Review: A New Style Zombie Book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 10, 2013
For the record, the author provided me with a free copy of Volume 1 in exchange for an honest review.  I am, by no means, a zombie book expert, but have read my share of them.  "Dead Highways" is different from many other books in this genre.  It starts out slow, following the exploits of the naive main character, Jimmy, as he struggles through his mundane existence.  He lives with his grandmother in an apartment above her used bookstore, earning his keep by helping her with the store. The author uses much of the first installment in the series to introduce the other characters and the virus epidemic. In this case, much of the population succumbs, bodies lie everywhere, they are still alive, but in a deep coma. Groups of scrounging survivors band together and plan to wait out the epidemic.Suddenly, the comatose victims awake, all appearing normal, except for their eyes and an insatiable hunger for uninfected human food.  Once bitten or killed by these zombies, victims are usually devoured without the opportunity to reanimate...once dead, remain dead. Zombies can't speak, but somehow, are able to communicate with one another; unlike other zombie books, these are fast, strong, able to learn, reason and plan coordinated attacks on the living.  The group soon finds their safe haven breached and must go on the run, picking up other survivors as they go.I had laughed out loud several times when reading as the author is extremely witty, catching me unprepared for the off-the-wall banter. "Dead Highways" is an easy and fast read, each installment ending with a cliff hanger.  I am glad that I was able to read the entire first three installments together and not have to wait a period of time to see what happens next.  However, I was not prepared to find another "cliff hanger" at the end, thus prompting the reader to purchase installment 4.  In my opinion, none of the installments can stand alone as a short story because of their dependency upon one another. I prefer to read a complete story and not segments as they become available.  With the abundance of "free" Kindle books, the author is at risk of either losing a reader because they aren't watching for the release of the next installment...or has simply lost interest.  This is the only reason I didn't rate this book five stars.  I do recommend "Dead Highways" to those who want to read a zombie story with a different twist! Great job, Mr. Brown!John Podlaski, authorCherries - A Vietnam War Novel