The Thirteenth Step

Zombie Recovery

By: Michele W. Miller

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir

Eight people escape zombie-infested New York. They have only one thing in common: the addict gene. The same genetic quirk that makes alcoholics and addicts susceptible to booze and drugs gives them a mysterious ability to evade the undead. But that's not enough to unite them. They're an unlikely crew: A Botoxed Upper East Sider; a drug dealer; a resentful daughter of addicts; a recovering AA guy; a Japanese ex-dope fiend; an addicted Ivy Leaguer; and a Mexican immigrant. They dodge zombies, toxic wastelands, drugged lunatics, their personal demons and sometimes each other, only to find themselves in a cult that takes A.A. to fundamentalist extremes. They have to make a choice, one they may not survive.

©2013 Michele W. Miller (P)2014 Michele W. Miller

Very well done

Would you consider the audio edition of The Thirteenth Step to be better than the print version?

Yes. The story was originally very entertaining but the narrator added great depth to each character.

What did you like best about this story?

The fact that it's not your average zombie tale, nor is it your average XA survival story. Uniquely entertaining.

Which scene was your favorite?

One of the early scenes at the lottery win was really well done.

If you could take any character from The Thirteenth Step out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I don't know why but I had an instant connection with Patti.

Soft zombie story, still fun and interesting

Being somewhat familiar with 12 step recovery programs, this is going to be an interesting listen. I do know what the "thirteenth step" is. For those of you that do not know it is when a person with established sobriety dates a person that is new to recovery. I have heard that it can get a bit messy. I am trying to figure out how in the world what kind of recovery Michele W. Miller is going to get into, because of the zombies and all.

The Thirteenth Step: Zombie Recovery was nothing that I thought it would be and also was somewhat what I thought it would be. with the zombie apocalypse starting, at least for us, in New York city made me crave giant hordes roaming the streets. Huge action scenes of a band of survivors fighting for survival. There were huge hordes, but they only stumbled by, scaring our band of misfits.

Here’s the original part. People with the disease of alcoholism and their children are immune to the zombie virus. Well maybe not totally immune, but the zombies for some reason cannot sniff out their living flesh. Not surprisingly after learning this, our band of survivors are mostly this type of person.

Escape from New York is first and foremost. Only to find a compound full of alcoholics. This is where normal people, unless they are familiar with recover programs, will start to loose some interest. Because the amount of recovery jargon used is extreme. Maybe you will find it hilarious that amidst an apocalypse people are still working the steps, having meetings and doing the deal to the best of their ability.

All in all The Thirteenth Step: Zombie Recovery is an original zombie story that I would classify as soft. Not a lot of action or gore. Full of interesting alcoholic survivors, which makes for colorful characters. Full of personalities before survival principles.

If you have been afraid to listen to an violence filled zombie audiobook, here is your chance for a story to ease you into the genre.

Gabrielle de Cuir put everything she had into this performance. Emphasizing words and scenes to create more tension and emotion than would have been there otherwise. This is what made The Thirteenth Step: Zombie Recovery stand out to me. Characterizations were pretty good, it is always difficult for narrators to voice the opposite sex.

Without the stellar narration of de Cuir, it is quite possible that my enjoyment level would have been way lower.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

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very unique and enjoyable

This was a nice surprise -very good read and I thought one of the better detailed outbreak stories. I felt like I was right there in the middle of it!

Zombie

What made the experience of listening to The Thirteenth Step the most enjoyable?

It is an awesome book!. It was very hard to pause. If you have ever been a 12 stepper, you will love this book, (or hate it) depending on your sense of humor. Loved the descriptions of the characters, zombinoms and the towns.Very entertaining

Zombaholics

ZOMBIES? They're zombies with a taste for....? When I first began this audiobook, I wasn't sure what to expect. Zombies and Alcoholics Anonymous? Really though, from the first word, I was hooked.

This was an entertaining romp through New York City and beyond while dodging zombies? The group thinks that there's something about them being alcoholics or addicts that makes them less interesting to the zombies. Each having had some connection to the drink or drugs in some way. They seem to be immune to zombies.

I found the story to be good in a 'human interest' sort of way. The group of survivors that found each other were all at different stages of recovery or denial working on survival.

About the narrator: Gabrielle de Cuir was amazing at voicing this story. Each character has their own distinct personality and dialect which she pulled off perfectly. I love her style. She has a way of transforming the characters into three-dimensional beings like no one else. This was another excellent performance!

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Audiobook provided by the author foc in exchange for an unbiased review.

a quirky zombie survival book

I’m not going to lie, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this book nearly as much if it weren’t an audiobook. Some books are just born to be preformed, and Zombie Recovery is one of them. The narrator, Gabrielle De Cuir, was dealt a diverse cast of character’s to play and I enjoyed her performance of every once of them. I could easily distinguish each character she portrayed and thought she really gave each character a unique personality, which has to be hard for such a large group of cultures and age groups. I will be watching out for more audiobooks narrated by De Cuir.

