| Title | : | Dead Sea |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 084395860X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780843958607 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 337 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2007 |
Dead Sea Reviews
-
Posted at
Shelf Inflicted
Brian Keene’s Dead Sea is a little different from his earlier zombie stories. In The Rising and City of the Dead, the zombies carried rifles, were intelligent, and drove cars. In Dead Sea, they are the more traditional shambling, empty-eyed, mindless variety. The end of the world began in New York City, when people were attacked by swarms of undead rats. The infected died and came back to life. Once the infection (known as Hamelin’s Revenge) spread to the city of Baltimore, Lamar Reed, Mitch and two orphaned children flee the city and escape on a ship with a handful of survivors.
Though the gore factor is high, Dead Sea is not a story about hungry, mindless zombies. The story is told by Lamar Reed, a gay black man who grew up in a bad section of town, yet resisted a life of drugs and crime and was gainfully employed at a car parts manufacturer. Once he got laid off from his job, he had to resort to desperate measures in order to pay his bills. When Hamelin’s Revenge strikes, this becomes the least of his worries. Lamar is now faced with the task of survival amidst the slaughter of Baltimore’s population and with the responsibility of caring for two children.
Like Keene’s earlier zombie novels, the author puts his characters through myriad horrors. During his struggle to survive and ensure the safety of the children in his care, Lamar changes, grows, and becomes a better person. Keene, a white hetero male, portrays Lamar’s character with respect and sensitivity and without resorting to stereotypes. Unfortunately, Lamar lives in a world where there is little hope for the human race.
Dead Sea was gripping, suspenseful, gory, bleak, and impossible to put down. Despite the characters’ strength and will to survive, there is a sense of hopelessness that pervades the novel. A must-read for zombie fans! -
Just call them The Dead, cause that's what they are. Different from the real dead though. These keep on moving. Stinky bastards too. They're rotting away (like all dead things should), but a little thing like that doesn't stop the Dead. If there's something of a brain left in that noggin of theirs, then they'll keep on coming...and coming.
Keene's zombies are a tad different from the other guys. At first I thought that's due to the rotting nature of their bodies. A bit quicker to decay and such. Lots of descriptive moments, like a gaping abdomen (maggots included – hello in there you squirming maggots), or a head living on without its body (if it could somehow roll itself to you, it'd still bite you folks). But no, zombies are basically zombies. So it's the other intangibles then. A little more heart, little more story, a little more fun. I remember a little more of the “more” in Keene's first novel, The Rising. But more than fair here. -
I wanted to finish this book in one sitting, but work got in the way.
At this point in history this is one of the best zombie books that I have read.
Possible spoiler....
Mr. Keene thank you for giving us a non-traditional main character who survives to the “end”.
So if zombies or walkers are your thing give this book a go. -
wow!!!!! Completely blown away by this incredible zombie novel.
-Basically me at the end of this book.
After reading this, i've come to the very logical conclusion that in the event of a zombie apolcalypse i probably would not survive...Don't want to write too much and give the plot away but rest assured that if you're looking for something different in the zombie genre, this book ticks the box. It's heartbreaking, bleak and everything a good zombie book should have.
Absolutely Loved it!! -
As a huge horror fan of both films and novels, you may be surprised to find I'm not a big zombie addict. While most of my fellow horror hounds go that route, there has never been much to appeal to me about when it comes to rotting corpses stumbling around looking for brains. That being said, Keene has made quite a name for himself in the literary world as one of the best writers of the zombie sub-genre out there. Deciding to ignore the ending of his last and take it to a new direction, Dead Sea is a captivating experience not suitable for the faint of heart.
From page one it's clear this is a different type of story, as action orientated as a book can get. In every chapter there is a crisis that explodes, nothing being held back: tension, fear, violence, and blood. If you're a horror fan this sort of thing will likely be up your alley, as it's far from cheesy and is clearly an intelligent work. There were about a dozen times I thought to myself, how the hell could Keene possibly write the character out of that? It's hopeless! Amazingly things turned around every time, not with stupid cop-outs either, but with pure brilliance.
I don't mean to gush on and on, but when a book keeps making me gasp and tell my boyfriend in detail on how wonderful it is, when it keeps me up half the night and makes me late for work the next day, it's a keeper. I especially loved once they reached the boat and the inevitable slowly happened. I genuinely felt for most of the later munched-on characters, as their personalities had ample time to evolve.
