Soldier On

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse Volume 2

By: Shawn Chesser

Narrated by: Chris Patton

For Cade Grayson, father, husband, and former Delta Force operator, life has changed drastically over the course of 48 hours. He's watched the dead inexplicably return to life before his very eyes. He's lost many people near and dear to him, most dying unfathomably horrible deaths at the hands of the dead who have seemingly overnight taken over the big metropolis - their numbers and hunger for human flesh growing exponentially with each passing hour.

After having been forced to kill his reanimated neighbors in self-defense and then surviving the perilous overland journey from his home in Portland, Oregon, Cade finds temporary refuge inside the wire of a Special Forces garrison on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah.

But his stay is short and he decides to strike out alone, resuming the search for his missing wife, Brook, and 11-year-old daughter, Raven, the only way he knows how - with a laser-like focus and full speed ahead.

So in the early morning hours on day four of what might be the United States and perhaps the entire globe's extinction-level event, he slips out Camp Williams' back gate riding a specially modified off-road motorcycle.

Armed and resupplied and with only a satellite phone connecting him to the crumbling world, Cade soldiers on eastbound - locked and loaded - with Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, his small family's last known whereabouts, dead set in his sights.

Meanwhile, 400 miles away in Colorado Springs, Colorado - the new capital of the United States, President-by-succession Valerie Clay works round the clock with what's left of the military to gather together the resources and scientific know-how necessary to stop the Omega Virus' rapid spread and, starting with Colorado Springs, rid the country of the multitudes of walking dead.

Will the 1900 miles and the millions of dead in Cade's path succeed in keeping him separated from his family?

Will mankind find a foothold against the dead and turn the tide of war?

Cade Grayson, locked and loaded, is determined to find out.

©2011 Shawn Chesser (P)2015 Shawn Chesser

Cade I'm coming with ya!

Former Special Ops Delta Force soldier Cade Grayson is trying to survive. Zombies are everywhere. The “Omega” virus has turned the dead into the living dead. His wife and daughter are out there somewhere, at least he hopes so. Follow Cade and his ragtag group of survivors in the next story in the Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse series.

The narration for Soldier on was done by Chris Patton. Patton did the narration for the first book Trudge also, and since I just listened to Trudge not too long ago I’m really glad that I got to continue with the story. To me, Chris Patton IS Cade Grayson. He has the perfect voice to give you a feeling of complete control all while everything is falling apart around him

Soldier on picks up directly after Trudge did, literally being the next sentence. I’m really glad that I was given the opportunity to listen to this in quick sucession because the story was fascinating to me. Normally a zombie book is all about either a survivor or the zombies. If it’s about the survivor, there are usually two camps, either they are unlikely survivors or likely. Cade falls into the likely category due to his training, but for some reason this book feels completely different from other books like it. I’m going to chalk it up to the way that Chesser writes the story. Cade’s air of confidence while everything around him goes to crap is really interesting, and even though he’s confident, he’s not cocky.

Chesser does a wonderful job painting the scenes without overdoing it. So many times authors will spend page after page describing something that is a passing glimpse. Chesser, thankfully, does not do this. The reader is given just enough information to feel informed, and then he moves on.

Many times I found myself on the edge of my seat. I would say that Solider On kept me up late, but I listened to it in two quick successions because I couldn’t get enough of it!

Another part that I really enjoyed was the slight nod to a backstory, and the new inclusion of some conspiracy theory in too.

Soldier On was better than Trudge, and I loved Trudge. I can’t wait to see where this series is going. Cade, I’m coming with ya!

a story of survival against all odds

Cade Grayson is a former Delta Force (Special Ops) soldier who is thrown into the middle of a zombie apocalypse when the “Omega” virus is unleashed on the human population. He continues to survive and search for his wife and daughter whom he can only hope are still alive.

Narration for this was done by Chris Patton. Right now, since listening to Trudge and Soldier on, Chris Patton IS Cade Grayson. I love when an author can get the same narrator to continue a story. It helps with the feeling of completeness. Patton does a great job narrating Grayson, who is former Delta Force. Patton mixes in the right amount of “manliness” and intelligence to give Cade the perfect performance. Chesser should be extremely happy with the work Chris Patton has done for these novels.

This book literally picks up with the next sentence from Trudge. And I’m happy that I got to listen to them in quick succession. Chesser is a wonderful author who is incredibly good at painting the scene without overdoing it.

Soldier on is a story of survival against all odds. It’s a story that had me at the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Chesser throws in some teasers so that you aren’t sure what will happen next. All the while, you’re wondering what is going on with the other people in the world.

In Soldier On the reader is given slightly more back story and even more information about what is going on. I really enjoyed this part of it because I love hearing where things came from and the backstory of how we got to the post part of post-apocalyptic. He sprinkles in some conspiracy theories too, which I really enjoyed. It gave the book a different edge than I was originally expecting.

Overall, Soldier on was better than Trudge, and I loved Trudge. I’ve heard that these stories get better and better as they progress. Well, sign me up. I’m on board and want to continue following Cade and see what happens next.

Audiobook was provided for review the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Soldier on

Great story, loved it! Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series. Enjoy !

better than the last...

too many holes in the stories... why don't the zombie veterans learn to use body armor?
(covering hands, legs, any exposed skin... especially when conducting pre planned raids)
how come so many troops in the story are highly trained elite troops, but they make so many stupid mistakes?

Good Story but Poor Choice for Narrator

I really like this story as written by Shawn Chesser. It's a good solid zom-pocolypse tale with strong characters. But I am struggling to listen to it because of the Narrator. While Mr Patton has good diction and great clarity, he does not know how to narrate a military centric story. The constant spelling out of acronyms that should be pronounced as a word (i.e. SSGT should be said as staff sergeant, not as S S G T, after the first time it's used NICU is pronounced nickyou - not spelled out each time). Also his putting the emphasis on the wrong syllables over and over is very frustrating (i.e. airMAN, when it should be AIRman) or breaking it up to sound like two words when it's one (i.e. air man, when it's airman). Also, all his men sound the same even the older ones in their 60s who should sound different; very distracting when listening to two or more mens dialogue at the same time. If you are going to narrate a military centric story, learn how to pronounce the terminology correctly, especially if it's used more than once. And finally this narrator seems to put excitement into every sentence regardless of the action, which makes the read less exciting when you do finally get into the action.

Great read

love the story and the characters overall it was a great read can't wait to see what happens next

looking forward to next book!!!

I loved the first book trudge finished it yesterday and finished this one today and I'm really looking forward to the next book! if you like any zombie apocalypse survival books then this whole series is for you

A Great Story

This hooks you from beginning to end. definitely a must add so enjoy it today

Awesome story line

This series has a great flow to it and keeps me going. I panicked when my book stopped playing with 1:33 left to go I thought it was broken and I had to know what happened quick 😂😂

what's next?

The story moves on, can't wait to see what's next. There had to be more. The storey telling is awesome,