In The Thirteen Step: Zombie Recovery, the zombie apocalypse pretty much happened within 24 hours. One person catches the virus, bites another and within a matter of minutes a world-wide pandemic unfolds. This happens all around the world. Is it this version of the zombie virus all that plausible? Nah, not really. If a virus is going to wipe out the entire population of 6 billion + people, it’s gonna take a lot longer. Still, I enjoyed that this author took a popular troupe and gave it an amusing twist: the alcoholic gene.

In this world, addicts and alcoholics aren’t nearly as tempting to zombies – nor are their offspring that are pre-predispose to addiction. This doesn’t mean that alcoholics don’t get eaten in Zombie Recovery, just that this genetic anomaly made the survivors less tempting to the rotting bastards. Don’t be disappointed – this gene doesn’t mean there wasn’t any kick-ass zombie killing to enjoy – there was plenty and it was gory!

I usually don’t go for books where a pandemic spreads in such a small timeframe, but it added something more for this particular plot. The character’s were forced to infer the ins and outs of the zombie virus because of what they experienced around them. There was no mysterious government or scientists to push facts at them, they had to learn how to survive based on experience and general knowledge of pop culture zombie “facts.”

Since finishing this book late last week, I have already re-listened to it and have realized that all eight of the main characters showed growth since their first appearance in the beginning of the book. There was at least one trait about each character that I didn’t particularly connect with, but by the end of the book they had matured into someone else. I found this to be one of the best things about this story. It’s unrealistic to expect a character to stay exactly the same when they’ve one through something like the end of the world. experience changes a person’s personality and outlook on life – whether it be positively or negatively, the apocalypse will change you from who you were to who you have become.

If you love gore, or apocalypse-themed survival books, give The Thirteenth Step: Zombie Recovery a try. It will surprise you in ways you won’t expect and you may enjoy it just as much as I did! I hope Miller continues to write more zombie books, I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for me.

Stellar story line and reader

I just finished listening to Michele Miller's -The Thirteenth Step:Zombie Recovery. All I can say is WOW. The story line itself is a unique, meshing of real life history events and supernatural ruminations of horrific vampire life. A stellar reader to whom I could listen to all day long, Gabrielle De Cutie is sheer magic. Ms. De Cuir's reading ability can just make you forget that you're listening to one person read. Each character is clear and distinct, the characters are made so much more tangible through her vocal choices. I really enjoyed listening to this novel!

Zombies n Recovery - a new twist on the genre

Would you consider the audio edition of The Thirteenth Step to be better than the print version?

I can't answer this question as I never read the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Thirteenth Step?

That would be a spoiler! So, suffice it to say, there are some surprises in this tale that make it memorable. One of the most memorable moments that I can reveal: the revelation that there is a connection between zombie immunity and the addict gene.

Which scene was your favorite?

The outbreak scene in the beginning of the novel--lots of action and Gabrielle de Cuir's intonations really take the reading to a stellar level!

If you could rename The Thirteenth Step, what would you call it?

Zombies Anonymous? IDK, I like the title it has just fine.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this tome for any fan of zombies and/or 12-step recovery. If you are a fan of both, you are in for a real treat indeed. The reading is fast-paced and exciting. It is a quick listen as de Cuir's reading, combined with Miller's writing, make for an captivating experience.

Just when you think you've seen every zombie novel

Zombies are not typically my bag, yet somehow I've read or otherwise heard or gotten to a lot. I wasn't expecting too much from a self-published book, but de Cuir as narrator piqued my interest enough to check it out and I ended up enjoying this quite a lot. While there are some "staples to the point of trope" of the genre here (motley cast of characters assemble! bring in zombies! scare and run! sometimes we lose somebody! oh by the way some other human survivor’s are either going psycho, or trying to reinstate the 50s!) there’s also some really unique wrinkles, the main one being that for some reason, alcoholics and others with an addiction gene have some level of resistance to being detected by the zombies. There's also the "THANK GOD SOMEBODY FINALLY" character who has actually read Max Brooks, and we get the fun of comparing notes a bit between fiction and (this fictional) reality. Also, on that "motley crew" this one has a lot going for it. It's diverse in age, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, disposition, goals. And de Cuir brings it all to life, with some additional nice production touches such as radio static effects, that really take this audiobook up a couple notches. It's a refreshingly original wrinkle in the zombie apocalypse subgenre -- who knew that Alcoholics Anonymous would be ready for this?

Really enjoyable fun read

A group of Addicts and Alcoholics in recovery (mostly) band together at the beginning of a "Zombie Apocolypse". The dialogue between them and the New York locations (Landmark buildings, Sites of well known, now closed meetings) is what hooked me. If you've been around recovery at all you'll know what I mean. I've been in the recovering community a while and I have KNOWN some of the characters, even if I wasn't It's still an accurate (and funny) glimpse into addict/alcoholic thinking.