impossible fighting or survival skills, what Mr. McKinnney gave us was characters who were believable. Characters who made bad, but not totally stupid, decisions. Characters who behaved in a way that I believe many of us might also behave in when faced with unexpected situations.

What about Todd McLaren’s performance did you like?

Nice voice adjustments for various characters. Also, his female characters didn't sound like idiots, which I have noticed some of other male voice over performers sometimes make the female characters sound ridiculous.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, but I don't want to give it away. I like that Mr. McKinney is not afraid to kill off key characters.

Any additional comments?

I am an avid reader and started reading Zombie novels about 8 years ago, when the genre was just really taking off. This book provided everything I like in a good Zombie novel, and quite frankly I believe Joe McKinney is a truly talented writer. I will be looking for more of his future works.

Really good.

There was a minor inconsistency in one of the stories but other than that I really enjoyed it.