The Junkie Quatrain

By: Peter Clines

Narrated by: Christian Rummel, Therese Plummer

Audie Award Nominee, Original Work, 2013

Six months ago, the world ended. The Baugh Contagion swept across the planet. Its victims were left twitching, adrenalized cannibals that quickly became know as Junkies. Civilization crumbled as people created isolated safe havens to hide from the infected... and the possibly infected. Now, as society nears a tipping point, lives will intersect and intertwine across two days in a desolate city.

The Junkie Quatrain is four tales of survival, and four types of post-apocalypse story, because the end of the world means different things for different people. Loss. Opportunity. Hope. Or maybe just another day on the job.

©2012 Peter Clines (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Excellent

I just love Peter Clines writing style. This is a quick excellent listen with fantastic readers.

Great, down and dirty zombie story quickie

Peter Clines definitely has a knack for suspenseful story telling. Enjoyed the interweaving of the different characters and story lines in this one. Plausible details plus well-constructed writing make this a really good listen.

Yay! Not really short stories after all...

This was (sort of ) a collection of 4 inter-related short stories. I am not sure if I knew that fact when I started the book and, if I had, I might have skipped it because I don't normally like short stories. However, this book reads more like a single story, told from 4 different view points. Sure, each of the sections has different characters as the centrepiece, but they are all connected, and the world and happenings in it are all the same.

So, essentially, it is a novel with 4 different main characters rather than a collection of short stories. And I actually quite enjoyed it. It is a zombie tale, so of course there is the usual death and gore, but it is not a hack-n-slash type, and the characters do behave in normal ways (i.e. the author doesn't make them do stupid things like walk down a dark alley by themselves in order to create an opportunity for "bad things" to happen).

There is a logical explanation for the zombie breakout because they are not actually the living dead (which would take a greater leap of faith to accept as possible) - they are infected with a virus, which does make the possibility of their existence quite believable. (Don't misunderstand me though, this is a zombie novel, so, of course, there is a whole level of gross behaviour that will require you suspend your disbelief).

The narration is good, there is no sex, minimal swearing and not much gore, considering it is a zombie book.

Thrilling and scary interconnected stories!

I discovered this author when I read THE FOLD. I didn't want that book to ever end. I felt the same about this one. I love his writing style and I care about the characters. Can't wait for the next novel!

Short stories

Pretty enjoyable. I liked that you could listen to any chapter out of order and look for all the hints connecting each story to the other.

Gory fun

If you like Peter's other works, particularly the Ex series, then this will be right up your alley.

I liked the first story or the first part of story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The second part of the story. Redundant without adding anything new or interesting.

Would you be willing to try another book from Peter Clines? Why or why not?

Probably not.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

fine.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

probably not.

Any additional comments?

no

A nice glance at an interesting world

I would love to learn more about the characters in this book. learn how their stories further develop. I really enjoy how the stories are connected yet separate. Great performances and fun story.

Far from the best Clines

The interweaving of the stories was fun and rewarding. There was also a reveal that I enjoyed. Everything else was trite by the numbers zombie fic. Unnecessary military jargon and soulless characters.

PostApoc take from different perspectives

What a fun listen. Clines seems to have crafted a short tale with social commentary concerning trans human/benevolent altruism activists who’ve lost their entire way. More please.