Customer Reviews

Down the Road: A Zombie Horror Story (Special Edition)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Down the Road by Bowie Ibarra continues the growing renaissance of the zombie tale. While not a great novel, Ibarra's first foray into novel lenght (though I would categorize this tale more as an extended novella than a full-blown novel) storytelling hits more than it misses.

Ibarra uses the the so-called "Romero Rules" in regards to the topic of the flesh-eating zombies in Down the Road. There are none of the Olympic-level sprinters of the recent trend in modern zombie films (Dawn of the Dead remake) and Ibarra's zombies remain slow, shambling creatures with the barest of motor functions and instinct (unlike the demon-possessed undead of Brian Keene's great, albeit nihilisitic The Rising and City of the Dead). The story is seen through the point of view of the main character, George Zaragoza, a high school teacher in an Austin school. The story starts off in quick form with George quickly going through preparing to leave the city to head for his boyhood home. There's not of the so-called "origin" chapters that usually used to explain how the crisis first began and where. Instead the reader gradually learns from George's interaction with people he meets during his roadtrip home about what exactly has been happening the past couple of weeks.

To say that George's travels once he leaves Austin was eventful would be an understatement. He doesn't just have to deal with the growing numbers of undead roaming the roads, by-ways and towns in his path, but also the danger of looters and criminals. Ibarra gives FEMA and Homeland Security top-billing as the living danger to bookend the growing undead. I may not agree with all his characterization of those two government agencies, but he does describe vividly just how quickly such organizations can go from protecting its citizens to posing a bigger danger in the end.

But his travels was not just about one dangerous crisis after the other. George meets up with other survivors who show and make him feel alive and give him some hope that not everyone has devolved to their most basest instinct. It's in some of these encounters that Ibarra has injected abit more sex in a zombie tale that other authors have not ventured deeply into. Who said a zombie tale meant character's libido has to be suppressed or be non-existent. How Ibarra came about in creating the situations for the sex scenes might seem incredulous at first, but who said such things couldn't occur. I've seen weirder things occur at frat houses.

Overall, Ibarra's first work looks to be a work of love by a fan of all things zombie and who knows exactly what other fans just like him want from their zombie tales. He doesn't overdo in layering his story with layers upon layers of themes and social commentary. While the theme of how far an individual will go to survive in a crisis is there, Ibarra still sticks to keeping the story moving quickly from one end to the other. I actually thought the novel as too short. He had so much ideas introduced in the first couple chapters that I think he could've added another 150 pages and not lose the reader's interest. But I'm assuming that's where the sequel novel comes in.

Down the Road: A Zombie Horror Story by Bowie Ibarra is a very good first try by a new writer in keeping the tradition of the zombie tale alive during this second Golden Age for the subgenre. While there's flaws in this first novel, the story itself moved at such a fast pace that I barely noticed the flaws until after I was done and by then I was already hooked by the world he had put on paper. I hope that with all the feedback he's received from fans and fellow writers both, Ibarra's sequel to this novel will be less of a jewel in the rough and more of the polished gem that I feel he has in him to write. I highly recommend this first novel to all fans of the zombie genre. They won't be disappointed.

Ok, I'll be blunt: this book was simply awful. The storyline was too simplistic, the characters dull and unrealistic, and the ending could have had potential if the author hadn't screwed up the rest of the story.

The author's writing style is sixth-gradish at best (shocking, since he is a high school teacher in Texas.): poor grammar, misuse of punctuation, and misspellings abound. In fact, it seems as though the author could not get it published at a real publisher and opted to hire a second-rate publisher and paid them to print the book. Believe me, it shows.

The story is simply the author's own fantasy of what he would do if the zombie apocolypse arrived. The sex scenes are a prime example (i.e. having sex in the principal's office with another teacher) of this fantasy. The main character, George, is simply the author with a different name. Taking a creative writing workshop would have enabled the author to avoid many of the storyline mistakes he made.

If you want to read a first-rate zombie novel, read Brian Keene's The Rising and City of the Dead. These two books are actually one enormous story that were well-written and quite scary, though the ending (no surpise here) is somewhat depressing (like the remake of Dawn of the Dead).

I was not entirely disappointed with this one, and I've read a lot of negative reviews. Being a fan of zombie fiction and with what limited books are available on the subject, I guess I'm willing to read past a lot of things. It is a limited playing field, but one that creative authors can really expand upon i.e. Vince Churchill, Len Barnhart, Brian Keene, etc. Bowie Ibarra's story takes place immediately after the world is thrown into chaos. One of the biggest complaints I've read was his bias against the U.S. Military and FEMA, and although it is quite evident I want to add to the fact that Bowie's story really adds something that a lot of stories do not address, and that is role of the military in a living dead world. Most people would assume that it would be every person left for themselves and every American institution would immedietely dissolve...and that would be absolutely incorrect. Military institutions would definetely try and take control. Why? Because if the President is still in power then it would be his or her responsibility to do so. Thus, those poor souls who were not consumed by the living dead would surely battle with the establishment as well.

So, I won't totally slam the book...it has another perspective on how people try and survive. I've read better and I've read worse. You just have to read past a lot of things, see its good points, because there surely are some (like the gangs at the stadium, trust me, when marshal law is declared people will be at there worst). I hope Bowie continues to write Zombie fiction and funnels that criticism into better books.

Down the Road was about a teacher by a teacher. The book keeps you guessing and is full of twists and turns. Definate page turner and not one for someone that is tired. It has a bit of everything, snarks, intense drama, revenge, erotica, ghost and don't forget zombies. (Never can forget them) A great afternoon read and one that will leave you with more questions than answer. I look forward to more from Bowie Ibarra.

Down the Road is a great premise. It has a good idea that is not executed very well. The author tried his dead level best to make the story emotionally engaging. I have to say he fails. The story has a lot of the zombie clichés we have come to expect. However, the book reads like a personal fantasy of what the author would do if a real zombie apoclypse struck. The main character, George, has stupid amounts of sex at inappropriate times in silly settings. There is a vain attempt to insert a subplot about his girlfriend's murder. It does not work and is way to full of coincidences. B. Ibarra does have some potential. The book picks up towards the very end and has a lot of promise. I liked the ending a lot. However, no matter how good the ending might be, it is soiled by the weak "rest of the book." I think Ibarra can get better; I might give him another chance, but I will not be expecting much. Unless he changes the way he approaches writing, he will not keep an audience for long. I forced myself to finish the book.

I ordered this book and waited weeks for it. After the long wait I really wanted to like this book. I also wanted to finish it. This is the first book I haven't been able to finish because it was so bad.

Let's start with saying I am a Romero fan, and a fan of the Zombie genere for a long time now. This book seems to want to be a side-story set in Romero's world, but if the author tried he missed by a long shot. Reading this I felt like I was reading a 14 year old's short story written for his english class.

The author puts to much of his personel feeling into this book. The author put his view of the police and the goverment into this book, instead of letting the main chactor devolpe. The "scenes" in this book don't seem to last for more then a page or two. With the notiable expection of the Sex scene which last 4 or 5 pages. Once again the author seemed to want to live out his fantasy in this book.

The main chactor is a teacher, but if he was a real teacher I would be afaird of having him teach my children. He runs over two policemen without hesition because they where writing out tickets to people as they tried to leave the city. What the author must feel like would happen in real life if he did this everyone in traffic followed without even thinking about the death of the police offices.

After reading more then half the book, I couldn't find the conferntion betweeen main charactors. In fact whenever the main chactor mets up with someone there are best friends. This is a vital piece of a zombie movie is the conflicts between main chactors.

The book seems to jump ahead and does not like things devolpe. Like the realtion between the main chactor and a teacher he saves. The main chactor went to the school to save a cross that his finacee once owned because he loved her so much, but has sex with this teacher at the drop of a hat. Let the realtion build up I say, but the author seemed to want to write about how the sex to eagerly.

on a final note, with any good zombie film you should be able to identfy with a chactor. But the main chactor is totaly unapprocable. He is a teacher with a bad attuide, who hates the law and goverment because there always trying to push you around. Oh did I mention that he also knows boxing and martial arts. A general superman all around.

the world zombie, by the way, should almost never be said in a zombie story.

Please forgive my spelling. I have tried to spell correctly. My advice don't waste your money on this teenage boys fantsy.

