Review: A Very Good Neighbor (Dead End)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 26, 2012
Oh, I was so happy to have the second book in the series available when I started it and fell in love - now I just need the author to get to cracking to write me the third!!  I had trouble writing a review for the first book in the series and that still continues - not because I am in doubt of my rating but because I truly find the author's "voice" unique and the character of Jake one of my favorite of all times.  This is a huge accomplishment (or else I am really really warped) because I read at least a book a day, most of the time two.  I don't just stick with zombies but all types from the top best sellers to the 99 cent self published on Amazon.I have to say that Jake, the main character, is one of my all time favorite characters of any book that I have read.  Not because I have people out to kill me (although my husband does give me rather strange looks sometimes) but because he is truly the average person who has to deal with a very crappy hand in life and continues on, no matter what is thrown his way.  He may plod through some days, he rarely understands why this is his life, and he is full of despair at times but no matter what, he tries to improve himself and how he relates to others, even if he doesn't under stand why they all hate him.  And, he does it with a sense of humor - a black sense of humor sometime and rather depreciating - but it is there.Jake and friends are living the zombie apocalypse but with a twist.  There are some other unique "guests" that come to visit that make it fun.  One thing about these zombies - shooting in the head stops them but you also have to cut off the head and bury it someplace else - yep, they take a shooting and keep on biting.. they make sure they bury the heads down deep because you don't want to be planting a tree or some crops one day and accidently stumble across a still hungry head.The crops all need to be harvested and people need to "hunker down" for the upcoming winter.  Jake has now "liberated" the remaining people at the police station compound - all women and children and ONLY 93 of them! I mean really, if he didn't have enough rejection in the first book, now he had to go and find more people to think he is creepy?SPOILER ALERTS - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST BOOK!!!  AND REALLY, YOU NEED TO GO BUY THE FIRST BOOK BECAUSE IT IS WONDERFUL!!  HAVE YOU READ IT??? OK.. now you can continue...The regular characters from the first book are all back along with some fun new ones.  It is more obvious that "special people" are all being gathered to the House (that is what they call the main house where everyone lives) and it seems to be because Jake is a Very Good Man.  I am trying to put this in general terms in case someone didn't listen and reading this even if they haven't read the first book (bad reader!)... Little spoiler:  There is a meeting (just a few pages after the preview ends) and basically, Jake stands up and says, "look, you may have noticed but many of you have special talents that you have been hiding and that isn't right since they are things that can help us so go tell Sammi what they are and we can then match you to the job that needs to be done".  That gets a few new people "out of the closet" and gives the author the opportunity to introduce more unique people.Unfortunately for Jake - it is the same old, same old.  He is still being rejected and hated thus he basically lives out in his house that he set up in the last book.  He manages to find four new girls who show up at his door one day to add to the group dynamics which doesn't sit well with Sammi at all.  He is now friends with more people - mainly the special ones who know that he is A Very Good Man.  New allies and friends come to visit and an old enemy causes more trouble than in the first book.  Zombies start showing up in greater numbers than since right after the "Before" and no one knows why.  And, then there are the cannibals that Heather has been warning about that they must prepare for.It also turns out that Jake's core group of friends have "relatives" of the same type that want to come visit and see if he really is THE Very Good Man.It all adds up to an interesting and fun read - and one that I highly recommend that you purchase today! Since the next book in the series is not out yet, I just bought another one of P.S. Power's books to try - will let you know it goes..