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ggallinot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Pretty typical zombie book. A few good twists.
The whole archetype thing received way too much focus for something that really wasn’t relevant.
A solid, stand-alone zombie book.
The whole archetype thing received way too much focus for something that really wasn’t relevant.
A solid, stand-alone zombie book.
johnlynchbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Let me start this review off with something I’m embarrassed to admit. It’s 2019 and I’ve JUST read my first Brian Keene novel. He’d Been on my TBR for some time, I just didn’t know where to start. I received quite a few recommendations of Ghoul, however, I already knew I’d love it so I decided to go for one Mr. Keene himself recommended to me on Twitter. Dead Sea.
Dead Sea follows Lamar Reed as he attempts to survive hell on earth, this particular hell taking place in Baltimore. The apocalypse as seen in Baltimore somehow manages to turn even more horrific early on, and Lamar must escape the city. Fans of gore are in for a treat as Keene does an exceptional job of describing the walking corpses and the aftermath of their brutal attacks. The novel hits the ground running and rarely lets up. Dead Sea is full of action, it moves at a rapid pace and is highly readable. I’d have finished it in one day if life real life hadn’t gotten in the way. For everything I loved about Dead Sea, and there’s a lot, the protagonist is easily my favorite. Lamar Reed is what sets Dead Sea apart from other zombie affair. The book is written from the first person perspective. Lamar Reed isn’t a highly trained badass, steamrolling through zombies on a warpath through Baltimore. He’s a young man from the inner city just trying to survive. Being a gay, black man, Lamar must confront bigotry in addition to the undead. In 2019 when equal representation is talked about now more than ever, Reed stand outs to me. What’s more impressive is that this book was written in 2007, not 2019.
When I reached the end of Dead Sea, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m skeptical when I read or watch anything to do with zombies. The genre is flooded at this point. A relentless pace, good action, and an exceptional protagonist keep Dead Sea floating above the competition.
Dead Sea follows Lamar Reed as he attempts to survive hell on earth, this particular hell taking place in Baltimore. The apocalypse as seen in Baltimore somehow manages to turn even more horrific early on, and Lamar must escape the city. Fans of gore are in for a treat as Keene does an exceptional job of describing the walking corpses and the aftermath of their brutal attacks. The novel hits the ground running and rarely lets up. Dead Sea is full of action, it moves at a rapid pace and is highly readable. I’d have finished it in one day if life real life hadn’t gotten in the way. For everything I loved about Dead Sea, and there’s a lot, the protagonist is easily my favorite. Lamar Reed is what sets Dead Sea apart from other zombie affair. The book is written from the first person perspective. Lamar Reed isn’t a highly trained badass, steamrolling through zombies on a warpath through Baltimore. He’s a young man from the inner city just trying to survive. Being a gay, black man, Lamar must confront bigotry in addition to the undead. In 2019 when equal representation is talked about now more than ever, Reed stand outs to me. What’s more impressive is that this book was written in 2007, not 2019.
When I reached the end of Dead Sea, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m skeptical when I read or watch anything to do with zombies. The genre is flooded at this point. A relentless pace, good action, and an exceptional protagonist keep Dead Sea floating above the competition.
dancpharmd's review against another edition
4.0
The only other book of Brian Keene's I have read is The Rising, but I enjoyed his take on zombies in that book, so I looked forward to reading this. Even better, in this book you get Romero-ish zombies - slow, shuffling hungry undead vs. the intelligent ones in The Rising.
This book paints a pretty bleak picture of the world after Hamelin's Revenge, a virus originating in rats that kills and then reanimates the dead. I enjoyed the main character who filled the "everyman" role quite well. There was plenty of zombie action and not a ton of filler exposition and back story. What back story there was seemed to contribute to the story and was interesting, rather than just taking up space to pad the book out.
I'll admit that I wish there had been more zombie marine life, and the first zombie fish didn't show up until 2/3rds of the way through the book. But Keene's use of human and other animal zombies, including horrific descriptions of all of them, more than make up for this.
Zombie fiction is a tough nut to crack - it's hard to do it without the visuals of a movie and still keep it interesting. Somehow, Keene has a really good handle on this and his zombie books have yet to disappoint me.
This book paints a pretty bleak picture of the world after Hamelin's Revenge, a virus originating in rats that kills and then reanimates the dead. I enjoyed the main character who filled the "everyman" role quite well. There was plenty of zombie action and not a ton of filler exposition and back story. What back story there was seemed to contribute to the story and was interesting, rather than just taking up space to pad the book out.
I'll admit that I wish there had been more zombie marine life, and the first zombie fish didn't show up until 2/3rds of the way through the book. But Keene's use of human and other animal zombies, including horrific descriptions of all of them, more than make up for this.
Zombie fiction is a tough nut to crack - it's hard to do it without the visuals of a movie and still keep it interesting. Somehow, Keene has a really good handle on this and his zombie books have yet to disappoint me.
thestarman's review against another edition
3.0
VERDICT: ~2.9 stars for the zombie horror sub-genre. Or a flat 2 stars if rated against general or horror fiction.
Readers enjoying nastier, smellier zompocalypse survival tales will find some things to like here--and some slower parts and ridiculousness. But the gore level was good, and the main setting (a ship, eventually) was a change from the mundane.
One word of caution: The ending (yes, this will be a mild spoiler)... It leaves possibility of a sequel, but that doesn't seem likely.
Overall, DEAD SEA is slightly above average for zombie books--but that's a pretty low bar. Most zombie books I've read have been 1 to 2 stars, with a few notable exceptions*.
*Some better (dare I say 'exceptional') books in the sub-genre:
[bc:The Reapers are the Angels|8051458|The Reapers are the Angels (Reapers, #1)|Alden Bell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388716938l/8051458._SY75_.jpg|12707063] [bc:The Girl with All the Gifts|17235026|The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl with All the Gifts, #1)|M.R. Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403033579l/17235026._SY75_.jpg|23753235]
Readers enjoying nastier, smellier zompocalypse survival tales will find some things to like here--and some slower parts and ridiculousness. But the gore level was good, and the main setting (a ship, eventually) was a change from the mundane.
One word of caution: The ending (yes, this will be a mild spoiler)...
Spoiler
is open-ended, with no resolution.Overall, DEAD SEA is slightly above average for zombie books--but that's a pretty low bar. Most zombie books I've read have been 1 to 2 stars, with a few notable exceptions*.
*Some better (dare I say 'exceptional') books in the sub-genre:
[bc:The Reapers are the Angels|8051458|The Reapers are the Angels (Reapers, #1)|Alden Bell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388716938l/8051458._SY75_.jpg|12707063] [bc:The Girl with All the Gifts|17235026|The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl with All the Gifts, #1)|M.R. Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403033579l/17235026._SY75_.jpg|23753235]
innae's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out slow. In fact, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish it...but then - about the mid point of the book, I had a hard time putting it down (I did, because I needed sleep). I have read quite a bit of horror, but not so many zombie novels, but it seemed pretty innovated that the animals (well some of them) became zombies, just like the humans. Dead humans stalking you is scary, a pack of dead dogs tracking you is down right horrific. I really enjoyed this novel and would rec it to horror fans out there.