This was a slog. Three stars is a gift. I am invested in the characters based on the previous two novels, which were excellent. In the beginning I enjoyed the militaristic strategy the protagonists, Kilroy, took to surviving the zombie apocalypse; it's what kept him and the people he found along the way alive for as long as they have been. It was enough to make sense why he survived and was able to help people along the way; creating a community of survivors.

This novel took away the connection with the characters, changed the plot, made it slightly convoluted and ramped up the military aspect to 1,000. This novel is 80 percent military jargon and operations now, as Kil and his group encounter a working branch of military and he, as an enlisted man, is pushed back into service.

While I am still very invested in the characters and would like to see where this goes, but who knows what gresh hell the next installment will bring.

To start, I have no idea what I was thinking when I decided I HAD to read this. I shall quantify this by saying, as someone who has lived her intire life dealing with the reality of slaver, racism, and mysoginy, I despise dealing with it in my fantasy world. I actively avoide books and movies that are racially charged or heavy with the sexism. Sometimes you can't avoid it, and sometime and book/movie is so effing fantastic that I can give it a pass. Dread Nation is going on the list. But make no mistake, the racism really grated on me.  Also, it was in first person perspective, which I normally loathe; this was not bad.

With that being said, this was an amazing story, and what drew it to me was zombies, combined with historical fiction, and black people in the forefront. The characters were fun and likeable, even when they were unliekable. The world building was amazing and the writing was incredible!

We follow Jane McKeene a half black/white girl who is a student at Miss Preston's School for Negro Girls (I think that's what it was called.) Basically when the dead decided to get up and walk during the battle of Gettysburg The Civil War "ended" and the war vs the Dead began. The North still "won" and blacks were given freedom, but not really. They, along with indigenous tribes were swooped and placed in combat schools where they taught them how to be on the frontlines in the battle against the dead, as well as beat their culture and "savageness" out of them so that they can better serve their white betters. Sigh, I'm letting the bitterness bleed into the review.

Anyway Jane gets thrust into crazy adventures and all around bad situations with her nemisise Kathrine Devaraux, who is also of mixed race, but a goody-goofy know-it-all, which irks Jane to no end. There are devious plots, secret "utopia" towns, crazy scientists with vaccines and terrible experiments. There is also the dead, which the characters refer to as shamblers. There's a lot of death, allies, betrayals and grudging friendships.

I've heard the narrator before and they were amazing. They captured the voices and brought the world to life.

Just read/listen to it; it was great!

DNF! This was tough to get through from the start. It was a little too heavy and intense, not at all what I was expecting. Then the protagonist locked a seeing eye dog inside a room to die of thirst and starvation alone and that was too much for me. This one is a big nope!

This was a fun listen during my commute to/from work today and a nice bit of escapism.  The action starts off almost immediately and continues practically non-stop to the finish.

The story follows Xander a 16-year-old living at a military instillation at the behest of his older brother, Moto, an enlisted man.  Moto has gone to another base to get things settled and will send for Xander when things are safe.  While waiting for his bother to return for him or send for him, Xander (inadvertently) takes responsibility for 8-year-old Benji who lost his family to a zombie attack.  Xander rescues from bullies and Benji won't leave his side after that.

When the base is overwhelmed by a roving horde, Xander, armed only with the katana his brother gifted him, gets himself and Benji safely away from the carnage of the base headed  toward the base where Xander's brother currently stationed.  Along the way the run into rival gangs, religious cult leaders, rock stars, reality TV stars, cannibals, bikers, and so much more.  They lose people along the way and pick up people as well.  The group just keep falling into one mess after another and always manage to escape by the skin of their teeth.  In the end Xander is reunited with his brother, but it's just the beginning of a bigger story.

Some of the situations are similar versions of each other and a little convoluted, for example they escape a neo nazi cult leader, and end up running into a religious cult leader.  But it's a book about teenagers in a zombie apocalypse,  and it's practically Mad Max out there, so it's to be expected.  The narrator did an excellent job getting across the various emotions of the characters throughout each situation. I liked the characters, including the "villains" and will definitely check out the next book in the series.