David Tallerman

The world changed with the coming of a sickness with no cure. Civilization has descended into violence and chaos. Those who are well struggle to survive and avoid the Sickers. At a former prison, now called Funland, survivors hunker down and form a safe zone. Sickers can't get inside the prison walls, but sometimes survivors are even more deadly than the infected.

This story reminded me so much of The Walking Dead. It definitely has the same vibe. Survivors not only have to avoid those who are infected, but other survivors as well. Power struggles. Violence. Scavenging. Human nature.

There is a lot of action in this story. Definitely never a dull moment. It definitely kept my attention from beginning to end. Total binge read. Once I got sucked into the story, I just couldn't stop reading. I kept seeing the action playing out in my head like a movie. I love it when my head gets totally immersed in a story like that. Definitely gave me the same feeling that The Walking Dead used to -- in the seasons where they were in the prison or fighting The Governor. Great action! Exciting and lots of drama and power struggles going on. There are a lot of characters and the point of view changes between them. Usually I don't like POV switching around like that, but for this story it really worked.

Thorougly enjoyed this story! I look forward to reading more by this author!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (meer)

This started strong, with an interesting rogue in interesting trouble and just getting deeper. But the entire extended middle section of the book is driven in spite of the main character, because all he wants to do is escape it. It's hard to maintain much interest when he has none, so by the time he finally came around and realised he'd been an arse (something I'd realised approximately a hundred-fifty pages earlier) I wasn't really that involved. In the end, he learned some heartwarming lessons, maintained his devil-may-care grin, and encouraged us along for further adventures that I will not be attending, even if he might actually be more invested in them now.

I do appreciate the way it turns the humble-boy-taken-from-home-turned-king and magic-stone-is-the-key-to-it-all on its head. But I dramatically do not appreciate the way the paper-thin villain has tremendously bad plans, buckets of evil, and a scimitar. There is just not enough new, interesting, or compelling here.… (meer)

Meddling with reality is dangerous.

It's especially dangerous when your enemy has gotten possession of your device and doesn't understand important aspects of it, has removed all safety features--and intends to use it as a weapon.

And when the device itself has its own opinions on what's "harmful" and what's not.

Florrian is traveling with the device that will prove all his scientific theories when a rival organization attempts to steal it. The drastic action he takes can potentially threaten the fabric of reality unless he--or some alternate version of him--or is it her?--can come up with a way to set things right.

I had no idea where this was going at first, and it's a wild ride, but it's a lot of fun.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.… (meer)