The main hero, Lamar, is not your typical lead - he's a black, gay man in the ghetto trying to do right by the world. Much of the story involves him taking care of two kids he finds along the way of the zombie massacre, feeling like a failure in his own heart, yet unable to back away from responsibility once it's found. The little boy Malik, especially, was adorably sweet with his tough-guy spirit. Each character works ideally, which made it all the more tragic if something happened to them.
For the zombies themselves; whoa! Interestingly Keene decided to have the virus "jump species." First humans, and then slowly others like dogs, cats, etc. Genuinely eerie to have a zombie dog after your tail! I won't go into detail about which species were affected and which weren't (as what happens with them later - or doesn't - is something you'll be wondering for chapters if you ever read this book), but it's fascinating how he adds to and changes the legend around.
Novels that deal with the end of the world have one thing that's easy for them, and that is that it's clear for the reader what the huge obstacle is. Survival is for the fittest, or - in some cases - the lucky. It was nice to note that Keene made the reader question whether survivors were really lucky at all when they had to sit and reflect on what they were surrounded by, who they lost, and what they could potentially become. Just reading one paragraph from this review should tell you I highly recommend this fierce story, but be sure to start reading it early so you can get some sleep! -
Brian Keene's Dead Sea might sound like The Rising at first glance. Same author, same genre, same sub-genre. But that's where the similarities end. While I loved both books, I love them in very different ways. Dead Sea is in some ways a more innocent book than The Rising; the presence of the children and the nature of their relationship to the narrator of Dead Sea endows the book with a sweetness that surprised me. However, the bleakness of the book is more pronounced than it was in The Rising. There were times I felt hopeless in Dead Sea, and it's a rare book that can make me feel that way. This isn't to say Dead Sea is unentertaining because it is a very quick read with some excellent action sequences. It's also scary.
Lastly, though I loved both this one and The Rising, I'm glad Brian Keene chose to sequelize The Rising and to leave this one alone. The former necessitated a sequel (which I'll read this fall); the latter ended exactly as it should have. -
I couldn't put the book down for the life of me.
-
This was such a delightful book to breeze through, well delightful if you like icky zombies laced into an apocalyptic theme with no signs of victory. Fast paced and exciting, the novel was a fun break from anything else on my mind, I liked the characters and feared for their safety as the author took charge in making them run for their lives. I haven't read Keene's previous zombie books but I didn't feel that it took away from this story, on the contrary it makes me want to revisit his older books for more of this gruesome but oh so entertaining theme. I was never a hardcore zombie fan, but slowly they are growing on me and now I enjoy them more than ever. The more I get to read about them the more fearful I grow for any well fleshed out character in their path and with no safety in sight it makes for a spine tingling theme for horror novels.
With no hope of escape what's the point of running? That is the dilemma this book faces. The main hero, Lamar Reed, is simply trying to stay low and keep quiet as his beautiful city of Baltimore has succumbed to the zombie plague. Carried through and spread to animals, it's more deadly than ever and his apartment is no longer safe with the fires raging through the city. He decides to make a run for it and abandons the last of what has been his home; making his way through he ravaged city and trying to escape hordes of never stopping zombies. They are gross and nasty; Keene does a fantastic job in describing all their missing organs and what grows and feeds on them, making it very realistic. Pretty soon his only option is the sea, and along with few survivors he boards a boat, hoping that they can sail to safety. What starts as a secluded spot of freedom pretty soon turns into a trap with no way out and the sea is teeming with more zombies, what kind, oh you have to read to believe it! Through out the novel the characters discuss the point of escaping, debating how much easier would be to just give up, yet their future is simply too horrific even for cowards who no longer have the will to run, it seems that the second someone wants to live they get bitten and their life if over in a flash and this novel had non stop snacking, yum...
I loved the ending, despite reading reviews saying that it's left in the open, that it doesn't have an ending...I liked it, it was perfect and left you with hope and a sadness and it gave me nightmares that night after reading and I adored it. Lamar was a really great character and the author did a splendid job of bringing him to life, he was a really strong anchor of the novel and he helped it sail into glory in my mind. Overall very well done and can't wait for more! -
If you are looking for a great survival zombie novel, look no further. This is a very dark run for your life and keep moving type of story. The story is told in the first person narrative by a very likeable character.
