The Living Remnants

By: Marc Johnson

Narrated by: Louise Cooksey

Esmeralda, one of the human survivors of an apocalyptic war, now lives a precarious life as a servant to a family of zombies. She knows she’s better off than many other humans, who are imprisoned in breeding camps and slaughtered for food. Her masters treat her well, and their young daughter reminds Esme of her own little girl, killed during the war. But Esme can’t forget everything she’s lost—or the knowledge that her masters could turn on her at any moment. When rebels interrupt the zombies’ supply of human food, Esme’s position becomes even more dangerous. And this time, the price of survival may be more than she is prepared to pay.

©2015 Marc Johnson (P)2017 Marc Johnson

Living with the Undead

I wish it was longer. I loved the character of Esme the servant of zombies who treats Lizzie like she would have as her own until the end. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you

A concept that is much larger than the word count

*I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. This is it.

Esme has a job to do. She is very lucky to even have one after the war and losing her family. She misses her daughter terribly and that’s part of the reason she stays at her job with Lizzie instead of leaving to join the Living Remnants.

A very well done short with a concept that is much larger than the word count would indicate. The narration was a bit clunky in parts and almost threw me off a few times, but hung in there and was glad I did. Looking forward to more from this author.

Zombie overlords!?!!??

What an awesome concept. It’s a shame it was only a short story. Smart zombies with enslaved humans!? What a novel post apocalypse viewpoint. Enjoyed it just wish there was more of it! I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Enjoy The Meat!!!

This was an enjoyable, quick story. The background is told in such a way you feel like you have read all the stories and are now just a silent observer.
Interesting take on the ZomPoc genre.

I requested a free preview audio book of this title and i am leaving a voluntary review.

i want more! more motr motrz

there coyld been so much more to the story. i eas really getting into itbabd iymrx over. govr ud more. CHARECTERS R PERFECT! RED5ER IS PERFECT. I NEED MORE.

Seems like this should be a longer story...

Having read/listened to a fair number of zombie books during the past few years, I thought that the idea for this short story was interesting. Like some other reviewers, I would have been greatly interested in a longer, more developed story (no, I do NOT want to say 'a more fleshed out story'...). I don't work in the publishing world, but it almost seems that this short story is a concept pitch for a longer novel or series. We're introduced to some characters, at at least one of them (the mailman) is built up as being a possibly key character only to suddenly disappear from the story line. In a full-length book or series, I suspect his presence and role would become more important to the plot/action. The final scene left us hanging deliberately, and (subjectively speaking) I'm not a big fan of this technique. I think that the author might have moved us forward a wee bit more in the plot before winding down the story. Also, since it was a short story, I'm not sure that it was necessary to introduce two related-but-separate plotlines (rebellion and starvation) - if this were a full length novel, the author could have developed both of these plotlines. But since it's only a short story, neither plotline wound down to a satisfactory conclusion (the rebellion plotline sort of disappeared). Again, I think that it would be a much better story as a full-length novel (or a series, but I confess I may be experiencing zombie series fatigue and might prefer a single-book story).

The narration was okay. The narrator's voice was consistent with the image I mentally formed for the heroine. I have a personal preference for female voices that are less sweet-and-innocent sounding, but that's just a subjective opinion. The narrator voiced the different characters well, trying to make them sound like zombies. Since I have absolutely no preconceived idea of what a zombie might sound like, her interpretation worked fine!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not bad

Did I love it? No but it wasn’t bad either. Just can’t expect a lot from such a short story. I like the idea of he story and it could be ‘fleshed’ out a lot. I can see the inspirations that stemmed from other stories & genres that the author may have pulled from. The ending definitely needs a better conclusion. Sure we can come up with our own ending but that doesn’t give a definite conclusion.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the publisher/author but voluntarily give my honest review.

wish it was much longer

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I thought this was pretty good for a half hour long story. It kind of felt like a part of a much longer story. I liked the premise of humans as slaves/food to zombies.

Feels like a slice of a larger pie

This story follows a human servant, Esmeralda, as she tends to her day-to-day responsibilities while an uprising against the zombie population takes place. Imagine following a small town individual during something major like the events in Godzilla or Independence Day, and you'd get the gist.

The story was both unique in terms of the POV as well as the take on the Zombie Apocalypse. It felt like it was part of a larger "universe", and probably could be expanded on quite a bit, but I think if the author ever did that, he should follow another character -- perhaps the delivery man -- as this one is perfectly-contained. I love that the ending leaves much to the imagination.

The narrator did an OK job. Was a bit saccharin/generic though.

I was provided this audio book free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review.

An Interesting Short Story

The Living Remnants was a short listen and it sounded as if it could perhaps be a prequel to a longer story or even a series hopefully. I liked it. I liked the irony of the two characters, Espe and Lizzy. Espe lives in a somewhat volatile situation. This was an overall good short story written by Marc Johnson and I hope there's more to come.

The narration by Louise Cooksey was very well done. She used great voice control while both were speaking, especially Lizzy. She had good tone and inflections.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.