Review: Gorilla zombies, werebirds and just a little sizzle, oh my.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2014
3.5 starsA  virus which causes humans to turn into zombies, now known as the Bane, has been released yet there are a few pockets of people who have managed to survive.  Shifters fared better than humans since Alphas are immune to the virus and betas and the young can escape while in their shifter form.  Joining ranks, different shifters have made it their mission to save as many humans that they can find and protect them.  Princess Ravenna, a raven shifter is currently working with the wolf group who has compounded themselves and the humans they protect in Yellowstone National Park.While on a routine search for survivors, Raven and her guards come upon a small band of humans holed up in a hospital.  They learn that there are worst things in the world than man eating zombies, try gorilla zombies.  After taking the survivors to their compound Raven and her guards take off on a mission to uncover the gorilla zombies and hopefully destroy them.  Finding the research facility they soon run into trouble and come against a hunter, Maddox, from the Benadanti pack.  The Benadanti are pack of wolves currently out for Raven’s head since she stole their bloodstone, a stone which helps them find witches.  Maddox is hunting for the Kindred leader Jaeger and is more than happy to rescue Raven since this affords him the opportunity he needs to deliver her to his leader.  Along the way to the Maddox and Raven will discover that the lines between good and evil aren’t as easily drawn as they thought, they will have to work together to get themselves out of one scrape after another and somehow fight the extreme attraction that seems to be developing between them.In her second offering of the After the Bane Series, Ms. Gordon gives us a glimpse in the world of bird shifters, more precisely ravens.  With the introduction of gorilla zombies, we have an enemy that is more brutal than human zombies and who can actually kill shifters.  A lethal combination of zombies, evil men and pious shifters can cause all sorts of damage, add to that Raven’s natural propensity to find trouble and you have one wild ride.Raven is a princess and as vain as they come, like all birds she likes to preen and sometimes at the most inopportune times.  I found myself never totally warming up to her, her vanity and inability to grasp the seriousness of most situations she found herself in tended to get old.  She seemed more interested in whether her hair was mussed up than the fact that there were terrible things happening all around her.  Maddox was a little easier to deal with but even he could get a little tiresome with his inability to see the forest for the trees where his beliefs were concerned.Raven Moon is a little darker than the first book in the series, while there are glimpses of the humor we enjoyed in Apocalyptic Moon they are few and far between.  This book was action packed and there was plenty of intense fight scenes that were graphic enough to make the lover of blood and gore sit up and take notice.  Not to worry though because in between the action there is plenty of heat between Raven and Maddox and the chemistry between the two was fun to watch.Even though I’m not a fan of zombie books, I’ve found myself enjoying this series.  While I found this book a little less fun than the first one, this series has completely taken me by surprise and I can’t wait to see what Ms. Gordon has up her sleeve next.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team