Prequel?????

Another good but dark zombie story (darker then your average Z story) from Iain Mckinnon I was hoping he would pick up where he left with the last two books but this seems to be set before all went to hell but still a good story that I hope will tie in with other two .... Someday

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3 people found this helpful

One of the best zombie stories that I have read!

If you could sum up Demise of the Living in three words, what would they be?

That was great!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Thomas. He was kind of a bad guy before the zombies, so he was really in his element.

Have you listened to any of Karl Miller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not that I'm aware of, but he did a great job of differentiating each of the characters. They never blended or got lost in his narration/performance.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The end was a one-two punch of surprises. I was caught off guard by the plot twists.

Any additional comments?

This was a great story. I was expecting a sequel/prequel to the previous zombie story from iain McKinnon, but this is a great story on its own!

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Ok, but the ending, blaaah

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, it kept me interested for the most part.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Blaaaaaahhhhhh and whaaaaaaaaaaaa?

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Fine with me.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I'd wait for Netflix.

Any additional comments?

Needed more interaction between the living and the dead. They rarely left the building so all we got was...man, there's a lot of zombies down there. I did like the characters though. The story was part mystery, part zombie, part terrible ending. I literally said, "Aw, come on!" at the end. But it was an okay ride until then.

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1 person found this helpful

Good book but frustraiting to.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Great story well written, but how can characters be so naïve. Its like zombie culture didn`t exist as they fumble through the zombocalypse. the dead got called Zombies at a stage I felt too late to give the story credence (we know their zombies) the characters didn't. Oh! and I knew who was the dark horse before the end. Domain is far better book. But I like Ian`s way of spinning a story to keep me hooked.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Billy

What does Karl Miller bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

American accents and good narrative.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

yes but make the character more aware of what is happening.

Any additional comments?

Zombies are part of culture now stop writing books that assume its new to all evolved. Aim for the head and stop getting bit.

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I couldn't stop listening.

A good story with good characters. The narrator was great. A captivating story. Highly recommended.

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character driven zombie story

Any additional comments?

as the story opens, harrison and liz and their 2 children, grant and melissa, have packed their car to go on vacation. when they come to a stop in the city, a disheveled man shambles toward them and starts banging on harrison's window. as the man smashes through the car window and grabs harrison, the young family's nightmare begins.

john heads to work early b/c sirens woke him up in the middle of the night, and he couldn't get back to sleep. i work in an office and am well aware of the different personality types. john is a frustrated it salesman, who's looking for another job, and takes the elevator to the first floor.

sharon is the boss at the it company. she's uptight to the point where she's still looking at powerpoint presentations when the dead start to crowd around the office building. she's high maintenance, highly strung, and she's a cougar. steve is the new guy sharon has her eye on. she's curt with her underlings, especially the blue collar workers that are trapped with her in the office building.

colin is woken up by early call from his boss, the high school principal. he's dejected b/c the school's week long camping trip is cancelled b/c of the public health scare. colin was looking forward to spending time w/ jenny, another teacher, on the camping trip. his grand plans of slowly seducing jenny have gone up in smoke. his boss asks him to go to school just in case some students can't be reached. on his way to school, he is hit by another car, which quickly becomes the least of his worries.

karen has only gotten a few hours of sleep after a night of partying b/c of all the ambulances going by. she is woken up by a tinking sound. when she investigates the sound, she finds out that it's her friend, shan, who's throwing rocks at her window. shan is the bad apple, and karen is the good girl, who is being corrupted by her high school dropout friend. when karen asks why shan is awake so early, she says that her father came home wasted last night and must've gotten into a fight, and when he woke up, she thought he was still hopped up b/c he tried to grab her so she snuck out her window. bored and on holiday, they decide to head to their friend's house to get high.

demise of the living is a character driven zombie story. most of the story takes place in an office building. the story starts with a few different individual storylines, which quickly merge together. however, i'm not sure if the karen/shan storyline is needed. it eventually merges with the others, but at times, it kind of distracts from what's going on.

most of the action takes place between the characters as they struggle to survive in an office building with dwindling resources. most of the conflict is between the different personality types. this is a disaster survival story with zombies.

i liked the fast start. it quickly engrosses you in the story. the middle of the story is your typical zombie survival story. it's ok. i thought the characters were stereotypical and found their actions predictable. BUT THE ENDING...the ending had a twist i was not expecting!

if you've listened to iain mckinnon's other books and liked those, then you'll probably like this one.

so if you're looking for a character-driven zombie story, you can try this. it's middle of the road. but if you're looking for a zombie battle story, try another story.

