Review: An absolute steal at .99
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2014
Some spoilers ahead:Here’s an interesting concept: a zombie story without zombies!  Instead of the traditional zombies, we have people acting zombielike due to a contamination of the food and water supply.  Being that they are still alive, it explains why they are so hungry all the time (a major flaw in traditional zombie stories).  Being bitten by a contaminated person does not turn the victim into a zombie, but rather food for the zombie.Contamination Book 0Dan is a good cop living in a small town in Arizona, with his wife Julie and daughter Quinn.  Howard is a corrupt cop, an “Agent” involved in a conspiracy to cull the human race by "contaminating” the food and water supply and turning the population into (basically) zombies.  He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed and is killed almost immediately after the outbreak.  Dan’s and his daughter are among the few survivors and the book ends with them fleeing town.Contamination 1: The OnsetThe fate of Dan and Quinn are left up in the air, as we begin to follow a new group of survivors.  Sam is the sole proprietor of a store in a tiny town in White Mist, New Mexico. In fact he is the only resident in the town.  His wife and daughter were killed about 2 years ago on a family vacation by an arsonist.  Delta is the daughter of the arsonist who killed Sam’s family.  Her father just died in prison and she’s traveling to see Sam and apologize to him and tell him about the death of her father.Sam is attacked in his store (after all this is a zombie book) and the author does a great job describing Sam’s fear, uncertainty and terror about what is happening.  Sam escapes with Kendall and Noah, 2 young guys who also stopped for gas.  Delta arrives at Sam’s store shortly after the attack and sees that the place has been ransacked and that there is a dead guy near the gas pumps.  She gets back into her car and drives away not knowing that the contaminated is in the back seat.  (I wasn’t enamored of this development as it is so much of a cliché (and urban legend) that I’d wager it could be considered an archetype). Of course it attacks her, and Sam, Kendall and Noah arrive just in time to save her.They survivors learn some details about the spread of the contamination and that some survivors are immune.  Others are not immune, but by chance haven’t yet ingested infected food or water, a fact that is brought home when one of the survivors turns.Contamination 2: CrossroadsWe return to Dan and his Quinn right where we left them in the prequel.  They hear gunshots in the distance and at Quinn’s urgings decide to investigate.  They come across Sam, Noah and Delta being chased by Agents with automatic weapons.  Delta notes the irony that “In a land of the infected, it’s the humans we have to fear.”  The group flees to the dubious shelter of a salvage yard, with the Agents in hot pursuit.  Most of the Agents are unmitigated bad guys but there is at least one, who is acting under coercion by threats of violence against his family.  The survivors manage to kill the Agents pursuing them and learn about the plan and that it’s base of operations is Salt Lake City.  Sam and Delta decide to head there and see what they can do to stop the contamination.Contamination 3: WastelandWe are introduced to (super bad guy) Agent Cromwell who is surprisingly the sole mastermind behind the entire plan.  He poses in plain site with his men who do not know that he is their leader.  Sam and Delta eventually reach the headquarters.  It would be cruel to tell you if they succeed or fail but there is another volume to this series that is not included in the boxed set.  However, that story continues the adventures of Dan and Quinn not Sam and Delta.