This is only the second book by Bryan Smith I have read - both have been zombie novels - and I still don't have a handle on whether or not I really like is work. It doesn't help that this was a reprint of Smith's second novel with an afterword explaining that he actually rewrote some of it prior to the reprint, so I can't tell if the aspects of the book I didn't care for are the product of a writer's earlier work, or indicative of his overall style.

Deathbringer is not a bad book overall; it is entertaining and well written, and far from the worst zombie book I've ever read. However, there are some narrative choices that worked against my enjoyment of the story. Smith is very adept at painting a colorful picture of the escalating violence and terror - he knows how to use his words - and yet he often reverts to the cliche of a character either sensing something is wrong before anything "wrong" presents itself, or of one character seeing or sensing something in another character's eyes. Halfway through it starts to feel like someone's Spidey-sense is tingling every five pages. with this much psychic premonition and eyeball reading taking place, it's a wonder that anything needs to be communicated through dialogue. Which would be preferable in some spots, considering the occasional exposition-heavy info-dumps on either simple stuff that doesn't need a detailed conversation (Fight or Flight? Let's discuss the benefits of each...), overly-complicated stuff that doesn't need to be (Great, Grim Reapers have a labor union.), or background information that serves little if any purpose (Do we really need to keep rehashing the origin story of a teen thrill killer?). This is especially frustrating with the dialogue, which feels organic and natural in some spots, then downright clunky in others. There are other minor narrative choices that irked me as well, such as the mysterious weapon that is alluded to vaguely through most of the story; if you are going purposely and obviously conceal the nature of the hero's secret weapon every time it is mentioned in the first and second act, the big reveal in the third act should illicit more than a shrug from the reader. It's like when a movie pulls the slow head-turn from behind reveal of a character and nobody recognizes the actor. A wasted flourish.

I'll also admit some of my dissatisfaction with Deathbringer is due to personal bias, or preference, if you will. While I am a hugs fan of zombie fiction, I am not what you would call a strong advocate of fantasy elements like sorcery or witchcraft in my horror, especially when it is on a level of Dawn of the Dead meets Harry Potter with Necronomicon bootlegs and a Grim Reaper organization that is accessible via a Google search (not an exaggeration). A good third of these fantasy elements might have worked if played for humor (like the website), but there's too much hokey hocus pocus played with a straight face without actually earning it. Also, being a long-time fan of the Splatterpunk genre that emerged in the nineties, much of the violence and gore in Deathbringer felt like it was reaching for Splatterpunk without actually achieving it, leaving some of the more prolonged sequences feeling forced. And there's nothing that explains why most of the resurrected living-dead fiends are magically imbued with a snarky sense of humor, which also ends up feeling forced most of the time.

If it seems like I'm nitpicking too much, it is only because there is enough in Smith's writing to like that the flaws stand out like festering boils on an otherwise pretty face. So take the criticism however you want. As far as zombie bools go, it's a decent read. Just don't expect too much. ( )

First, the positive stuff. The book was easy to get into. Writing is simple and easily adapted to as the reader is dragged through the messy, gory ride. The super-quick pace makes it fly by. Action is always happening, even if you don't necessarily care about all of it.

The story is a zombie tale with an unusual plot overshadowing it with different twists added to the genre. Instead of people just randomly rising from the dead for some bizarre reason, a deathbringer (kind of a like a reaper) has decided to go rogue and unleash his special brand of magic beginning with a small town. He unlocks it with the murder of a sweet girl at the beginning and from then all hell breaks loose. There are two types of zombies - some more intelligent than others, designed for a divine purpose, and the rest mindless flesh eaters who ramble along.

The deathbringer has the goal of converting many into mindless zombies for a brutal type of army, but needs elements in order to achieve his purpose. There is an organization fighting against him, as well as the grieved folks of the first deceased woman which started it all.

Now, for the negatives: the characters are completely unlikeable. Their personalities, the way they're written, their actions, everything. I'm a big character focused person so this dampered the book for me quite a bit. The two main characters are amazingly detestable in almost everything they do. They dominate the page time with cheesy lines and vicious acts. The others, even if I didn't hate them, were written with bare minimum characteristics to where I cared nothing about what happened to them. I couldn't take any of the dialogue and emotions as convincing.

The violence was heavy, which isn't a turn off in itself if the rest of the book is working, but without other substance I found the constant use of it unpleasant. Frankly most of the death and torture parts just bored me as they were there for a shock story and little else. I think the book could have been improved upon if some of the action was gotten rid of, believe it or not, and more of the characters or the fascinating uniqueness about the story had been fleshed out. The basic plot was a very good one, more details (whether behind the scenes leading up to it, or more in the mind of the villain and what drove him, etc.) would have enhanced it. ( )

Nice quick read. Quick paced and page turning. While I haven’t read a ton of zombie fests in my day, this seemed to be typical of a lot of zombie filled stories I’ve been aquainted with in the past. This did have an interesting background which I would like to read more about. The history of the DeathBringer was intriguing enough to make me curious to read more on the background. Overall not bad. ( )

This is the first Bryan Smith book that I've read, and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. It was creepy and the characters - both good and evil - were well developed. I love when you can sympathize with the "bad guy" in a book, and I could definitely do that in this one. ( )

Great, Fun horror. ( )