Mountain Man
Series: Prequel, Book 0
By: Keith C. Blackmore / Narrated By: RC Bray
Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
My first zombie book! …and I’m so disappointed…
I’d really like to pass on this review as I’d really like to pass on this audiobook, but hey! My sister rocked cleaning up the book cover for the thumbnail image, and I can’t let her down.
I understand that Mountain Man is a Prequel to a hugely successful book/series? So I’m willing to let a lot slide by: after all, ya gotta set things up for the real meat of the story which is to come. We’re supposed to be getting mostly introductions of characters, environment, the situation at large. And while we’re at it, maybe some action.
Uhm, this book is mostly action. Lots of action. Lots of stupid action. And the characters? Not developed well at all. I didn’t even know who I was supposed to root for as we jump from character to character. And then someone dies! Or they’re eaten! I mean, what’s a listener to do?
Expect lots of blood, gore, guts. After all, zombies can’t be stopped by pain, so they throw themselves in harm’s way time and time again, splattering into glass doors, tumbling onto windshields, finding themselves the target of brain-blowing bullets. It gets messy. Add to that some mind-in-the-gutter writing (a car didn’t just blow exhaust, it shat it. Things aren’t messed up, they’re f*d up), and you’ve got a beer-swilling version of horror.
Things are awfully convenient for the characters and plot also. When Gus and Toby have to hole up for days (many, many oh so boring days), they just happen to find themselves in a house that must’ve just gone shopping before the zombie apocalypse as the place is crammed with food, unopened cartons of milk (‘cause zombie apocalypse or not, the utilities WILL be kept running!), stocked floor to ceiling with toilet paper; there just happens to be a car next door to make their eventual getaway, and the keys to it just happen to be on the table. And at the end, Gus finds himself in a survivalist’s paradise. Gosh, I guess that means he has the perfect spot from which to fight zombies, at least a few more books’ worth of supplies.
And then there’s the fact that Blackmore’s go-to is a flight through the zombie-fied streets, and things get pretty boring from there. There’s running through the night, plowing through zombies, in a truck! Then mowing down zombies in a hatchback! Then zombies are plastered to the sides of a Camaro! And then things get really tricky and gory when our hero finds himself behind the wheel of a van!
R.C. Bray does a decent job with the narration. But the characters are either bitches or gunslingers, so things have a tendency of devolving into caricature. Still, he delivers the profanity-laced narrative with verve and gusto. Bravo, Mr. Bray!
I dunno. I’d considered listening to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as my first zombie book, but alas, I did not. I really should’ve combined my longing for the undead with my love of chick-lit. Maybe I’m just too much of a girl to have gotten into Mountain Man as I think many men I know would find the dialogue about cock/caulk frantically funny. (And who doesn’t like a little caulking humor? …well, I s’pose I got bored with it)
Okay, so there are a multitude of books about zombies; I’m sure you can find better.
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