Death Troopers (Star Wars) [Mass Market Paperback]

Joe Schreiber (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 26, 2010 | Series: Star Wars

When the Imperial prison barge Purge—temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves—breaks down in a distant part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back—bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine.

And death is only the beginning.

The Purge’s half-dozen survivors will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting aboard the Star Destroyer. For the dead are rising: soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is the Star Wars of every horror fan’s dreams—gory, funny, and brimming with a blood-spattered cast of swashbucklers and space-zombies.”—Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

“Brilliant . . . This book combines two of my favorite things on earth: the Star Wars universe and the undead.”—Tommy Wirkola, director of Dead Snow

About the Author

Joe Schreiber is the author of Chasing the Dead, Eat the Dark, and No Doors, No Windows. He was born in Michigan but spent his formative years in Alaska, Wyoming, and Northern California. He lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife, two young children, and several original Star Wars action figures.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: LucasBooks; Reprint edition (October 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345520815
• ISBN-13: 978-0345520814
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #111,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Michigan in 1969 and lived all over: Alaska, California, Wyoming, all before age 10. The restlessness sank in -- after graduating from the University of Michigan, I just kept moving. I've lived in LA, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and Martha's Vineyard. Constant relocation forced me to be creative in my employment: I've been a pet-sitter, an office boy in a DC law office, waited tables and worked at something like six different Borders Bookstores...which has to be a record. These days I work as an MRI tech at Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 86 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Released just in time for Halloween 2009, this is the first R-rated Star Wars horror story. A dad's review. November 4, 2009

By P. Rownd

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read a fair share of Star Wars books, but never anything this gory or downright scary. Star Wars is usually pretty tame. So I was surprised to find this book whose cover is comprised of a bloody Stormtrooper head hanging from a chain with a hook jammed through its eye. I like old-school Star Wars, from the Classic Era, Episodes IV-VI, so I was eager to read this to see what the "Death Troopers" were all about. Well, that decapitated Stormtrooper head scene is actually in the book, along with many others that could probably not be proudly displayed at your local bookstore. I'm actually surprised that this book doesn't contain a warning label or sticker that this book is for "Suggested for Mature Readers". But here it is, for the first time, a Star Wars book about flesh-eating zombies in deep space. Parents, the Clone Wars this book is not. Here are some sample lines:

"[The zombie's] mouth was buried in Pauling's throat and it was busily slurping its blood, ripping off huge gobbets of his flesh... Strands of Pauling's flesh were dangling from its teeth."

"The leg was connected to a torso, covered up by another, and another, the pile growing in front of him comprising what he realized was hundreds of dismembered corpses--heads, arms, legs, and whole bodies, bare bones, many of them still dressed in rotten Imperial uniforms... hacked recklessly to pieces, still others partially devoured, whole gobbets of of flesh gnawed off. Many of the parts were bloated to the point where the skin itself had begun to split open like sausages..."

Well, that's probably enough for you to get the idea. There's an exciting, gritty story here with a couple of fun cameos from classic Star Wars characters, but to get through it your imagination will have to cope with all kinds of horrific imagery and gristly situations where people eat each other alive and poke weapons into eye sockets and shove cleavers into heads. There are also some heart-racing chases in the dark for those who dig that kind of thing. So if you like that stuff, you'll enjoy this. I can't say I ENJOYED that part of it, but I was able to stomach the content and I particularly enjoyed the fact that it takes place within 5 years of Star Wars: Episode IV. However, I can't imagine letting my little boy crack this book open and I hope other parents won't blindly buy this book for their kids just because "it's Star Wars". If you wouldn't let your kids read a book based on Night Of The Living Dead, steer them clear of Death Troopers too.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy Fun in the Star Wars Universe October 14, 2009

By Steven M. Kuhnhofer Jr.

Format:Hardcover

I became aware of this book through the video trailers fans had done for it. I am a huge zombie genre fan and a Star wars junkie. This was just too good to be true. If you enjoy Star Wars, Horror, or Zombie fiction you will enjoy this book. The pacing is fast and addictive. The characters are realistic and approachable.

If there is anything to complain about this book is that it is fast paced. For the first time I sat down and read a book from cover to cover in one sitting. I haven't owned the book for 24 hours and have finished the book. Part of me is curious to see if there will be another book following the characters that survive the events in the book or if the infection will become a series of books. That the concepts from the book are being brought into the Galaxies MMO and the fan adoption of the ideas makes me hopeful that this is not the last we will see of this type of book in the Star Wars Universe.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea...mediocre execution *Spoiler alert* November 21, 2009

By Adam J. Colby

Format:Hardcover

As most everyone who picked up this book, I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I've read many of the books (not all...but many) from different points in time in the SW universe (Old Republic - New Jedi Order), and have always favored the Old Republic timeline. But this book stood out against all the others for it's time frame. Obviously because it had a Stormtrooper helmet with blood smeared across it and hanging from a hook through the eye-shield (who wouldn't like that), and being a horror fan it just "spoke" to me. I read this book quickly (very short read). And the introduction of two SW Universe Juggernauts (Han and Chewie) half way through did take the ending out of the entire story. Though I did find myself wondering just who else would survive if anyone. Over all this book kept me interested (even if just barely...at times), a fast paced horror story that matches any of the numerous Zombie movie story lines that have come out in the past 10 years (for those that like consistency in their horror), and the fact that the infected are "smart" (aka they learn) makes for a fun angle. But there are flaws in the story that didn't add up. I ignored them but they kept nagging at me throughout (Eg: How do people supposedly immune suddenly become infected?).

It is a very gory read compared to any other SW book out there. If you have a weak stomach then I wouldn't recommend. But if you like horror and/or Star Wars this is a good book (not great but good) read it once and just shelf it. Have arguments with your friends on the validity of its existence in the SW cannon...it should make for some good conversations for geeks like me:) Not the BEST book but certainly not the WORST.