Donna Burgess

I downloaded and read this free short story collection shortly after I got my first e-reader last year for Christmas. I hadn't reviewed it yet and I feel that it deserved one. I had learned about all these free books that were out there and thought I had found some vein of gold that was just waiting to be mined. Since then I, as another reviewer wrote, have become more selective after having read some truly awful free offerings. But I did, and continue to find, a few gems. This collection was one of those, particularly the first and last story. The first story, "The Dancing Water" was other-worldly in atmosphere as it describes venturing into the ghost towns created by Chernobyl. The story itself was original and very artistic, as well as chilling. It fascinated me. The last story, "Awake, Ghost Song" was very disturbing but so well written that I felt deep compassion for the protagonist and fell completely into the story. I felt real dread as it proceeded and the story packs quite an emotional punch.… (mais)

Background: A flash of light and then an unbearable darkness has taken the world by surprise, leaving its inhabitants shocked. Those who saw the flash have become man-eating Ragers, a talking version of what is commonly considered a zombie. These Ragers are attacking the others all over and the living is trying to adapt to darkness, no power/electronics, and survival against the Ragers. Their only hope is a short radio transmission.

Review: I received this book as part of a blog tour to read for review. The premise is great. I was expecting a zombie apocalypse and that is essentially what I got, humans running or their lives, collecting weapons, and trying to find other survivors. There were intense scenes of violence and escape and breathtaking examples of survival when you think all is going to hell. The only problem was the lack of explanation. Yes, there was a flash of light and then darkness, but What? Why? I felt like I was watching a movie that had been over edited trying to cut out parts, so they cut out important ones. There seemed to be many of these plot flaws throughout.
The novel is presented in the tales of a few different groups of survivors and their different techniques of survival. We follow Melanie a college student and her adoptive family, and then a father/ teacher who was on a school trip with a handful of students and a mother and son who meet up with them. I think the most interesting part of this apocalypse was the Ragers; they were intelligent, they knew they were dead and could talk to those they were trying to attack. So there was a lot of egging on the survivors and trying to get them to come out of their hiding places, as well as knowing who people were to them before they became monsters.
Little by little you learn more about the characters and their families, and they are very interesting but not enough to hold me since there was no explanation of why these events were occurring… All I wanted was a character to come into the story who knew what was up…and that never happened.
If you enjoy Zombie movies and shows than you may enjoy this book, just be prepared for the survival story taking precedence over the reasoning behind why …… (mais)