Dr. Hugh Mann

I am in the process of reading this series in order and was excited to find out more about the history of the virus. Sadly, this story is one that I feel I should have skipped. While there were bits of information that will (hopefully) move the rest of the story along a lot of the book felt like filler. A story that started out strong began to drag as pages went by with no action or meaningful dialogue.

Speaking of dialogue… Most of it was horrible. Instead of Mike’s comical musings, Tracy’s sharp tongue, and BT’s banter we get some stilted conversations that read like really, REALLY bad historical romance fan-fiction. It is a weird combination of modern day vernacular and how the author imagines people used to speak. The mix was distracting and just odd.

Plus, there are numerous historical inaccuracies that further took away from the story. Just a little bit of research would have helped avoid the jarring historical discrepancies. That said, feel free to skip this entire book. It will help you save money and avoid frustration so you can enjoy the rest of the series.

This short story nestles itself between book 3 and 4 of the Zombie Fallout series and is a prequel to the series. As a reader I find that prequels can be fraught with risk and I often find myself asking questions like:

Is this just a grab for some cash?
If it is so important to the story the why not include it in the first book?
Will it add any value to the story and series?
Is this a result of lazy story development?

What I got in this prequel was a valued pack story that not only added to the series but stood alone as a separate story. Mark Tufo has nodded his cap to his readership by adding some great tongue in cheek references to the series. The book tells the tale of the discovery of the virus that will one day bring the world to its knees and adds a tantalizing link and teaser to what is to come in the series. I for one want to know what the hell is in that suitcase.

I always come away from Mr Tufo’s books feeling greatly entertained and for some reason craving pop tarts. For those of you yet to sample what this author has to offer it’s time you jump in with both feet and immerse yourself in his world.

From the beginning to the end I had only 1 thought “this sounds like a Twilight Zone episode”. Now I liked the Twilight Zone & I like the ZF series, but not a ZF prequel that reads like a Twilight Zone episode. This story has it all, hey even Bigfoot gets an honorable mention uggggghhhhh! Listen the problem with having it all should be obvious – as in it is Not always all good. This story flirts with its own disaster from the very beginning. Now having said that, anyone who likes the series will just buy it & read it anyway. Now maybe you should or maybe you can just pass it by – sorry still not sure yet.

This story also reads a lot like a girl I can’t actually remember her name that Mike seems to know from the 1st book. She ends up returning with Mike on his 1st trek to gather supplies for Alex (wood for towers) & the rest of the condo. At 1 point he even asks her if they have ever met – then you never hear anything about her again (still drives me a little crazy that one BTW). I make the connection as their may also be something in 3.5 that may or may not ever come back in later stories either – who knows maybe the author maybe not – after all the odds of him being a tad crazy are high.

To clarify further the reason I say this story flirts with disaster from the beginning is because our imaginations are already being stretched pretty dang far. Ok Zombie Apocalypse, Vampires, Divine Intervention all possible (in the realm of that anything is “possible” just NOT probable). Well this story decides to kick that stretched imagination up so far that it will simply be the snapping point for some. Basically this story is beginning to push the old additive less is more. For me I have decided to kinda of put this book back deep in the recesses of my brain close a curtain on it maybe even wall it up for a later date (if needed maybe) – after all the ZF series is pretty much 4.5 stars to me.

Zombie Fallout is an awesome series. As Zombie apocalypse go this one has all the traits one can expect. The world suddenly goes haywire, our hero survives the initial shock and awe of the apocalypse, and antics ensue!
The characters are totally believable and this particular hero is funny. The series is full of rich and unexpected character development as well.
The Book is written in the ever popular “hero writes a journal and sort of narrates the world around him” style. The author does break free of this from time to time and it is refreshing.
My biggest problem with narration style story telling is when the story gets tough and it looks like all is lost, as a reader you start to wonder the hero must survive because who wrote this down if he dies right now! The author takes this into account and raises the stakes throughout the book, and when all is lost he switches to another character’s journal or just abandons the journal style altogether. Pay attention to the chapter names.
In conclusion, Zombie Fallout is a fun read. Do not let the reviews of bad grammar or lack of editing stop you from reading this series. I promise you will have all 6 books plus the mini book 3.5 in your kindle before you can ZOMBIES!

This is a novella that is not needed in the series but it does give a background history of the series and the infection. I did enjoy reading this book but there were a few times I got a little bogged down. I am glad I read it as it is nice to know the extra details. The price of this kindle edition is low and worth it if you are like me, someone who wants more answers as to the cause of the virus. There is also a surprise character I did NOT expect to find in this book. That also made it worth the read. I won’t give details, sorry you have to read the novella for that one.

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