| Title | : | Zombie Maelstrom |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 252 |
| Publication | : | First published December 9, 2011 |
Zombie Maelstrom Reviews
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Neutral 2.5 rounded up.
Unless I missed something most of the action in this book happened in a single day but which seems a little much even if you ignore the done to death trope (which I admit I hate as much as I hate the time skip to baby ending in romance books).
We also got a serving or more of trope. If you can ignore the overused tropes and plot holes it's a decent fast-paced zombie story with really annoying characters (because they're bickering all the time). -
Great start to the Zombie Apocalypse series. Lots of excitement with zombie attacks, predatory humans, and of course, menacing personalities within this ragtag group of survivors.
Thank you for the opportunity to win Zombie Maelstrom in the goodreads giveaways. -
What happened when they were in the air?
3.75 out of 5
Passengers aboard a flight landing at LAX were surprised when their captain announced that they were landing without the approval of the air traffic controllers. Once they land, they're not sure what they are stumbling into. LA and LAX are covered in fog/smog/smoke and they can't see anything. Passengers start to go missing and people are crashing out of high windows and falling with no screams. What is going on?
The narration for Zombie Maelstrom was done by D.G. Chichester and it was done well. Chichester did different voices for different characters, which was really nice. Though a few times I found myself having to pause it to get my bearings on who was talking in the book. The production value is great, I didn't have any issues with this audiobook -- it sounded great.
The story was different. I've read many different zombie books, and a lot of them even start out with the main characters not knowing what was going on. But this one still felt unique to me. The main characters in the story felt hashed out by Cassiday.
The book fell just a little flat for me with the confusion of characters (two or three of them just felt like they were the same person). I think slightly more back-story (without getting boring) would be needed to really explain what makes some of these people tick. The turn towards the end of the story (not trying to give anything away) was probably the best thought out part of this book. They could have spent slightly less time trying to figure out what to do, and more time in and around the camp.
The camp's leader felt like the most explained character in the book, but maybe because he was easily hated. But not as easily hated as the main antagonist, Leamans, who is with the survivors the whole time (seriously I haven't hated a character in a book that much in a long time). Writing a character who is that much of an a-hole couldn't have been easy.
Overall, the book felt like it had some new and different aspects to add to the zombie fiction/post-apocalyptic genre. And it had some other aspects that felt very "been there, done that." This book was a pretty quick read, and the audiobook was enjoyable. -
I think Cassiday randomly opened pages in a dictionary, thought "shit, that word looks cool!" and decided to use it. I'm a pretty well read person and even I was like "what the fuck is he trying to say here?" I've never seen the word putrescent used so goddamn much and I read a LOT of zombie fiction.
Did not need to know the age, sex, occupation and clothing choices of each and every zombie killed.
Here there be spoilers: -
This is quite possibly one of the worst books I've had the misfortune to read: terrible plot, awful writing style (this is being kind as there is no style to speak of), and topped off with no character or story depth. The premise of the story is interesting and was ruined when pen was put to paper.
The story starts with the protagonist on a flight to LA when news of an emergency landing is announced. From here the story line quickly descends into mind numbing repetition with a smattering of unbelievable plots and subplots. There is no substance to either the characters or the storyline as the book is launched from 0 to 60 in a couple of pages. I don't mind fast paced books but the writing quality has to match the pace.
I have no idea how this book has an average rating of 3! -
No one uses any common sense.
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Zombie Maelstrom is filled with the repetition of killing the virus riddled dead. It tells the story of a group of survivors trying to make it through the zombie apocalypse with limited information.
Chad Halverson knows that something is amiss with the so-called plague, because he works for the CIA. Chad keeps what information that he has to himself, as he, and a group of plane crash survivors try to make heads or tails of what is happening. The action keeps rolling as the group is devastated over and over by the onslaught of the undead.
The story reminded me of Night Of The Living Dead, but in a bug out scenario. My biggest complaint about the story is that I couldn’t find anything that hasn’t been portrayed in every zombie movie or book in the last 40 plus years: A couple of leaders, an over opinionated jerk (that everyone wants to see get offed), a girl that seems to lose her marbles, some one that flips out under the pressure, a group of renegades that want to build their own government, and then a few stragglers that just seem to waste space and resources.
There are a two things I consider when I read a zombie book.
ONE: What makes this different from every other one that I’ve read?
