THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

The year 2020 was a good one for the dead. As the undead rose to prey upon the living, the world turned to a chaotic hell as nations betrayed former allies in the battle to survive. NATO forces managed to create safe zones in cities that had intact medieval stone walls, the mindless dead that swarm the countryside kept at bay by these ancient defences. However, the last remaining pockets of the living now face a new threat, one that mere walls cannot shield them from. In the medieval fortress-city of Carcassonne in Southern France, one man discovers that the haphazard wandering Zombies were only the beginning...

MY VERDICT:

This is a pretty straightforward novel in terms of story. There is one objective, one goal: stopping the metahorde – a massive group of Zombies that numbers into the millions, destroying and devouring everything in its path. This simplicity is refreshing in a world of stories focusing on small bands of humanity trying desperately to survive, their path twisting and turning regularly, forced to overcome all manner of obstacles. It is also a welcome rarity to read a Zombie book where the armed forces were not completely wiped out in the first few days of the outbreak. However, the narrow focus is the main downside of this Ministry of Zombies text – there are very few moments that end with the feeling of "what will happen next?". As a consequence, there are no standout surprises and the plot is just too predictable to be really great.