Review: Six Feet From Hell: Escape
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 10, 2012
Six Feet From Hell: Escape is the second book in the series by Mr. Coley.  If you have not read the first book, you really need to stop now and go purchase it.  Otherwise, you will be confused and seriously, if there are zombies lurching around, is that the mindset that you need to survive?  We will wait here while you purchase and read the first book (you won't regret it) before we get on with our review :-)These stories are more "short stories" than what I consider books at approx 120 or so "pages" but make for a nice quick read or break in your day for some zombie fun.  What I really like is that if you are a friend of Mr Coley, you get to be a character in his book!  How do we know this?  Because in the "acknowledgement" section in the first few pages, he thanks his friends and family and lists them by name and a lot of them are characters.  It does make me wonder though if the people he kills off in the first book and the incompetent ones as well as the "bad guys" are people that he doesn't like. Hmmm...don't steal his lunch out of the frig at work or you may soon be dead or worse!Some SPOILER ALERTS if you have not read the first book!!In the continuation of the series, Joe has made it home, along with Jamie, his friend with all of the guns.  And their timing couldn't have been better because the trailer (or manufactured mansion if you prefer) that the family lives in was being overrun.  Even though they have gotten rid of the zombies that are currently surrounding them, the fact that they ARE in a mobile home is a HUGE strike against them.  After all, you have seen one of them being moved down the road to a new location - those things are basically a wood frame, cheap siding, and some insulation instead of "real" walls.These zombies, if you recall, were caused by a gas that was released from deep in the Earth's core through a series of explosions underground that infected miners all over the world who in turn, infected others.  To add to the excitement, the gas also brought back to life "dead people" as in those that have been buried for a long time.Joe has an idea though to move the surviving family and friends to a safer location - let's steal a train!  And actually, that sounds like a great idea to me... high off the ground, has the "scooper" out front that would be able to clear not only obstacles but also tons of zombies off the tracks, and apparently, as we learn, gets great gas mileage.  Now, all Joe has to do is convince the rest of the group that this is a great idea.They pick up a new member while going into town for supplies and are finally ready to hit the road for new adventures.  This story covers their escape from their current location and their trek toward the Gulf Coast via rail.  Along the way, they lose and gain people in their crew through a series of terrible happenings.What I really love about this series:  The people are REAL.  Joe has many moments of pure terror at the thought of letting his family and friends down now that he is the leader of this little band.  The author, since he apparently at least uses the names of his "real life" friends and family as well as their careers, is able to talk knowledgeably about medical supplies, procedures, etc but more importantly, has given each of his characters a "true" personality.  I can actually picture him and his friends sitting around discussing potential situations and how to survive them and, more importantly, how he is going to kill them off because...One thing Mr Coley is NOT afraid of is axing his characters, no matter who they are.  I would suggest not getting too attached to anyone because they may not be around by the end of the series or even the end of each short story!What I think is a little off:  The reactions of Buffey, his wife.  In the first story, she loses her daughter during childbirth and has to kill her once she becomes a zombie.  She does have her new grandson, Dakota, to take care of, but even taking into account having to compartmentalize her feelings, she seems to get over it a little quickly.  There is one other time that I will not go into details because it would be a huge spoiler, but felt that Joe's feelings were also rather "oh well" when they lose another character.All in all, a fun series that I would recommend to anyone who likes zombies, real people, and some interesting zombie twists that are revealed that keep the fun going.  Looking forward to the next release!