Dead Living

By: Glenn Bullion

Narrated by: Mark Nelson

It didn’t take long for the world to die. The dead rose with no explanation and only one purpose... to eat living flesh.

Born on the day everything died, the world of the living dead is the only world that Aaron knows. Kept in relative isolation from the walking corpses, his family teaches him how to read and write, how to survive on his own. After a tragedy hits close to home, Aaron discovers he is different than any human left alive.

The undead want nothing to do with him.

The survivors of the old suburb of Lexington call a high school their home. They survive day to day, without any of the luxuries mankind used to enjoy, and surrounded by the living dead. Samantha is a product of the new world. Alone, cold, looking out only for herself. She and the other residents of Lexington feel their hope dwindling. They need change. They need someone who isn't afraid of the walking corpses. They need someone who would rather live in a city of the dead.

They need Aaron.

©2011 Glenn Bullion (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

My first zombie book...may be my last

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I doubt that I would recommend this book to a friend. I guess zombie books are not my genre. The characters were flat. The action did not feel real. I had to force myself to finish listening to it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Glenn Bullion again?

I doubt that Bullion will be added to my "must read" list.

What three words best describe Mark Nelson’s performance?

Monotone. Bored.

Did Dead Living inspire you to do anything?

Dead Living inspired me to skip the zombie genre. I did see World War Z after reading this book but this book did not inspire me to do so. Blame that one movie trailers.

Amazing please put all your books on audible. Use that stupid AI thing if you have too.

The character building the world everything was great. One of my top zombie listen. Only bad thing about it is there’s no sequel.

nr 1!!

Would you listen to Dead Living again? Why?

Absolutly! loved it!

What other book might you compare Dead Living to and why?

Jonathan Maberrys Rot and ruin series.

Any additional comments?

Read this! I have read/listening every book that is aviable in the Zombie gene and this is among the top 10!

Wow

What did you love best about Dead Living?

I am out of breath....this story gained speed as it went. Loved the characters. Loved the fast pace. And loved the concept....so many zombie books/movies/tv shows....this the first I've seen or heard with this concept. I will read other titles by Glenn Bullion.

Wow, pretty good!

As the blurb reads, the twist in this story is that the zombies ignore our protagonist so hes basically invincible. So I thought, what kinda pointless story would that be?!

Well, surprisingly, the author made a pretty cool story from it anyways. I love the start of zombie apocalypse stories and this one started with a regular schmo, the unsung working class hero of the modern era; the warehouse worker. Its all pretty good, but standard, he's trying to find his wife and bla bla..then suddenly 14 years into the future the group of survivors are only now starting to flirt and fall in love and then tragedy strikes.

The rest of the story is about sexual tension, love, revenge and how Aaron tries to help out a community of survivors all the while, like Superman, he tries to preserve his "secret".

Its not too heavy a read, fairly light and entertaining. Narrator was a bit stiff in the beginning but got pretty good further into the story, so 3 stars for average. I also think the writing followed the same pattern too, kinda short, simple writing but got better and more fluid later.

The 4 stars may be a bit generous, but I enjoyed the read and too bad there doesn't seem to be a continuation.

Surprised

At first I was shocked at how the author decided to show how the zombie apocalypse happened. I thought "WTH!", but once that was out of the way I was hooked and surprised by the non-stop action.

Worth a listen

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator. While he isn't as horrible as some out there, he does have the inability to use different voices/inflections/cadences for each character.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Living?

Probably at the end, something happens to the main character Aaron. It made me pause and think "Is this was going to be like every zombie novel out there?"

What didn’t you like about Mark Nelson’s performance?

See above about what I would change

Was Dead Living worth the listening time?

Yes, but keep in mind that the narrator is not the best

Any additional comments?

If you are a zombie fan, the book and plot are fairly enjoyable.

pretty good story

I listen to or read every zombie story I get my hands on.
This one is well written with good characters and a fairly typical plot.
There was a couple interesting twists that made it original.
Not too graphic but still detailed.

Narration fit the book well.

Not in my top 5 books but made my must read list.

A nice twist on EOW Zombies

Loved the story, good parts, sad parts, cheesy parts. Not too much in the way of gun porn. Sometimes it’s just too much. This story had a twist on the weapon part. Main character has a different perspective on the zombies and behaviorism. Wasn’t “too violent”, I mean it is a Zombie story. Super cute little surprise twist at the end.

A bit different and a bit not

I am a sucker for a new zombie audiobook, especially if I have a gap in my listening queue. To be honest if I was living in a zombie apocalypse I think I would prefer that the zombies wanted nothing to do with me. Would probably get a bit on the lonely side, but at least I would be alive, right? For some reason from the moment I heard about this audiobook I wanted to listen to it, I even pre-ordered on audible.

Dead Living starts out as many zombie stories do, with the event of the apocalypse. Bullion was able to convey the utter chaos and destruction that such an event would surely create. Very quickly he moves us on years latter, which I really appreciated, following the same family as in the before time, giving us a glimpse of what life was now like to the survivors. After a series of, again tragic events, the story jumps ahead decade or two. Introducing us to the way that life was now, yet still different than before. All the while following the life and times of Aaron born on the day the world ended. Dead Living is less about the zombies and more about an expansive action packed, love soaked, story with real depth and human emotions interwoven throughout. Bullion adds in a very unique twist to the typical zombie apocalypse and that is that the zombie want nothing to do with Aaron and we get to advantages and disadvantages of a gift like that or is it a curse?

I really enjoyed Mark Nelson’s narration, his voice made me reminisce about television shows from the 1980′s, you know the ones that had a narrator to help you through the show, with his very “normal” voice. As usual lately it takes me awhile to warm up to the narrator and Dead Living was no exception. Once I did I was completely comfortable and transported to world I can only hope I will never know.