The protagonist is Lamar Reed, an African American gay man who spent all his life fighting stereotypes mostly succeeding. Even though he grew up in the worst part of the city he fought against becoming a criminal. He finished school. He lost his job a couple of months before the events in the book and was becoming desperate. Soon enough none of his problems with bills and mortgage would matter.
It started in New York. The rats came out of the sewer and attacked people. Only, these were not ordinary rats. They were already dead.
The dread factor gets higher when it becomes clear that rats are not the only animals who get affected. This idea is spread throughout the novel, and every now and then the author would introduce something new and more horrible. Soon the disease gets a name, Hamelin’s Revenge, and reaches Baltimore. Lamar is forced to run. As is always the case with these stories, he finds friends and enemies along the way. As one of the other characters says, Lamar is on the quest. With two kids and a gun enthusiast, he ends up on a boat.
There is a part where the story almost stops so we can get a lecture on archetypes. Even if it is presented through a dialogue, it had a lecturing tone. Fortunately, it picks up after a few pages.
The novel is very gory. I can read it in supernatural horror though. In Dead Sea it works perfectly. The zombies are not fast or smart; they are literally rotting moving corpses. There are just so many of them. One would think that Brian Keene would run out of the ideas how to present one without repetitions. He doesn't.
There is nothing new in this book that you haven't seen or read before (Resident Evil comes in mind), but it is still a well told great zombie story. And that ending? Perfect for this book. -
Brian Keene breathed new life into the zombie genre with
The Rising and
City of the Dead with an excellent slant on zombie lore.
Dead Sea is apart from that world. Here we have the standard zombie we all know and love: slow, stupid, disgusting, and ravenous. There are also a few non-standards up his sleeve, but I'll leave that up to discovery.
As always, Keene's pace is relentless, the story moves along like gangbusters. It's not my favorite of his (Ghoul takes that one, I think), but it's still very much worth reading if you're not sick of zombies by now.
A good, quick vacation read. 3.5 stars. -
4.5 Stars
This is a tried and true straight up zombie horror novel. There is nothing really new, no unusual twists on the theme, and definitely no fantastical type ending. It is however very well written. Fast paced and filled with horror, action, and a bit of the human spirit too. I really enjoyed Keene's writing and felt that he created a top notch zombie book.
Our protagonist Lamar, is a likable gay, African American, that has worked his whole life attempting to never give in to awful stereotypes. He looks down on himself and has a difficult time accepting the fact that others around him see him as a hero. He takes on a parental figure role with the children that save him. He is a leader on the boat, and his friends look to him for his guidance and his answers.
A great theme through out this book about survival, is said by Lamar repeatedly:
"Listen… you never know what you'll do until you find yourself in an impossible situation, so don't ever say never. Survival instinct is a real motherfu&@$r, and when your back is. against the wall, everything changes. Everything. I know. It did for me. It all changed for me."
As with all great zombie books, I am always looking for the interesting additional undead characters. This book is chalked full of them. From undead versions of Tom and Jerry, to angry cattle and horses, throw in some lurching lions, and plenty of undead air flying dolphins, and you have a lot of ghoulies to root for...fun fun.
The plot, story, and conclusion are quite obvious, but the ride to get there is totally worth it. A guilty pleasure of mine, I love the undead, the apocalypse, and the struggle to stay alive. I will end my review by giving you one more quote from our hero Lamar and say that this book would be loved by post apoc aficionado's...
"Back in the day, there was a rap song I used to like. The lyrics said, "Evolve or Die." That line has taken on a new meaning for me. In order to survive, a species has to evolve. We did it when we came out of the ocean, and we did it again when we came down from the trees.
- Survival instinct is a motherfu&@$r.
- But evolution is even worse." -
In this relatively early Keene work, he returns to zombies with a vengeance. The Dead Sea's zombies are something of a hybrid of Romero's and 28 Days later; while they shuffle along like Romero's, they are highly contagious like 28 Days later-- any fluid from a zombie that gets in your eyes, and open wound, etc., means you get the bug. Further, like in his Rising, zombies are not confined to humans; at first some species seem immune, like horses and deer, but 'cross species contamination' seems to be spreading as well, leaving the reader to guess whats next.
