Surviving When the Dead Have Risen: A Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse

The Most Uncommon Cold, Book 1

By: Jeffrey Littorno

Narrated by: Todd Menesses

Catch this new twist on the zombie apocalypse - Imagine a world in which nothing is as it should be. Our loved ones no longer recognize us. The basic laws of society no longer apply. And the dead do not remain still.

That is the world in which reporter Kevin Turner finds himself.

Now finding the facts surrounding the story do not matter as much as simply finding a way to stay alive.

Don't miss the latest horror novel from bestselling author Jeffrey Littorno.

The Most Uncommon Cold is Littorno's first entry in a zombie series that is sure to have fans of horror and the undead screaming for more.

©2014 Jeffrey Littorno (P)2014 Jeffrey Littorno

it's not your average zombie story

I took a bit of gamble on this one and purchased it without it being reviewed by an audible listener. I wasn’t expecting anything much more than standard zombie story. I pressed play and immediately heard the narrator speak in very slow clear manner… very very slowly. Do yourself a favour turn the speed up to at least 1.25x or even 1.5x speed. The difference is brilliant. The narrators voice is great at that increased speed!

I had just finished listening to ‘Die Trying’ before this title (an average zombie story saved by RC Bray’s narration) and I kept on thinking when is this one going to turn into a mindless zombie chasing fresh meat saga. To my surprise it never did!

The way the undead are portrayed in this one is great. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, so I will leave it up to you to listen to it. But needless to say there were enough fresh ideas in this one to keep me interested. And no, there are no vampires or evil spiritual being or anything like that.

Another thing I noticed while listening to this one was lack of swearing. Yes there is swearing, but it is not at the same level as so many in the genre. Honestly, it’s lack of foul language is noticeable, and gives it… perhaps a ‘teenager’ vibe. I suppose the debate of either ‘for’ or ‘against’ the language is not meant to be had here.

Probably the only other zombie type story it compares to is 'Torment' by Jeremy Bishop. But I would rate this one as slightly better.

I really hope there is a followup book to this one because it deserves it!

Different zombie story

First off the zombies can talk, which I thought was a little strange but then at the story went along it added up. This isn't so much like your typical end of the world story, it's more like the beginning and one man seeing things trying to determine if he is going crazy or not. Has a classic ending like the original 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" movie so that was pretty cool. Overall I will check out the second one.

Very slow paced

I love a good horror story but this was not it. The slow pace of the story and the author's strange focus on irrelevant details only served to clog and stall the plot. Several times I fell asleep and had to rewind. Normally, I would have given up on the story but I forced myself to get through it and I'm glad I did. The plot finally speeds up about chapter 16. From there it's suspenseful, my hopes only to be dashed with the abrupt ending and cliffhanger.

Most of the story we follow a reporter who slowly in a surreal way moves through life taking account of the strange events occuring. People turning into zombies that the author calls shells. I liked that he used a different name for them. I also really liked Glenn, a man of the cloth, that the strange reporter stumbles on during his surreal journey. The twist at the end was brilliantly clever. I only wish it happened several chapters earlier. I also liked that the zombies talked even if they were only parroting phrases.

I most likely won't be listening to the second book and this entire review is only the opinion of an avid horror, susppense, thriller junkie. People who enjoy a slower plot to absorb instead of intense action and suspense may have a completely different opinion than I.

certain things in this that really gave me chills

There were certain things in this that really gave me chills! First off, zombies that talk?! That is an issue!

My daughter and I had an entire conversation about this. When zombies can do things that are too human-like, then we have issues. Like running. Why would zombies just stop running all of a sudden. Yes, they are dead, but those muscles were just recently dead. The ability to talk calls in the same question.

The idea of this really gave me the creeps! It was such a great addition, especially since these “zombies” or in this book they are called shells, have literally JUST DIED. And mostly from a cold. So, I really enjoyed this turn of events and how the author really went out of the way to make readers look at zombies differently.

There were a few other areas where I was creeped out but really the talking thing was the pinnacle for me, and that was at the beginning. The narrator did a freaking fantastic job of upping the creep factor to intense! And the audio was fantastic so in the creepy times, they were full on “get me out of here, I want to leave” moments. Not often felt, even with horror, lately.

That being said, although the narration by Todd Menesses and audio was fantastic, the plot gave way a bit. I don’t understand at all why there had to be an issue in the main couple’s marriage, nor why Kevin did the things he did. He would choose to do something that would make me shake my head, and not things that I know from being a zombie reader, I mean things like eating all of his food in one furious sitting! And then he got sick later which of course pissed me off! Blockhead!

The story has its ups and downs. I really liked how they got to calling them shells and it fits the story line, but a lot did not fit. I also wanted to have more empathy for the characters but the more mistakes they made, the less empathy I felt.

In short: This was an interesting story and I am curious about the second but not so much that I would put all my other reads aside. Although it is a good Halloween time read.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

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

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Rambling Reporter Rumbles with the Risen

Any additional comments?

There are some interesting new spins on the zombie genre here that I like. Mainly they can communicate with each other, think basic thoughts and use tools. I am interested in seeing where their development is going. The main character is hard to follow though. At one point he seems to be going crazy which makes sense, but then he's not, so his behavior goes back to being inconsistent and hard to believe. He forgets how long he has been doing things - a lot (sitting down, staring at walls, laying on the floor). Minutes after a major zombie encounter he stops at his favorite Chinese food restaurant. Then leaves with little to no warning to his "friend" the proprietor of what is happening. Other characters are 2D and not very well developed. This is an ok book if you have nothing better going on.

OMG !

The main character is so annoying and an idiot how he survived the first chapter is beyond me. He's the dumbest man ever if I hear my mind wandered,I giggled, I smirked one more time I'm going to scream !! What a girly useless man the priest had more balls than he did. The story is boring no explanation on why the common cold turned everyone into zombies I suppose the second book will get to that but I have no interest in reading the second book and finding out how it happened and what happens to the main character I could care less.. Sorry I have read so many zombie apocalypse books I love them but this is not one of them.