Dead October [Paperback]

Alex Kaminski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2005

In the mountains of northern New York lies the urban metropolis of Pandora City. Its eight million plus citizens enjoy a low crime rate and the support of the massive Hyperion Medical Corporation International, formally one of the biggest medical companies in the world. Unfortunately Hyperion is on the brink of bankruptcy. On October 23, a group of cargo planes crossed the border and reached Pandora. A huge paratroop drop commenced. All the civilians in the city were killed. The next day a team of U.S. Army Rangers went into the city as an expeditionary force. They were killed, and their helicopter returned covered in an unknown airborne virus. Now, a small team from the biohazard response unit Rainbow Group, along with a couple hundred Marines, has come to the city to rescue survivors. But they will soon learn that there are bigger powers at work in the dead streets of Pandora.

Product Details

• Paperback: 193 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (August 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413782124
• ISBN-13: 978-1413782127
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh look ma! A fair review of the book that doesn't call the author anything and gives out helpful criticism ! ALERT THE PRESSES!, November 3, 2005

By 

Lishia "She is the writer of fair reviews. Sh... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead October (Paperback)

First off, I am amazed by the lack of maturity shown by the reviewers here. Learn how to snark and type properly, THEN write a review. Saying that this book needs to be burned? Going to become one of the fireman in Fahrenheit 451, are we?

Anyway, onto the review. I reside in the city and go to the same school that said writer goes to. I have briefly talked about his book to him, but I told him I'd save the meat of it for this.

First, pros. The characters in the book do have some depth, and aren't all one-dimensional. The prose, while clumsy at times, gets the job done and offers a bit to the imagination. Also, it gives a reasonable explanation and offers a bit of the inner workings of a virus that revives the dead. I actually thought at points that 'hey, that could actually work.'The swearing in the book doesn't seem forced at all, and seems to work with the characters. And the creatures that he created gave me some very vivid mental images. I hope I never meet up with a 'giant'.

Now for the cons. I didn't like that the backstories of a character actually took you from the action to explain. A better way would have been to work in the character's backstory slowly instead of stopping the action and explaining. Also, he gave backstories to charcters that were cannon fodder. He told me that this was so that you could relate to the fodder before they died in a fount of blood, but I found myself saying 'Uh, why did he just tell me about this guy's life when he just died?' But hey, at least the cannon fodder can't complain anymore about not having any defining features.*

The plot is borrowing from Resident Evil; but the author told me that originally, the story was a remake of RE. I, being a fanfiction writer who is currently doing a re-telling myself, understand.

There are minor spelling errors, but I have heard that this was the fault of the Editors. The prose, as I mentioned, is a bit clumsy and sometimes fails at going smoothly, but it's very well done for a 15 year old. Yes, there are inconsistencies, BUT mostly they are taken care of.

All in all, this is a good book. Slightly above average, but it has potential. And, seeing as this is just one in a series, most likely the writing will improve. I give Dead October a Three out of Five.



* "Yeah, I know we're just cannon fodder, but they can't they at least give us defining features?" Ah, Pulp Fiction. We love you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars just a few thoughts..., December 28, 2005

By 

Olivia "Ruthberg" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead October (Paperback)

...After all the reviews this book has received, I was almost afraid to pick up the book! But I will say this: In response to "Lishia"'s comment on "fanfiction", I must remind everyone that most fanfiction should be restricted to fanfiction websites, such as fanfiction.net and similar online archives. While fanfiction is a nice way to get your writing groove on, one should really concentrate on advancing towards original characters and original plotlines. From what I have seen of this novel, there is a lot of what has been referred to as "remade" material. I will admit that there are a lot of remade publications and productions out there, such as the recent Kong movie, as well as numerous fantasy novel spinoffs of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. However, note that these are remakes of CLASSICS. They are, for the most part, using a new angle to delve into old, tried and true storylines. And, in terms of fanfiction, "Wicked" (the musical) is an arguable case. It certainly uses L. Frank Baum's characters from the Oz series, but instead of reworking the storyline, it has created a whole new plotline that takes place before "The Wizard of Oz".

By no means should anyone be dissuaded from writing fanfiction. It is a wonderful means of developing your writing skills without having to go through the trouble of creating your own brand-new cast of characters and universe (as well as back stories, plausibility, etc.), and there are certainly exceptionally well-written fanfiction out there. But the point is to at some point in time STEP AWAY from that and become an independent writer.

My best wishes to the author. I hope his next book will show us that he is capable of original ideas.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Retardation on a whole new level, October 10, 2005

By 

Doug-E-Fresh "E-Fresh" (Mount Pleasant, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead October (Paperback)

I really wish they had a 0 star rating...

First off, I hate the cover of this book. Did you hold a contest for a bunch of 5 year olds and have the best one be put on your cover? $19.99 for this book?! It is under 200 pages and crap. I hated this book front to back, it had no story, no characters, I pretty much could have read warning labels and gotten a better story. This book sucks, you suck, and I hate you. This book did however come in useful when I ran out of toilet paper.