Customer Reviews

The Dishonored Dead: A Zombie Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What happens when you reverse the roles of humans and zombies, add an upside down government along with mother earth's hidden energy? You get a remarkably inventive, fresh story line with a plot that keeps on surprising you at every turn. Robert Swartwood's eBook, "The Dishonored Dead", kept me on edge and turning pages the entire way through - just when I thought it couldn't get any better, Swartwood introduces a new twist that blows your mind. I spend a lot of time reading books in the zombie genre, and I'm always amazed when I run across a totally new idea that extends the realm of the genre. I was lucky enough to receive a copy for review.

The book starts off with our protagonist, Conrad, on a zombie hunting mission with his broadsword. He had spent years on similar hunts, beheading more zombies than he could count, his broadsword never failing to taste blood. As his raises his arms to deliver the killing blow to a zombie child, he hesitates; something is wrong - he pauses to think, something that has never happened before. One of his fellow hunters has to finish the job, and thus begins the downfall of Conrad's life and the beginning of his troubles.

He has a wife and son, and neither of them know what Conrad does for a living - the Zombie Hunter Code prevents them from telling anyone what they do, not to mention the fact that there are zombie sympathizers out there trying to kill zombie hunters so they must remain secretive. Oh, and guess what? In this story, living humans are called zombies, and they are being hunted by the living dead, who make up the normal society on earth. The roles are reversed because zombies won the zombie apocalypse and humans are on the verge of extinction. Swartwood has successfully reversed the roles of humans and zombies and made it very believable.

Conrad gets released from his job, and is placed in a top secret quasi-government lab which has been experimenting on zombies and might be considered out of control should the government actually know how their black budget dollars were being spent. The agency means well, is trying to save the world, but uses questionable methods much like our CIA, NSA, etc. Meanwhile, the hunter who had to take over Conrad's failed zombie kill becomes an antagonist to Conrad as well as the agency's status quo. This part of the book reads like Clancy and the suspense and intrigue will keep you on edge.

Soon we find out how zombies are created, and Conrad's son, wife, and sister-in-law all become key players in the story adding to Conrad and the world's trouble. Things get pretty hairy, but there's more surprises in store. I don't want to put any spoilers in here, but let's just say this turns into a possible apocalypse within an apocalypse, with mother nature taking charge with Conrad's help.

As I said before, this is one if the most unique zombie novels I've ever read, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I contacted the author and asked for an interview to learn more about the book and how it came to be. It is a shame this book is currently only in eBook form, because I know it would do well on the shelves of any brick and mortar bookstore as well as in online stores. It would be in your best interests to get this book on your e-bookshelf as soon as possible. It's a must-read.

I loved this book. At first I was a little skeptical about the premise of the Dead ruling the world, but my opinion changed after reading the first sentence of the book. From that point on I couldn't put down the book. Swartwood's character development is superb. The storytelling is first rate with so many twists and turns, I had to catch my breath several times. All I could find myself saying was WOW!

Buy this book, you will never look at zombies in the same light again!

Bravo!!

Robert Swartwood did an excellent job in creating a different type of zombie novel. He uses his unique imagination to create this world like know other.

This is a zombie novel that you don't want to put down. I found myself reading until 2 in the morning because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. It is well worth the time and money!

When I began reading this book, I was largely unaware of the plot, but a good friend had highly recommended it to me. Thus, I was a bit confused at first, coming to realize that the "zombies" were actually the living, and the the dead were largely in charge. I was fascinated with this more unique take on the zombie genre, and the story kept me interested throughout the entire book. Lots of action, plot twists and excitement throughout and I too must echo my friend's strong recommendation. I enjoyed the book enough that I bought another of Swartwood's books to read & enjoyed that very much too,

YOU NEED TO BUY THIS BOOK! it basically has the living dead in charge of the world and calls the living people zombies. Kind of hard to get straight at first but if you know that it will help. Every parent is aprehensive of their childs 10th birthday because there is a chance of them becoming zombies (living people) then. The group of people tasked with taking these people out are called the Hunters but they actually use some zombies for new ideas as they have no imagination or have true feelings. Great perspective and different from brain dead zombies just wanting to eat everyone.

Best $.99 I have spent in a long time....

A punch in the gut. A family history, with a secret. A marriage disolving, when it can be saved, a father protecting his wife and children while trying to save the world from the monsters. A truth revealed, traitors and a society that fears any differences. Add into this mix a world that doesn't know it's own history. Great job by Robert. He doesn't make the mistake of explaining how the world got to this point, sticking to a strong story and the people involved. I would love to rave about it more, but then this will have so many spoilers, it would ruin the story for you.

I stopped reading The Dishonored Dead on page 84 after trying to find something about the story that would make me want to finish reading it. Unfortunately I just can't get into this book. The premise, the characters, and the writing are just flat and boring in my opinion.

One of the big keys to this kind of fiction is getting the reader to suspend their disbelief. This book lobs so many ridiculous ideas at the reader in rapid succession that I just found it impossible to enjoy. Some examples:

- The zombie hunters are a group of sword wield undead police who go around chopping off the heads of the living (zombies).

- Little (undead) kids grow up (undead can grow up?) playing zombie hunter video games.

- It is illegal for the undead to be creative or to *gasp*, write poetry.

- The undead can get pregnant.

Nothing about this story really rang true on any level. The whole thing felt flat and contrived to me. The protagonist and his wife were both just so two dimensional that the whole thing felt forced and was frankly just uncomfortable to read.

Granted fiction is subjective but I really don't understand the glowing reviews of this book from well know authors. The more I rethink this review the more I wonder if giving it 2 stars isn't overly generous.