With Zombie Maelstrom I couldn’t seem to find anything that struck me as different. But with that said, there are quite a few zombie fans that love the repetition of the zombie ‘slash and dash’ story. They want the gore and carnage, and they aren’t looking for anything but the overflow of an all-consuming virus. For those people I would suggest this book.
TWO: Being a zombie coinsure, I look for whether or not I would have stayed with this group if I were there.
I’m sorry Bryan Cassiday, I would have cut and run from this group as soon as possible. The inevitability of my death would have had me hightailing it out of there as soon as I was able to obtain a weapon. With this group they took too much time overanalyzing their every move, and bickered amongst themselves under the siege of zombies.
If you like the tried and true zombies of 1964 then Zombie Maelstrom is for you. -
After reading some pretty bad reviews regarding this book, I went into it with no expectations, and you know what, I really enjoyed it!! Shocker ;) Don't let the bad reviews sway you, this was an enjoyable listen!
When a flight has to land with no communication between the plane and LAX, the passengers don't know what to expect. They don't expect a place shrouded in fog and seemingly empty though. They can barely see a few feet in front of themselves, but some of the passengers break off, while some head to the airport to see what's happening. While on their way there, they hear moans and screams, just what is going on?? As they arrive at the place, a person seems to jump from the tower, screaming. Their initial thoughts are terrorists in he building, but what they get is something worse.
Who would have thought that a book based in an airport a lot, would grab my attention so much, yet this one did! The plot was relatively fast paced and quite eerie! Anything taking place in a fog is eerie, but add in an abandoned airport, Zombies and an awful camp, and you have a decent read!
All the characters are well written and developed. I liked Halverson a lot. He is capable, smart and a take no prisoner kind of guy. He does his best for his fellow passengers and tries to keep them all alive! There isn't many books out there that make me despise a character as much as this one did, but despise Leamans I did! The man tried his best to become leader and was so arrogant and a down right despicable man! He seemed to do his best to get on the wrong side of every character!
Anyway, this was a really quick read for me, and I look forward to checking out the rest soon. Give these books a go, you won't regret it!
I really enjoyed the narration done by D.G. Chichester. With the amount of characters in this, he did a great job distinguishing each. I hope he is narrating the rest of the series!
*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affects my thoughts.* -
I won a copy of “Zombie Malestrom” from Goodreads. It had been on my to read list for a little while so when I got a copy, I added on the Audible version and gave it a listen. I was a little disappointed in the book overall. The story itself was OK, it standard zombie fare with tons of blood and guts for those of you who love that. The story is left open for future books in the series so you don’t get the whole picture which I a pet peeve of mine. The characters were a bit silly, for the most part they were so rigid in their beliefs and not above to move one bit that they seemed a bit unbelievable. My biggest complaint was the writing felt a bit amateurish. I like a good description but I felt the author over described everything to the point where 1) he seemed to be adding in words for the sake of words and 2) he wasn’t leaving enough up to the imagination. Some examples are:
“navy blue Yankees baseball cap” the Yankees have one of the most if not the most recognizable brand in the world there are few people who need to be told the cap it navy blue
“smashing the glass to smithereens” and “weighed into the Donny Brook” after already telling us there was a fight. These seems a bit overly descriptive and not necessary
The description of what type of tie (Hugo Boss if you were wondering) a zombie is wearing while he’s being run over by a car. Not sure why that really matters or what it adds to the overall story
If those things don’t bother you and you love zombie gore I think this book will be right up your alley. -
I won this book on Goodreads (Kindle version) for an honest review.
I found this to be entertaining. I enjoy anything zombie and found this story to be well thought out and written. The characters can seem typical, yet I found some complexity at the same time. A good story with lots of twists. If you are a zombie fan this is one to add to your collection -
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway.
The plot sounded interesting and I am a fan of the genre overall, however the book could have used an editor. The writing is very juvenile with random unusual words thrown in as if they had been looked up and the author found places to work them in. There are also numerous sentences with a few unnecessary words tagged on the end after a comma such as Halverson knew. The protagonist is supposed to be in the CIA but there is no indication of any superior skills or training other than he is familiar with guns. At one point when he and a group are briefly taking refuge in a restaurant he takes the time to read the peanut butter jar label to confirm what he thought, that yes, he is eating chunky peanut butter. Unfortunately I would not recommend Zombie Maelstrom to others unless it undergoes some major revisions. -
I received this ebook as part of a giveaway here on Goodreads.
