The Reapers Are The Angels by Alden Bell

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days on and off

Pages - 294

Publisher - TOR

Blurb from Goodreads

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.





My Review

We all know I love a zombie read, for those who are a bit fencer sitter on them this one may appear a bit more to you. Temple is taking it one day from the next in a new world where zombies far outnumber the surviving humans. Twenty five years after the apocalypse kicked off Temple has lost everyone close to her and is moving from place to place to stay safe. After a horrific encounter she finds herself hunted and not just by the zombies. Coming across someone who is vulnerable to say the least she tries to keep them both safe whilst eluding the person who wants to dole out some justice.

I think if you like a story that is post apocalyptic which more focus on the human survival and rationale behind human actions and consequences rather than horror and flesh eating, this is one for you. Temple is older than her fifteen years and in some aspects really smart, in others you are slapping your head in disbelief at some of the choices she makes considering that which she has just survived.

She looks after a vulnerable male adult she comes across after her conscience won't let her abandon him yet calls him some terms that many readers will find offensive. The person who hunts her whilst you can understand their initial reasons just had me thinking, really?!?! she is a kid and anyone would justify her actions oh and she is a fifteen year old child! A few other issues for me was how well kept the world appears to be, twenty five years in and some places still have working electronics, electricity, home comforts meh I have read and seen so many of this genre that that did stick in my craw.

However, the book itself rather than heavy focus , as most zombie reads do, on death eating monsters & destruction this was more on humanity, the ups and downs of it. In a ravaged world we will have good guys, bad guys and a sense of righteousness, friendship, honor and family ties. I did like this book, I just didn't love it and whilst some will appreciate how it all came to play folk like me get a bit prickly with how things are chosen to come full circle. I would certainly recommend it to folk who enjoy the more human interactions of apocalyptic style read as it has been loved and enjoyed by many. If you are looking for a gore fest or the survival from limited resources then maybe not so much this one. 3/5 for me this time, this was my first time reading this author and I would read them again, certainly different from the other zombie reads so far.

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The Fear by Charlie Higson

The Fear by Charlie Higson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days on and off

Pages - 496

Publisher - Penguin

Blurb from Goodreads

The sickness struck everyone sixteen and over. Mothers and fathers, older brothers, sisters, and best friends. No one escaped its touch. And now children across London are being hunted by ferocious grown-ups who are hungry, bloodthirsty, and not giving up.
DogNut and the rest of his crew, in search of the friends they lost during the fire, set off on a deadly mission from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace and beyond, as the sickos lie in wait. But who are their friends and who is the enemy in this changed world?


My Review

This is book three of the series, I would recommend if you haven't read the others to go back and get the first one as things are starting to come together in this book. Also, many characters have featured in the previous books and you understand it better and their actions if you have their previous history. This book sees Dognut leaving the safety of their home, the Tower of London to go looking for the rest of their people they lost with the big fire. We see the group coming across familiar faces, running into more dangers and now some of the diseased are stronger, intelligent and working together to hunt down their prey.

I have liked the previous books and this one too as we start to see the tellings from the previous books coming together and the groups interacting. However, I felt this time there are some deaths that are just gratuitous and I know in this time of tale people do need to go but still, one or two really annoyed me.

The adults are, some of them, becoming more dangerous, evolving, thinking and becoming a bigger and more deadly enemy for the kids. With that you also have the politics of the head of one of the groups who will do anything and everything to obtain his needs. Whilst they are young and in a situation where there are no adults I still question the reality of some of the choices and plans he has. Overall, a decent installment of the series, whilst I would like to see where it all ends up, I won't be rushing out to buy the next ones, 3/5 for me this time.

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The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy

The Deadlands by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off for 4 days

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Pages - 416

Blurb from Goodreads

In Benjamin Percy's new thriller, a post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Lewis and Clark saga, a super flu and nuclear fallout have made a husk of the world we know. A few humans carry on, living in outposts such as the Sanctuary-the remains of St. Louis-a shielded community that owes its survival to its militant defense and fear-mongering leaders.

Then a rider comes from the wasteland beyond its walls. She reports on the outside world: west of the Cascades, rain falls, crops grow, civilization thrives. But there is danger too: the rising power of an army that pillages and enslaves every community they happen upon.

Against the wishes of the Sanctuary, a small group sets out in secrecy. Led by Lewis Meriweather and Mina Clark, they hope to expand their infant nation, and to reunite the States. But the Sanctuary will not allow them to escape without a fight.



My Review

A brutal opening, a woman in labour, her husband slaughtered and just after she gives birth she is dragged out and the child left alone on the bed. Chapter one takes us immediately inside the wall, guarded with knives and bows, there are no guns inside the wall, inside Sanctuary. Things of the world we know it is long gone, a museum holds items that once had value in the world. Since the super flu and nuclear fallout, humans are thin in number, mutants and the aftermath from both make it unsafe to be outside. Sanctuary is ruled by the new major, Thomas Lancer who pleases himself and cares not much about his people. His confident and childhood friend Lewis Meriweather is a master with creations and Thomas wants weapon to further his hold on his people. When a visitor comes from outside Sanctuary bringing hope that there is life outside of the wall, a small group led by Meriweather breaks out to what they hope is a better life, but is it?

Lewis has an inner power, he is intelligent and wants to believe Gawea, the outsider, that Aran Burr has sent her, can offer a new life and help him with his powers. The rest of his group want something better, freedom and follow him through danger to get it. The journey is dangerous, mutants will threaten their lives and the group will discover that Gawea may not have been 100 percent honest in what she claims.

The story is a post apocalyptic style story, it features friendship, love, betrayal, murder, loss, sex and violence to name a few of the themes. The story pulled me in to begin with and it takes you through an arduous journey for many of the characters. An interesting read although I would have enjoyed it more had there been a bit more story behind the powers, mutations, flu and construction of the Sanctuary. 3/5 for me this time, my first time reading this author, I would read this author again. Thanks so much to BookBridgr for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Publisher - Picador

Pages - 307

Blurb from the back cover

A father and his young son walk alone through burned America, heading slowly for the coast. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the men who stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavanged food - and each other.

My Review

So many people loved this book and I really wanted to be one of them, but I just didn't like it. Most of the population are dead, those who aren't are either good guys or bad guys. Our main characters, the father and the boy are good guys, the bad guys are really bad and horrific. There has been a huge fire, or maybe fires and everything is pretty much ruined. Civilization is gone, food sources are scarce, it is freezing and every day is a battle to survive.

For me, I need a how and a why, there wasn't any. What caused the fire, what happened to all the people, where are the animals? Where are the two going to? Why don't they have names, why is there no punctuation. There was also no chapters although a lot of page breaks which I don't mind and I think the missing parts that I need actually added to the sense of desolation and hopelessness of the people and situation. I don't like that, I need the details, the familiarity, the content although it has been suggested my issue is an apocalypse and no zombies (I loved The Stand so this isn't the issue).

I felt bored for a lot of it, then something horrific would happen, then just back to the hopelessness of trying to survive. I would like to watch the movie and see if I can get a better grasp of what it was all about. Yes a father and son, trying to survive against the odds and elements is the majority of the story, however for me and this type of story I need more. I am definitely in the minority here as so many people seemed to love it so I would suggest trying it yourself and I would love to hear your thoughts. For me though, this time, 2 out of 5. Not too sure I would pursue this author but I would read their work if I came across it again, just to see how they do the next one.

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