Like most zombie novels, we have a rag-tag band of survivors struggling to survive further. In this case, the lead is Lamar, a gay black man from East Baltimore. Lamar stays holed up in his house until the city starts burning, forcing him and many others out into the open. Dodging zombies right and left, Lamar finds a couple of kids holed up (Malik, eight years old and his sister Tasha, 10 years old), and once their place starts to go up in flames, the three of them make for the harbor and hopefully a boat to escape the flames and the city in general. In the nick of time, they find and old Coast Guard ship just setting out and leave with 20 or so others. The ship was a museum piece, but restored enough to motor, and off they go. The problem is where to go...
Keene pulls few punches here, and the Dead Sea reads like 10 miles of bad road. Outside of the great action scenes, with lots of gore, Keene often has his characters (more developed than his earlier work BTW) reflecting on the meaning of life, why continue the struggle to survive and so forth, giving this a more philosophical angle than most zombie fiction. Also, his reflections of race and class give this a slightly deeper feel than other zombie fiction. Nonetheless, things keep going from bad to worse. Highly recommended for zombie genre fans! Like The Rising, Dead Sea is blunt and visceral if that is what you are in the mood for. 3.5 stars. -
This is copy number 422 of 500 hardcover copies printed and is signed and numbered by Brian Keene.
-
Iot a huge fan of zombie novels but I am a huge fan of Brian keene. I got an audible copy for review and it was pretty good considering it's not my favorite genre, it was obviously well written coming from one of the greats and the audio version has top notch narration.
-
Fun kind of different take on a zombie apocalypse read, with the plus of a stand out very well written gay character.
I didn’t love the ending, but that didn’t stop me from putting it on the best reads pile. If zombies are your thing then this is worth checking out. -
YES!
What a great mixture of action stuffed zombiecalypse and moving thoughts about the sense of life, why mindkind tries to survive in times of despair. Keene created a really thrilling horror scenario that overlaps just bloody fights against the undead. Furthermore "Dead sea" discusses the old theories of the archetypes and the existence of a collective subconscious - who is a hero, who is a survivor ? One of the things I admired most about "Dead Sea" is that the narrator is a gay black male named Lamar Reed, who has never shot a gun and has no idea how to survive in nature. The fact that he is gay and black are treated as facts of his existence and are not present to browbeat the non-progressive segement of the audience. Keene draws such an interessting picture of mankind by choosing Lamar as the main character. Keene is able to show that even in times of war and ruin, people are small minded and full of cut and dried opinions against black people, gay people and everybody else who is "different". Lamar Reed is gay and black, but in the end he is just another man fighting with everything he has to stay alive in a world gone to hell.
I absolutely loved it! -
If you want to read the best book ever on zombies and social complaints about prejudism toward blacks, gays and poverty, this one is it. I found it to be too preachy and schizophrenic.
The premise is simple: something has caused people to die and turn into zombies. Then, in their bloodlust for human flesh (don't all zombies go through that?) they kill others and convert them into zombism.
The narrator, a black gay man in Baltimore, befriends two children and helps them escape the city on a large boat with others. They battle zombie armies as they stop for supplies and eventually, their own become infected. The narrator also espouses about social injustices along the way, which seems out of place. I mean, when I see a zombie munching on my friend's innards, I am more apt to say something akin to "Shit, let's get outta here!" rather than comment on social inequalities.
The gore factor is high; it's the literary version of those Romero zombie films. -
Estaba dudando entre 3 o 4 estrellas pero finalmente me he decidido por 4. Está muy bien narrada pero lo que más me ha gustado ha sido la originalidad en cuanto al virus zombie ya que no sólo afecta a las personas sino que también a los animales. Y sobrevivir en medio de un mundo donde casi cualquier ser puede ser un no muerto crea una atmósfera muchísimo más tensa y asfixiante que logra que no puedas dejar de leer. Además, los personajes son muy reales, no son geniales en ninguna habilidad ni son fuertes, ni saben manejar armas, lo que los hace mucho más cercanos y consigue una historia mucho más real.