Eh, not bad but not great or groundbreaking either. Pretty stereotypical zombie survival story. The action scenes including the zombie attacks were spot on and grisly. Bits of the dialogue were very amusing. The characters were all flat and one dimensional, and damn their intuition really sucked. I'm surprised they made it as long as they did. I was going to chalk this up as a solid three up until we got to "civilization" and then the entire book just became a confusing mess.
Not bad for a little entertainment, but not a zombie book I would recommend to others. -
I won a copy of this through a Goodreads giveaway.
I am a huge horror (both film and book) lover. However, I don't think this would be an author that I would check out again. Unless I was guaranteed there was a lot of growth.
I thought it was my imagination. But after reading the other reviews, I see I wasn't alone.
Zombie novels (or any novels) should be descriptive. Filled with action, gore, survivors planning and strategizing. This didn't really have any of that. If it did, it didn't quite fit. The author did describe things. But maybe using words that didn't quite fit the genre.
1.5 stars. You aren't going to get goosebumps, or any thrills or chills. -
Read : April 23, 2023
Rating: 1 Star/DNF
It's all "he said, they said, she said" and overly descriptive, like no, I don't think anyone's gonna go : a Mach 5 dingle dangle 789 spec optimum definition night vision goggles in a tense situation , they'd say oh newest night vision goggles..
The characters stumble from the dumbest desicion to even dumber desicions without any common sense.
Too much stereotypes as well, so I'm dropping this since it's giving me a headache -
Boring Characters and Very Little Story
This was really just one long running gun battle and people who never ran out of ammo and the author talking about guns.
Eventually we had a bunch of religious symbolism and a few jabs against the government and capitalism.
Just skip this one. -
Review
Good book about zombies. Some parts were a surprise. It was a quick moving book. The ending seemed a little flat to me -
End of World Series
I liked the book, but I could do with a little less gore. I will read next in series. Good story line.
I can’t remember if I won the book or bought it. -
I won this book in the Goodreads Giveaway. I love zombies and this book delivered. Lots of zombies, lots of action and lots of gore. I can't wait for the next book in this series.
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Great book
This book should be made into a movie it is that good. I suggest that if you like zombies then this is the book you're going to want to read. -
"CIA black ops agent Chad Halverson flies to Los Angeles to visit his brother after receiving a call that his brother has been hospitalized after a car accident. Halverson's Boeing 737 crash lands in an eerie Los Angeles shrouded with an impenetrable haze of smog"
The virus struck while Halverson was in the air and now he and his fellow passengers must fight their way through zombies to escape the airport. This is an edge of your seat, talking out loud to the book to give advice, fast paced read. I think the characters were well written and you feel their emotions as they grow weary of fighting the zombies. The descriptions of the zombies are frightening especially as you read about the zombie babies.
I read books 2 and 3 before reading this one and I gave them both 5 stars because they are equally that good. But now having read book 1 I will be re-reading the other two and am sure I will enjoy them even more. For people who like this genre these books are a must read. And even if you don't like this kind of book you should give it a try, they might just change your mind.
I received this book from the author for an honest review. -
had this in my library for over 5 years before finally getting to it. It's pretty good until the survivors leave the airport, but then it just becomes repetitive. I couldn't stand the author's use of "clips" over and over again, he even uses "magazines" properly.
Finding grenades in a Homeland Security office at the airport was beyond silly though. If this was 2011 I would have probably given this a 4/5, but it's not. I should really be giving this a 2/5, but books are so bad these days due to politics and political correctness being inject into everything that I couldn't do it.
The narrator was OK for the most part. I'll give the second book a shot to see if there is any evolution, but my hopes are low. This is like a time capsule. -
The definition of maelstrom is "A scene or state of confused and violent movement or upheaval." A perfect word to use in this title. This book reads like it is ready for Hollywood to turn it into a gory, horror movie. All the stereotypical characters, such as the pompous fat rich man, are present and accounted for. It started in an airport with a smog visibility of almost zero. It smacked of a mix of Stephen King's "The Langoliers" and "The Mist". In the end, the hospital scene reminds me of the hospital scene in "Elements of the Undead" by William Esmont. It was a quick read with lots of gore. It is perfect for any teen or grown-up who loves gory horror films/ or Stephen King novels.
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A decent Zombie apocalypse horror novel. I liked the book overall and recommend it to readers who like zombie apocalypse novels. It had a good plot and the characters were well developed. I won't go into the details of the story to so not to spoil it for you. I found that it was real page turner.
