100 Days in Deadland

By: Rachel Aukes

Narrated by: Hollie Jackson

A journey through Dante's Inferno with a shambling twist.

In one day, the world succumbed to a pestilence that decimated the living. In its place rose a new species: vicious, gruesome, wandering zombies with an insatiable hunger for the living. There is no government. No shelter. No hope.

Still in her twenties, Cash has watched her friends die, only to walk again. An office worker with few survival skills, she joins up with Clutch, a grizzled Army veteran with PTSD. Together, they flee the city and struggle through the nine circles of hell, with nothing but Clutch's military experience and Cash's determination to live. As they fight to survive in the zombie inferno, they quickly discover that nowhere is safe from the undead...or the living.

This is the beginning after the end.

100 Days in Deadland is a journey through the first poem in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, the classic tale on the horrors of hell...zombie apocalypse style!

©2013 Rachel Aukes (P)2013 Rachel Aukes

Great post apocolyptic zombie thriller.

Would you consider the audio edition of 100 Days in Deadland to be better than the print version?

I have not read the printed version, but Hollie Jackson does such a great job that I would think the audio version would be hard to beat.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Clutch was my favorite. You would think that Cash (Mia) would be, but I really enjoyed the big tough man who really had a soft heart.

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the scene with Cash telling Clutch to get to the truck then her navigating the school and each turn seemed to put her in a worse and worse situation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to, unfortunately time constrains made it a treat that I had to split up over a few days.

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good post apocalyptic zombie story, and I look forward to listening to the sequel. :)

Well written. Well read. I was entertained.

What does Hollie Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Hollie Jackson brought a great deal of life and believability to a slightly underdeveloped main character.

Any additional comments?

I'm downloading the second book in the series right now.

Excellent story with non-stop action!

The story really drew me in. I felt like I had become a character, an observer, in the story along side Jase, Clutch, and Cash.

What a great story!!!!

I REALLY enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, great characters and wonderful flow of story. Created around the symbolism of Dant e's Inferno, it is an awesome zombie tale. No boredom here! Well worth the credit or the price.

Well done. Very gritty and real.

The first thing I will, say is that this book was very entertaining. Additionally, it presents a solid female lead which is always a refreshing and welcome addition to the zombie apocalypse genre. Cash grows throughout the story and changes due to her ongoing experiences. This book does have the sub-tag about being tied to Dante's "Inferno". While nods to the classic piece can be found, I do think it best to simply take this tale as a good zombie story with very good character development. Perhaps there would be less flak about the Dante tie in if it had been mentioned as an inspiration in the preface.

I do take issue with some of the criticism saying this book had no characters worth rooting for, and that even the leads were horrible people. I saw this as a fantastic example of how real people might act in such extreme situations. If you disagree, then you have not paid attention to global situations where law and order have been supplanted. The author does a fabulous job of creating realism.

As for the narrator of the audio version, I found her to be a perfect fit and enjoyed her work. The sound was clean and easy to understand. Nice pace and excellent diction. She added emotion without trying to go over the top.

A metaphoric trip through Dante's Inferno complete

A metaphoric trip though Dante's Inferno. Only it's in Iowa, and there are zombies about.

pretty good but doesn't stand out from crowd

I started off liking this. The writing is well done and the characters and setting are good enough to keep me going, but with about two hours left I just don't have the momentum to finish. It feels too much like all the other zombie stories. The narrator does a good job, so that helps.

pretty good zombie fix

Any additional comments?

100 days in deadland has a quick start. in the first 5 minutes, the main character, mia, is in the thick of a zombie apocylapse. as she attempts to flee des moines, iowa, she encounters clutch, a truck driver, who just happens to be a survivalist. although this seems cliche, the story is pretty good. it reminded me of no easy hope: surviving the dead. for those who haven't read/listened to it, there's a good mentor-apprentice relationship and storyline.

the zombies are the romero style shamblers, and there's a good amount of zombie action as mia(cash) and clutch scavenge for supplies. however, zombbies aren't their only concern. mia(cash) and clutch must also contend with a local militia and what's left of the military. so, the second half of the book is kind of predictable.

100 days in deadland is told in the first person by mia(cash). the narrator's voice is easy to listen to. her inflection matches what's happening in the story.

100 days in deadland has all the storylines you'd expect in a zombie apocylapse story. while this is good, it is also bad. well, at least for me. i've listened to a bunch of zombie stories, and i'm always on the lookout for a story to surprise me. nothing in this story surprised me or added to the zombie genre. i'm not saying it's a bad, but it's just a story i've heard before.

as far as the dante's inferno connection is concerned, the author broke the story up so that each circle of hell matched what was happening in the story. i did not buy this story b/c of that, but i loosely paid attention to the connection between the two. after the end of the story, the author provides an exposition of how each section of the story represents a different circle of hell. i only listened to part of it before i moved on to the next book.

so if you're pretty new to the zombie genre, then this is a pretty good story to start off with. it's a full story in one book and not a series, where the story sometimes comes to an abrupt end. if you're a gray hair like me and need a good, predictable zombie fix, then give it listen.

Loved these 3 books!

Any additional comments?

This is a great series! I was sad when book 3 was done and at the end of the story. You feel like the characters are family! Very entertaining and believable - some different twists and turns with some anxiety causing reactions for sure!

Great Narrator!

I loved that the narrator didn't try to sound too masculine when reading dialogue for the male characters. In other Audible recordings I have listened to, when a female narrator attempts to do so, it just sounds silly. I love the entire Deadland Saga!