Really enjoyed this book series

I thought this series was really well written, it took on a number of different perspectives and followed a number of groups, which I really liked however after much feedback TW cut down on this which I thought was disappointing, he also re-wrote the first few books following just one group each, these are 'Dead perspectives', 'Dead Vignettes' and 'Dead Geeks' I believe, so if you find lots of groups difficult to keep up with you might prefer these. He decided to keep it to 12 books which is a shame as it felt like there was a lot more these storylines could have given us. TW doesnt shy away from the horror of what could happen and there is a lot of differences between the groups (which is why I'm unsure what others found so difficult about it, if they were all very similar it would have been confusing and boring but they are very very varied which I loved) but he doesnt go too far into realms you dont want to wander into (like the Zombie Fallout series by Tufo). I liked that it followed zombies on occasion too as well as groups of survivors and he wasn't afraid to kill people off when their time was done.

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just average

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

it filled the time when cycleing to work

What will your next listen be?

im waiting for a dj moles reallyy

What does Andrew McFerrin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

not alot

If this book were a film would you go see it?

poss

Any additional comments?

was ok

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1 person found this helpful

Pretty standard stuff...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really... It's just a very 'run of the mill' Zombie jaunt. There's nothing particularly new or innovative in the novel. Everything is just 'okay' in my opinion.

Has DEAD: The Ugly Beginning put you off other books in this genre?

Definitely not! I love the zombie genre, but I wouldn't buy any more of this particular series.

Did Andrew McFerrin do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

I suppose he did. I liked his general narrator's voice. But I found one or two of his character voices quite irritating. Like the little girl in the story.

Do you think DEAD: The Ugly Beginning needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It already has... The author has quite a lot of characters. So you'd really need another book or two to explore the world in detail.

Any additional comments?

Not bad but not particularly good either. I much prefer the Mountain man series. I didn't particularly like the characters. The whole jaunt felt very self-referential as well - Which put me off too.

If you like Zombies, then you might like this, but don't expect anything new.

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One of the better reads in the genre

What did you like most about DEAD: The Ugly Beginning?

I liked the concept of writing about multiple groups, and it worked pretty well on the whole.

What was one of the most memorable moments of DEAD: The Ugly Beginning?

I think it was memorable because the writer didn't shy away from writing strong content that represented the darkest parts of human behaviour. I think a lot of writers consider doing what he does in this but then bottle out and use another character to do it too or lessen it. Dark things happen in real life, so with no laws I think reflecting that in writing is fine.

Have you listened to any of Andrew McFerrin’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No I haven't. I thought he did a fine job, though some of his female voices did leave a lot to be desired for me personally.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Oddly it was the woman in the office block I felt most for in the book. You'll know it if you read it, and I kind of felt for her, as I asked myself the same question she did during 911.

Any additional comments?

I read a lot of books in the zombie sub-genre of horror, and can say that this is one of the better ones. It isn’t perfect by any means but it is a very solid read as well.

The good points to the book are that the characters are on the whole fairly interesting. The writing is good, certainly for this type of fiction that tends to have a huge pile of horrible writers. The action is solid, exciting enough and comes along often enough to keep you engaged. The plot is much like any zombie novel, but does have a few touches of originality there as well.

The book does have a few negative aspects as well though, or at least for me. I didn’t like the fact the author wrote the book in a combination of first-person and third-person. This can be effective when writing from a MC (main character) perspective and then wanting to write about another group that is not with the MC, but in this book there are too many groups for this style to work well in my opinion. When you spend more time in third-person because of the fact there is more going on with the other groups compared to your MC then for me the change feels more awkward and unnecessary. See no reason not to have written this from third-person only.

Also I think that the book was very borderline on the amount of groups and individuals the writer took on here. I’m sure that some people will find it difficult to keep up with all that is going on, or will find it annoying having to keep remembering who people are and what they were doing when you last where reading about them. For me personally it wasn’t horrible, but it was borderline and some may not like it. It also means that the amount you can get done with each group is lessened.

The last sentence above leads to my final point. I felt that while the characters were fairly solid they were a little flat and two-dimensional. Some of this may just be the writer’s style, and some of it may be down to the fact he changed groups so often it left little room to expand on the characters themselves. When so much is going on that all you can write is action and discussions on what the characters plan to do next etc. it does make characters a little flat. When there are not many real conversations other than them planning this and that you don’t get to know them well, or care as much about them.

Overall this is a good read and so I gave it four stars, and might have given it five but for a few short-comings I’ve mentioned. Oh, and he does tend to get a little repetitive with his zombie descriptions I found. Something I hope he has worked on with his following books in this series.

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7 people found this helpful

Great Book

What did you like most about DEAD: The Ugly Beginning?

Many different groups in one book, a bit confusing to start but soon as you get the hang of which group is which you really get into it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of DEAD: The Ugly Beginning?

Steve grabbing and saving the little girl right at the start, there were some horrible memorable bits but those are for you to find out.

Any additional comments?

Wow a really dark writer, he goes much deeper into the darker side of humanity after the zombie wipeout. A real must for zombie book fans, no real humour in the book but light and shade in characters and their stories however long or brief

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4 people found this helpful

amazingly addictive

Where does Dead: The Ugly Beginning rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right at the very top,
The story is amazing, it's just a pleasure to have it read to you
Zombies are roaming the world, and a few groups are trying to survive, but not just from the zombies, there's people worse than the zombies
The good and bad characters are perfectly portrayed

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead: The Ugly Beginning?

When Steve's saves Thalia and then meets Theresa, and they take the food from the shop....It's funny that they take the meat...with a box of ice.
Just love everything about the story, I couldn't recommend it enough...

Have you listened to any of Andrew McFerrin’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No I haven't, but I'm sure there great ..
This sure is

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No...but I practically was listening all day

Any additional comments?

This is an excellent book, the story is definitely the best I've ever read/heard
I love the characters, they are so easy to love
The audio is quite a treat for any of the dead fans...

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1 person found this helpful