No Easy Hope (Surviving the Dead) [Kindle Edition]

James Cook (Author)

Book Description

Surviving the Dead Volume II: This Shattered Land, now available.

Eric Riordan was once a wealthy man leading a comfortable, easy life. Until one day Gabriel--his oldest friend,  a Marine Corps veteran, and a former mercenary--told him how the world was going to end.

He did his best to prepare. He thought he was ready for anything.

He was wrong.

As the dead rise up to devour the living, one man finds himself struggling to survive in the ruins of a shattered world. Alone, isolated, and facing starvation, his only chance is to flee to the Appalachians and join forces with Gabriel. But the journey will not be easy, and along the way his humanity, his will to live, and his very soul will be tested.

This is the beginning. This is his story.

Product Details

• File Size: 665 KB
• Print Length: 349 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1482735245
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0064VVR0Q
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,648 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #76 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great! December 17, 2011

By Robert Thornburgh

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When you pay $2.99 for a book on Amazon you never know what you're going to get as far as quality, especially in this genre. I have to say that this was one of the MUCH better books, if not THE best, I have read in this price range since I started buying books for Kindle. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in zombie story-telling as an example of what can be done when you pay attention to detail (particularly pertaining to grammar and spelling) and have an actual story to tell, as opposed to simply finding new ways of describing killing zombies. This is a very good and well thought out book. Buy this book, I guarantee you will like it.

57 of 65 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It's a good/okay read December 26, 2011

By D.D.

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm an avid reader of Z-books. If it has a reasonable length and is a reasonable price, I'll buy it. "Handbooks," novels, anthologies, you name it. That said, I've developed a taste for what I enjoy most, which sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy new authors.

I give this book a 3/5 because, by and large, the book focuses primarily on the emotions, love lives, and friendships of the characters. There was a minimum of actual Z-engagements. In addition, the main character's behavior seems unbelievable to me, unless he is the most altruistic individual one could hope to meet.

I'll probably purchase and read the second book; the framework has been laid for a novel more along the lines of what I'm accustomed to.

If you're the type who likes zombies but don't care for the gore or if you're a fan of Austen-esque descriptions of characters and the like, this book is for you.

43 of 50 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars This book needed an editor January 15, 2012

By The Generic American

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think this author has talent and I know how hard it is to finish a challenging project of this nature, but I think this book would have been vastly improved by an editor who would have challenged the writer to make better choices. For one, an editor would have told the author to radically scale back on the endless guns, ammo, and martial arts descriptions that quickly became tedious and are only really of interest to ardent gun enthusiasts. Weaponry is obviously an important part of the zombie world, but it kills any book where it becomes the main focus.

Also, the character development is lacking. All the male characters seem to be cut from the same generic blue collar meat and potatoes man template and the dialogue rarely rises above one dimensional locker room talk. There is little true vulnerability or growth and I found it hard to relate to or connect with the characters.

Also, the plotting suffered because the dialogue was mostly expository.

I do plan to buy the next book in the series because I think the author has promise, but he really needs to rethink some of what he does. I just read another zombie book called "Into the Badlands" that avoids all these pitfalls and generated a lot of suspense and character connection by making its characters 3 dimensional, vulnerable, and real.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read... January 21, 2012

By PA Mom

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was definitely worth the $2.99 and it was an engaging read. I think the author's focus on the characters rather than just the zombie encounters was a smart choice and for me, a welcomed change.

With that said, there are a few minor points of contention for me:
*editing-it seems to be a trend with e-books, but missing words, misspellings and grammatical mistakes are a tad annoying.
*at moments, the main character is a bit hard to pin down, his behavior is at moments a bit contradictory. Unlike other reviewers, I appreciated his altruism.
*(possible spoiler alert) it seems that the dead are "evolving" which makes sense, but during the last standoff I would have expected a more intense assault which followed the newly patterned behavior.
*like others I too took issue with the details of artillery. The descriptions were lost on me since I don't know what guns work with what ammo and which guns would make sense in all the various situations. The author tried to explain, but at times I felt like my eyes were glazing over.

All in all though, I would definitely take a shot with this book. It was a quick read and I'm glad I found it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A little surprised - Reviews did not match the book September 28, 2012

By Tim Mullen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was a little surprised with the quality of the book as compared to reviews. The reviews were relatively positive, some effusively so. And for $2.99, I figured it was an easy buy because I could not be too disappointed in a $2.99 product. In my opinion, the book does not match anywhere near the hype of the reviews. Mr. Cook's writing style at times focuses on the minutae, for example going to panstaking detail to tell us how Eric shaves, followed by glossing over very poignant parts of the book that could lead to better character development. For example, it seems everyones frustrations just "melts away" in moments of conflict.

Tactically, the book had a large number of editing errors. I understand it being a book not written through a publisher, however, after a while I found the grammatical errors most distracting. Using "Brake" instead of "Break", missing pronouns, etc detract from the flow of the book if you are sensitive to those mistakes.

All of this being said, I didn't stop reading the book, it was an "OK" story to read. And since I had already bought the second book, I will read it as well. All told I'd say worth reading if you are not looking for literary genius.

More About the Author

James N Cook is a martial arts enthusiast, six-year veteran of the United States Navy, and a self-avowed reading addict. He enjoys hiking, camping, backpacking, and anything involving travel. He has visited more than a dozen countries, and has called Chicago, San Diego, and Charlotte NC home. He is the author of No Easy Hope, his debut novel, and the first volume of the Surviving the Dead series. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, son, two dogs, and a cat that is barely aware of his existence.

Visit James' Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/James-Cook/235140719906589

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#17 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure

#47 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure

#17 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure

#47 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure