by
Eric A. Shelman
272 Pages
Published by Dolphin Moon Publishing (October 3, 2011)
Genre: Horror, Zombies, Apocalyptic
Reviewed by Paul (The Audiobook Reviewer)
A phone call to his sister leads Flex Sheridan into a nightmare and a quest to save his family from a new, horrifying epidemic that's turning humans into zombies. As he makes his way from Georgia to Gainesville, Florida and back, he picks up old and new friends and survivors. Flex re-connects with perhaps the strongest woman he's ever known, Gem Cardoza, his former girlfriend.
Together they take his six-year-old niece Trina - the only uninfected survivor of his sister's famiy - and his infected sister Jamie, and make a run from central Florida back to his isolated Georgia home. As they head north, they encounter another uninfected, Hemphill "Hemp" Chatsworth. Hemp is British, and extremely smart. He holds a biology degree with a major in Epidemiology, as well as a degree in mechanical engineering, both of which this group will need.
Along with the crossbow-wielding Charlene "Charlie" Sanders and a pregnant Great Pyrenees dog, this small group uses street smarts and technology to defend against the new "Abnormals" that walk the earth. But Hemp is also compelled to learn how they got this way, and if possible, how to reverse the condition and save Flex's sister. So grab your machine gun and take a ride in their fortified vehicles and mobile lab; you're going to want these people on your side when the Dead Hunger... (Please note: This book contains strong language.)
Together they take his six-year-old niece Trina - the only uninfected survivor of his sister's famiy - and his infected sister Jamie, and make a run from central Florida back to his isolated Georgia home. As they head north, they encounter another uninfected, Hemphill "Hemp" Chatsworth. Hemp is British, and extremely smart. He holds a biology degree with a major in Epidemiology, as well as a degree in mechanical engineering, both of which this group will need.
Along with the crossbow-wielding Charlene "Charlie" Sanders and a pregnant Great Pyrenees dog, this small group uses street smarts and technology to defend against the new "Abnormals" that walk the earth. But Hemp is also compelled to learn how they got this way, and if possible, how to reverse the condition and save Flex's sister. So grab your machine gun and take a ride in their fortified vehicles and mobile lab; you're going to want these people on your side when the Dead Hunger... (Please note: This book contains strong language.)
As you know I love zombie apocalypse audiobooks, mostly because you never know what you’re going to get. You could get a run of the mill Romero style run for the zombies, or a heart pounding action adventure that just so happens to have zombies in it, or a completely new experience and an invigorating addition to the genre. Some can be really, really good, some just ok and others not very satisfying. Dead Hunger happened to fall out of my radar and has been in my queue way too long.
Shelman offers a a pretty standard zombie affair with Dead Hunger, slow and shambling brain eaters, with a few unique items that he used to try to set this story apart from the many others in this genre. One thing that I noticed right away about the writing was the heavy use of strong language, now I am not opposed to author using curse words, but for me they have a place and should not be overly used. The characters were likeable however unrealistic they might be, I did find a connection with them, a very important thing to really suck in the listeners. All that being said there is plenty of action, suspense and gore to satisfy the zombie craving of a fan of this genre. I really wanted to be able to give Shelman's Dead Hunger a higher rating, but I found myself distracted from the story by issue with the narration, see below.
I am not sure if John M. Perry had narrated audiobooks before Dead Hunger because his style was not for me. Many successful narrators are able to develop a good pace and rhythm, I was unable to find any sign of this in this performance. That by itself I could have gotten over. But then there is the issue I found with the audio production. I am not sure what caused the issue but it would seem that a poor quality microphone was used or the recording studio was a bathroom. I really wanted to be able to ignore these problems but I found myself to focus on them and unfortunately took away from the story itself.
Paul was sucked in to the world of audio books not necessarily by choice but by necessity . One day at work he needed something to stimulate his brain will toiling away in front of my 3 computer screens. He tried music but that gave him a headache after a while. Then he had an epiphany, “I should listen to audio books”, he thought. And there the journey began.
Paul is not a professional writer or reviewer or book critique. He is a self proclaimed simple man from the Midwest of America that likes to speak his mind and often has trouble writing about what is on his mind. Find more reviews at http://audiobookreviewer.com
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Review originally published at http://audiobookreviewer.com