-
Poorly developed characters, same old zombie plot line and a certain callousness made Dead Sea a very disappointing read. I've never seen children act in the same way the two siblings do here. They are completely unbelievable, and by the end I could have cared less about their fate. I find having a gay character simply to provide a point of contention to be slightly offensive, though I don't get the impression Keene intended it that way. The bigots themselves are obviously cannon fodder, with no chance of surviving to the end. Dead Sea was a mercifully fast read, but nowhere near the quality of Keene's Rising series.
-
You might initially associate this with Brian's The Rising however Dead Sea is an altogether different kettle of fish. The zombies are much more traditional, the tone is far bleaker, and the characters have a very different dynamic. This book is a rather serious piece with emotive writing while The Rising was a blood-spattered zombie romp. I adored this book and it worked really well as a standalone story; it's tense, suspenseful and utterly engrossing, I highly recommend it.
-
Ghoul, was a mixed bag of sorts. At it's worst points, it came off as an overblown love letter to the 1980's. That, in and of itself, it not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that Keene felt the urgent need to over-explain his '80s pop cultural references -- so much so, that expository paragraphs began intruding on the narrative pace of the book, taking attention away from the characters and the dilemmas they faced. On the other hand, Keene had accomplished some interesting things with that book. His corpse-eating ghoul actually had a character with motivations, and his drive to procreate and create a family brought a touch of skewed humanity to what was an inhuman monster. Basically, because of this, Ghoul turned out to hardly be a hack and slash novel.
So, it's interesting now to read his latest from Leisure, Dead Sea. This new novel is Keene's triumphant return to what he's most known for: zombie fiction. Dead Sea is not a sequel to
The Rising or
City of the Dead. It's an independent tale, and even the zombies have a different character. Dead Sea features George Romero-esque shamblers, not the demonic, talking, rifle toting, and car driving variety in The Rising or City of the Dead. There's a ton of other interesting things, but Keene's ambition makes Dead Sea one of his very best novels to date.
First, Keene is writing in the first person point of view, whereas the other two mentioned books favored the third person "he." By doing so, Keene is able to delve deeper into his character and sort through his motivations and problems. In short, he lets his readers see inside Lamar more than he has with a lot of other characters. And as much as Dead Sea may be about a virus ending the world, it's still a study in character.
Quite often, a lot of writers, when writing with the first person "I," end up substituting themselves for their characters. This is not the case with Dead Sea, and that's where Keene's ambition as a writer is most evident. As a straight, married white man, Keene has tried to write from the perspective of a single gay black man. In doing this, Keene avoids "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" stereotypes. His Lamar is a man entrenched in a working class ethos, a man who does not, for example, work in the high stakes world of fashion, but rather, before the novel begins, in an auto plant. Like many people, a sour economy has lead him to being laid off. And that has lead him to drastic measures.
Then, of course, Hamelin's Revenge spreads as a viral epidemic, the infected die and come back to life. Lamar, now, is faced with the daunting task of surviving in a world that is dying around him. In the process, he finds himself looking out for the welfare of two young kids who had been orphaned by the outbreak. De facto fatherhood has been thrust upon Lamar, and his quest for survival takes on new dimensions. He tries to learn how to act like a good guardian, thinking of not only of himself, but of the kids, too.
This leads to an interesting proposition. If the country has been over run by disease and the shambling dead, Lamar decides to take the two children to Baltimore's waterfront, where they can, perhaps, jump onto a ship. In the process, they hook up with a mob of other survivors and end up on a relic of a coast guard vessel -- one that was meant to be retired as a tourist attraction. Of course, happy endings are at odds with most works of zombie fiction, as the focus, most times, is survival. Things don't work out the way Lamar and the kids hoped for. Plus, the sea itself dies, as Hamelin's Revenge spreads to aqua-life. Yes, that means the appearance of zombie tuna, sharks, and whales.
All in all, Dead Sea has all the dramatic tension that comes with apocalyptic fiction, but, really, it's Lamar -- not the zombies and the gore -- that make the novel an interesting read. Also, this shows a remarkable growth, on Keene's part, and one can only wonder what his next books, like
Dark Hallow, have in store. -
I've read this book several times for some reason (there's a zombie tiger!) and out of all of Brian Keene's books I like this one the best (Conqueror Worm isn't that bad either though). Needed something light to read at doctor's office and this one fits the bill, gruesome enough to take your mind off any troubles, and can be read in just a few hours.
