"There are some exciting twists and turns that make for heart pumping suspense." #Kindle #BookReview

Orpheus

by Dan DeWitt

Genre: Horror

Book Synopsis

Cameron Holt is fortunate enough to survive the initial outbreak that turns his New England island community into a hive of the undead. So is his son, Ethan. Now, the only thing keeping Holt going is the determination to rescue his son from the undead...or remove him permanently from their ranks. Unfortunately, zombies aren't the only thing getting in his way.

Sharon's Rating

Sharon's Review

This was a very intelligent portrayal of zombies as the victims of a virus—its cause and effect. They were treated as an actuality, and realistic tactics were used to overcome the threat. There are no handy laser pistols to solve the problem. There is no supernatural cause, graveyards don't spill out the undead. Zombies don't stumble around groaning and moaning. They simply react to smell, sight and sound to feed their voracious hunger. Cameron Holt and his crew of survivors, are ordinary people who are put into extraordinary circumstances, where they behave heroically. There are villains as well, but they act within normal human sociopathic limits.

What I like most about this book is that there seems to be no gender superiority. The women evade or kill as many zombies; their planning and actions are as successful or not, as the men. I thought the sensitive treatment of a gay couple, and their equally valuable contribution to the group's survival, was well done. There was some humour, but more sorrow. I got to know some of the characters very well, and when they lost their fight for survival, there were a few tears from me. My emotions were involved from the start. I liked that.

There are some exciting twists and turns that make for heart pumping suspense. The story is fast paced, and action packed. It held my interest from beginning to end. There is a great deal of violence, but then it's a horror story. The reader knows going in that there will be death and mayhem. One thing I liked was that there were no graphic descriptions of guts and gore. The author got the point across without resorting to buckets of blood.

On a technical note, there were some minor editing issues. This is often seen in ebooks, where professional editing is not always available for various reasons. There were only a few typos, and the use of ellipses (...) lacked the space before and after the dots. It's a punctuation rule that the author may not have been aware of. All in all, this was an exciting and engaging book. I would highly reccomend it to anyone over 17.

Disclaimer: Not recommended for those under 17 due to violence and language.

Check out Dan DeWitt's blog.