Thursday, January 31, 2013

Annie Walls: Taking on the Dead


In her debut novel, Annie Walls enter the paranormal genre with a zombie novel, where even zombies are not what they seem.

Kansas (Kan) is a true survive. She has what it takes to get things done, even if it means killing those you love and is a true survivor. She has survived the past four years alone, scavenging for what she needs as well as gaining the knowledge to make her life easier. One thing she does relish in is killing zombies and she has become very efficient at it. When she stumbles on a small group of people who are under attack, she hesitates to help as she has not seen people for four year, but her human side takes over and she saves them. Kan learns that the new world and zombies are not quite what she expects and with the knowledge she has acquired before and after the world changed she knows she has the ability to help others. But everything that Kan has learned, trained and prepared for may not be enough to survive in this new world.

This is a great debut novel, Walls really knows how to start a series off. I really enjoyed this book. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. I first discovered this book when it was on a book blog tour and I was entering all the contests I could to win a copy. The premise and previous reviews sounded so promising, that I needed to get my hands on the book. I was very lucky to get a copy and could not wait to read and review it. This book had basically everything that I want in a zombie novel. It is creepy, dark, at times terrifying and it makes you think that zombies may not be the worst thing in this new world. Although the zombie genre has taken off in the past two years, there seems to be very little variation as to what actually occurs within the actual genre. I enjoyed the twist that Walls puts on the zombies, having them be smarter than the average one, and another twist that is very very interesting but I do not want to give it away, you will need to read the book to discover it yourself. However, it is safe to say that I have not read a zombie novel with this twist.

I loved Kan (real name Kansas City Sunshine Moore....yeah don't even get me started on that one...) as a character, especially at the beginning. She is a great mix of strong and soft (when you get to see that side of her) and you become very impressed at her ability to survive by herself for four years and you do not fault her with her wanting but not wanting company. She also has put the four years she has lived alone to great use by absorbing as much knowledge as she can as she never knows what might be useful to her. However, somewhere around the three-quarters part of the book, I found that Walls loses Kan as a character, she changes, not for the better. All of a sudden she is taking risks that she would not before and has now decided to rely on the men who are around her. I was like I want the old Kan back and I was confused as to what happened to her and that she could lose who she was so quickly. It appeared that by the end of the book the old Kan was coming back but I won’t really know till the next book.

I appreciate that Walls does not overdue the romance or sex within the book, as this seems to be the norm in most of the books that are written these days. There is definite tension between Kan and two characters, and I personally love Rudy, but I am sure there are those that will choose Mac. One thing about having more people around, as I feel we lose a bit of Kan in the process. Like J. L Bourne's novels my favorite parts of this book are when Kan is fending for herself or when there are very few people around her. I feel that this makes her strive to survive instead of just relying on those around here and let’s be honest Kan is a true survivor and warrior.

The one aspect that I found that was cliché in the book/plot/storyline/ is the idea of women being breading stock, but in all reality this is probably what would occur, as there will always be some cult/person/government agency that feels they should be the ones to control repopulating the Earth. Also I was not too sure about the government they kept talking about but it made very little appearance in the book, so I hoping that aspect will be developed further in the other novels

If you are looking for your next zombie read, make sure to pick this one up at the book store, I think that it has a little bit of everything for those who like the zombie genre. I cannot wait for the next book to be published to see what happens next. Walls has set a very high standard with her debut novel and I think will be an author to watch out for.

Enjoy!!!!
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