Plucky orphan children? Check! Menacing law enforcement? Check! Priest gone insane and helping the zombies? Check! Every country's government crumbling in a matter of weeks? Double check!
You know, I'd like the reverse to happen sort of. Hero gets saddled with bratty awful kid, gets rescued by a police officer and a clergyman, and manages to make it to safe haven zone. That would totally revolutionize the whole zombie genre.
But this one is a little different, since it's fleeing to the open seas. (Cover kind of gives away that it's not very safe there either.) -
Right away the action begins and the fight for survival is do or die. Rats pour out of the sewars already infected and start infecting humans and the zomification starts.
The characters are never typical but at least have sense enough to have a plan. Will it work? Or will they end up surrounded by zombies and have to come up with something fast.
Ok, this is zombie survival, but I think Brian Keene wrote it in the most likely way possible, given the circumstances. Human survival doesn't last forever. I learn not expect anything until I turn the last page. I love Brian Keene's zombie books the most and like how his character's think about the world around them. -
Dead Sea Perfection
Reading Brian Keene's zombie novels are like the cherry toppings on his delicious catalog of horror. Please give any novel or novella a try. You will be coming back for more. -
Simple undead fun.
-
Отново успя, копеленцето мръсно.
Спазвайки всички клишета в жанра, в последствие успя да ги извърти и да им се подиграе. И не само на зомби книгите, ами на приключенската литература като цяло. Въпреки че знаех какво да очаквам, историята на героите ме засмука в книгата и финалът ме остави доволен и бесен. Трябваше да се усетя, още когато започнаха тънките препратки към The Rising, че историята е свързана, просто се развива в паралелна реалност, но за пореден път му се вързах.
Ламар е отчаян тип от гетото, който цял живот се е борил за нормален живот. Нещата не му потръгват, но това вече няма значение, защото света е в хаос в следствие на това, което журналистите наричат Отмъщението на Хамлин. Един слънчев ден, умрели плъхове нападат хора в центъра на Ню Йорк. Не след дълго зомби заразата плъзва по цялото човечество, даже по всички бозайници. Ламар успява да оцелее и с две намерени деца и няколко възрастни се спасяват на кораб-музей. Проблемите им, естествено не свършват, имат нужда от гориво, храна и вода, а на брега ги дебне заразата. Нататък нещата стават още по-лайняни и откачени, но Ламар и двете деца успяват да оцелеят, докато приятелите им един по един зомбясват, даже има лъч надежда, докато... ама няма да ви развалям кефа.
Пореден чудесен роман от Кийн, който няма да види български. Автора продължава да става все по-плашещо добър и все по-отвратително брутален и безкомпромисен с читателя. -
VERDICT: ~2.9 stars for the zombie horror sub-genre. Or a flat 2 stars if rated against general or horror fiction.
Readers enjoying nastier, smellier zompocalypse survival tales will find some things to like here--and some slower parts and ridiculousness. But the gore level was good, and the main setting (a ship, eventually) was a change from the mundane.
One word of caution: The ending (yes, this will be a mild spoiler)... It leaves possibility of a sequel, but that doesn't seem likely.
Overall, DEAD SEA is slightly above average for zombie books--but that's a pretty low bar. Most zombie books I've read have been 1 to 2 stars, with a few notable exceptions*.
*Some better (dare I say 'exceptional') books in the sub-genre:
-
👎🏻 Unnecessary usage of language from a white male. Main character was a Black gay male and maybe the author was trying to be preachy about what not to do/say to Black people, homosexuals, and females, but I just think it was done in a very distasteful way and by someone who really isn’t the one to “teach” others. Sorry.
That all being put aside, I still did not like the story. I don’t generally like zombies, I find them overdone and dull, but I wanted to try this because I liked the thought of it being set on the ocean and I heard good things about Brian Keene. The horror scenes…some were good and got me hooked in the beginning. Then I just was bored and it took a turn and started to become ridiculous rather than horrific.
I’m trying to be as nice as possible with this brief review. I respectfully say no thank you to this book. Would not recommend.
No stars -
I love zombie books that put you right in the action. Just like this one.
