Review: The LIVING DEAD 2

    The Living Dead 2 by John Joseph Adams


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Anthologies are always a mixed bag, this one unfortunately wasn't stellar.








THE GOOD




I bought this Anthology for one reason only: Robert Kirkman. I'm a huge fan of his comic The Walking Dead so I was excited to see his very first published prose story:




Alone,Together




This story is about a couple trying to stay alive after a zombie apocalypse. The narration focuses on the reminiscence of Timothy about his former love and his current relationship. I really enjoyed this story,what it lacks in zombie violence it makes up for it in character development, a theme that is prevalent in the comic book series.




DANGER WORD




I really liked this story! Young Kendric is living with his grandfather. He rarely speaks, still dealing with the trauma of the zombie attack on the closest city. Granpa Joe was always thought a little paranoid by his daughter and husband. He routinely wanted to teach Kendrick to shoot guns and was always talking safety protocols with his parents. One of those was the instituting of a Danger Word, one even Kendrick's parents didn't know, this saves Kendrick's life as for two days he is able to resist opening the door to a safe room his mother has put him into. That's right, in Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due's universe the zombies are able to talk and be coherent for brief periods of time, this story kept me guessing til the end .








GOOD PEOPLE




David Wellington's story Good People is one of the gems of this anthology. It has all the hallmarks of a good story. You come to care about the characters quite a bit in the early pages, a band of people drawn together trying to stay alive. It also focuses on the hard choices that people need to make at the end of the world , especially Good People.






Lost Canyon of the Dead




Brian Keen is the shock jock of Zombie fiction, he stretches the zombie genre and never fails to entertain. I can sum this story up in two words: Zombie Dinosaurs!!! Must read




Reluctance


This short story is set in the same Zombie Steampunk universe as her book Boneshaker. This is a great story that hopefully will get Priest a lot of new readers. A member of the Dirigible Express Post Office stops in the small town of reluctance and finds a city overrun with zombies! Lots of thrills and a satisfying conclusion.




Zombie Gigolo




Those two words? They give you all you need to know about S.G. Browne's story about a zombie who "services" fellow female zombies. UGH!! Cringe worthy read.






Last Stand




Kelly Armstrong gives us a fascinating short story about a last bastion of survivors trying to survive from the Others, but who is the true Monster in this scenario. Good Read.






Those are the stars of this collection, A worthy purchase for Zombie fans but with the number of stories in the Anthology I expected to enjoy more of the stories.




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