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7 people found this helpful

Solid expectations

With Iain McKinnon its reassuring to know you can expect a certain quality of work and I liked this simple but well written story.

The story starts off with tales of different people who eventually end up in one office block and the rest is about planning to survive and and social dynamics. Its not boring or anything like that, all interesting.

Also as usual with this author, he can make you scream in your head like, "Com'on you should know by now its a zombie and not just a confused person", or "I cant believe they didn't close the gate after them!".

The narrator is a bit undramatic and, well, slow. It was excruciating at times when during action parts, it seemed like I was watching a slow motion movie. If I sped it up, it was almost better. And I think he mimics the voice of Moe of Homer Simpson for Moe the security guard in this book.

Now one weird thing is that I think a page is missing. Two girls ride off in a motorbike and then it switches to another group, then suddenly the two girls are all bloodied from an accident. I kept scrolling back but couldn't find out what happened except that they were at a farm. Another part was when one guy was stuck outside overnight then suddenly he managed to get in, but I don't know how or he kept the door closed. Wish people could reply so I could find out what happened.

As people have said the end is a big deal, thats the major twist of this story, and also a trademark kind of ending for this author. Readers should kinda know what to expect. Still, its a little different. I kinda liked it. Kinda.

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2 people found this helpful

WOW is all I am going to say!!!!

Unbelievable! Lots of action. This is one Zombie book that I have read and found myself shouting out loud. This is one book you will not forget. Listened to it straight through. A must have.

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1 person found this helpful

Just When You Thought It Was Safe

Storyline is slow at first. You don't really get to know the characters so it's hard to tell what the motives are. People trapped in an office building because of flesh eating zombies and they don't seem too bothered about the why and how. They can make a daring trip to the school cafeteria but don't consider any other options or escape routes.
Surprise ending which was refreshing - too bad the rest of the story wasn't.

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Disappointing!

What disappointed you about Demise of the Living?

I've listened to Domain of the dead and Remains of the dead! They were both decent stories with decent reading but this one I found difficult to listen to. I only made it through a few chapters before frustration made me give up. It's hard to say exactly what the problem is but if I had to choose I'd say poor reading ruined a decent story! There was no Feeling in the reading, almost as if the reader recorded himself reading story for the first time. Very Bland reading is the best way to describe it, no feeling, no attempt to express the characters emotions. Example: The readers tone of voice while read the words "Get away from him, it's not him anymore look at him he's dead!" while speaking to the mother of a 8year old boy turned zombie which they have seen for the first time was read with exact same emotion & tone of voice as when the character said " I'm going to the cafeteria for a sandwich does anyone want anything?" Maybe I've been spoiled by more articulate readers but I expect to be taken on a adventure when listening to these books, a reader raising his voice when a character is screaming at the top of his lungs while having his intestines pulled from his belly and munched on in front of his own face it's hard to hear the reader calmly speaking "Get him off me Yawwwnnn, somebody ladidahh anybody??! No emotion, no expressing what the writer is trying to make the reader feel.. This is very hard to explain in writing but I hope I was able to do so. Don't waste your credit instead try one of Ian McKinnons other books also read by Karl Miller (Surprised me to see the same reader because I don't remember other two books being read so Blandly) I actually hope to see this book read by someone else or rerelease with more emotion because I believe maybe it could be a decent book.

If you’ve listened to books by Iain McKinnon before, how does this one compare?

Doesn't come close!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Karl Miller?

Stefan Rudnicki, Luke Daniels, James Masters, Christian Rummel honestly the way this was read I'd probably of done a better job reading it!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger, felt as if this was rushed
Disappointed because I know both writer and reader have done better works!

Any additional comments?

Any chance of having this book redone?

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