Down the Road was a frightening yet entertaining tale. The story of a shool teacher trying to get from the city that he works in to his home town, and the problems that occur along the way. He deals with FEMA and the government response to it all, a drug dealing crime lord, and a past that haunts him.

Living through hurricane Rita in Southeast Texas showed me that he wasn't too far off with the craziness of how the government responds to catastrophies and the main character's own personal demons really added a depth of character to the story.

All in all it is a book that I am proud to have in my library.

Down the Road: A Zombie Horror Story is Bowie Ibarra's first novel and is a respectable effort. The book follows George Zaragoza, a teacher, as he tries to make his way home through a zombie infested wasteland. Along the way he has to fight through zombies, FEMA road blocks, and other survivors. While the story keeps you interested and the book is well paced, it just lacks the moxie that some of the better zombie novels have.

I'll start with the good in the book, which makes up most of it. First, Down the Road explores the possible role of FEMA in apocalyptic situation. It seems that FEMA in Down Road was heavily influenced by the reaction to Katrina. It also feeds into the heavy conspiracy theories that several of the characters have. I also like that the Ibarra never really gets into trying explain what caused the outbreak as generally it just bogs down the story and in many cases strains your suspension of disbelief. Instead Ibarra uses the characters speculation on what may have happened.

Down the Road does several other things right. The action scenes are very well described and I, at times, could feel my heart rate rising. Now that is an indicator that the scenes are framed well. Another thing that I enjoyed was the description of how small towns and civilians reacted to the outbreak. I think that Ibarra portrays the small town "call the men to duty" defense down properly. There are also some very nice twists to the story that will throw you for loop, and maybe one of the best endings I have read in a zombie novel.

Now the things that I didn't like so much. The first thing that jumps to mind is that the zombies, while Romero style, had no personality. In most zombie novels the zombies have some defining moment. Like in Kim Paffenroth's Dying to Live there are several and in Z.A Recht's Plague of the Dead when there is an outbreak at sea. Down the Road just never has that one moment where the true terror of a zombie plague shows through.

I'm not against sex and romance in zombie horror, but the sex scenes in Down the Road did not seem to serve any other purpose in the story than just to have a sex scene. These scenes did not in anyway move the story forward or contribute anything meaningful to it either. The only thing it does show is how people hump like bunnies when faced with certain death. Nothing new there.

Ibarra's writing style, while not bad, was not inspiring either. At times the story just seemed to jump from one thing directly to the next leaving the reader questioning why. I point the finger at the first sex scene as an example. Overall, though, for a first novel the writing is pretty good.

So, where do I stand on Down the Road? Well, it's an entertaining read with an interesting main character and does introduce some new elements to the zombie genre but lacks the character of some of the better zombie books. However, if you are a zombie fan this a good read and should not disappoint too many.

The book started off well, but quickly went downhill. While the writing itself isn't bad, the behavior of the people in the book is simply too unbelievable. Certain parts reminded me of the plot a a cheap porno. Example: while hordes of zombies are literally on the other side of the wall, and could break in at any time, the main character has sex multiple times with a colleague (who was grading papers in the middle of the apocalypse) in various different rooms of a school. Perhaps a bit unrealistic? The ruthlessness of the common American soldier is also unrealistic. They are portrayed as mindless killers who blindly follow the orders of the government to kill all people who refuse to go to a FEMA camp. Members of the military are our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and relatives. Do you really think they would go around killing helpless Americans simply because they were told to? The ATF would (and has), but as a member of the US military, I can tell you that most of us are normal people who would never obey an order to fire on unarmed Americans. Basically, the characters in this book are just too two dimensional and ruin what could be a good story.

A Gary Stu of the first order. Always check the publishing house: this came from 'authorhouse' which means the author ponied up the cash to print it but not, alas, edit it or shape it. There's typos galore, mispellings, and just cringe-inducing writing. Thank God I got it from the library. The author tells the reader things instead of showing them---i.e., "He felt fear"!----and that's what the punctuation looks like, too. Could have been a good tale, too, which is another disappointment.

The writing is bad, the plot is not thought out, the author's prejudices come through, jarringly, in parts, as when he constantly presents the lead character's opinions as facts, and all of it combine to make a sludgy mix to drag through. All the dialogue sounded stiff, and was badly-punctuated besides.

Nobody should be allowed to treat zombies like this.