Customer Reviews

MAD SWINE | the beginning

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As one of my favorite sub-genres in the horror category, I devour zombie fiction. I go through about two books each week and more when I can find the time. Some zombie fiction is down right good, most are mediocre and still others--too many--are just down right awful. Mad Swine: The Beginning happens to be one of the good ones; in fact, I'd say it is better than most in many ways and similar to some of my favorites.

Although Mad Swine does not add anything new to the genre, it takes a more character-driven focus, putting the zombies and the infection in the background. Because of this, the author was able to focus more on several of the main characters and provide some real depth and insight into their nature. It is obvious that Mad Swine: The Beginning is the first of what will be at least a two-book story. The plot is built, the characters formed and the action moves forward in the space of just a little more than a week and leads to what I would call a cliff-hanger ending.

There are parts of the novel that were very realistic and hit home with my emotions. The chapter about his children tore at my heart.

To be fair, I have to say I am surprised by some of the negative remarks people posted about this book. First of all, this is zombie fiction and if a little blood and gore scares you, you're reading the wrong books. That said, Mad Swine has the least amount of gore that I've read in any zombie fiction. I'm not sure if the author of that posting even read this book.

The other remarks to the realism of this novel--well, they are just plain ridiculous. As zombie novels go, I actually found Mad Swine to be a bit more realistic than others. One of those reviewers who bashed the book mentioned to read Day By Day Armageddon if we were interested in good zombie fiction. I have read the book. It was good. But realistic? That's a joke. In Day by Day Armageddon the main character lived in a fortress-like home with a generator, guns and food stores. How is that any different from the negative comments you've given to Mad Swine. Not to mention Day By Day Armageddon was full of grammatical errors and cheesy writing.

For those of you who are serious about the genre and understand that zombie fiction is fantasy, meant to provide us with entertainment, do yourself a favor and give this book a try. I rate this book on par with two of my favorites: Plague of the Dead by the late, great Z.A. Recht and DBDA by J.L. Bourne.

I, for one, am anxiously awaiting the sequel.

I had the pleasure of reading this from the beginning when Steve posted it online a chapter at a time. It's one of those books that as soon as you've finished reading the newest chapter, we were screaming for more. As a zombie lover I thought I might be a bit biased, but my wife has read it and she got hooked too. The first couple of chapters are really gut wrenching, and you feel like you're right there with Steve and his SKS. The frantic feeling of getting to his wife and kids really translates and hits home. While you're at it, pick up his other stuff too. Project Hindsight is also very good, except for a noticeable lack of ZOMBIES! Great reading. If you're a zombie nut, don't hesitate to pull the trigger.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was the first story that I actually bought and finished on my kindle in less than a week (two nights to be exact) and it was a very good read. However, there were flaws that prevented me from giving it the full five stars. By no means am I sorry that I purchased the book nor were the problems significant enough for me to put it down, but I figured that I would share what I noticed anyway.

1. The author likes football (actually, sports, period). That much is obvious since he used football descriptions (i.e. man was tackled and taken down like a linebacker) about three or four different times in the span of two chapters. Not a big deal, but I can just tell he likes sports.

2. The guns; zombies can be killed by MANY different ways (and some are just as effective), but the author used guns, guns, guns. And a lot of guns. The types of guns that were described, some of them are not even legal (i.e. AKs), yet they somehow found a way into the story, among a community of upper middle class 'suburbanites' since our narrator (Matt) was able to get his hands on a couple. There is no doubt in my mind that if the world was not coming to an end, these gentlemen would be arrested. There were conveniently a lot of 'police' and 'army-trained' men in the community. I would have liked to have seen more ways to kill a zombie rather than just blow its head off. Actually, they are not zombies, but 'crazies' instead. I stand corrected.

3. Author used too many gender specific pronouns and objective forms (ex. such as he and him, respectively, without taking a 'break' in between sentences). For example, he would start a sentence with 'he,' end a sentence him, and put both in the middle all in the same sentence when talking about a character or making a character description/action. It made a lot of sentences redundant and unnecessary. This last point probably won't make a difference to you and I am not an English teacher, but it was something that I thought I would mention.

Those three points being said, I would still recommend this book and I look forward to the sequel Mad Swine: Dead Winter for my Kindle.

I don't like to be overly critical because I know how much work goes into writing a book. However, I very quickly went from reading this book to just skimming through it to get to the end. I want to read about one man's struggle against the apocalypse, not whether he picks the pitcher of Coke or Diet Coke. And certainly not an entire chapter devoted to a guy taking stock of his weapon inventory. This could very easily be edited and streamlined into an engaging short story, but in its current form, I found it disapppointingly boring.

this is the first book ive read in some years now. this book is a must read and for a zombied book you get a all the ranges of emotion. while reading you can imagine yourself in the story as the auther did a great job. i read the origanal at a forum and then bought the book. i cant say enough about this novel and i am sitting impatiently waiting for the 2nd novel to come out. great work from a new star. great job steve.

Mad Swine, or at least the original concept, was presented as a series of posts on a website I frequent. Several folks have tried their hand at fiction there. A few have excelled. This book is one of those rare gems - an engaging story that sucks you in and holds onto you tightly until the end. I have only just now ordered the book version of this tale, as I understand the story has undergone some editing, massaging and improvement.

The story follows one man through the early stages of the Zombie Apocalypse. At first the story is painful, because our hero is hit with problem after problem, and plentiful tradgedy. However, he manages to overcome the intial challenges in a realistic manner - no 'deus ex machina' miracles here, just well-grounded thinking. On his journey home, he meets some interesting and memorable characters, and once home he is surrounded by even more of them. The author does a fairly good job keeping characters interesting, and avoids too many cardboard-cutout characters (except of course where they are needed - background extras, the ravenous undead hordes, etc). The problems and challenges at home, and the planning and execution that comes with dealing with the Zombie Apocalypse, are treated intelligently and realistically - at least as realistically as might be possible in this sort of ficitonal setting.

If you enjoy Zombie or Survival fiction, you should definitely give this book a try.

this is a good and well written book that i throughly enjoyed. i like the way it was a new twist in post apocalyptic "zombie" fiction

My only complaint is that it was too short! I'm holding my breath for the second installment...

If you're a part of the Gun Culture and prefer an author who knows WTF they're talking about when it comes to boomsticks, Pajak is your man.

Steven Pajak is a great storyteller. If you are squeamish, then this isn't the book for you. If you like a good storyline with interesting characters, read this book, you won't be sorry. I don't like to give away a story, but I didn't expect much from a book that centered on another zombie apocalypse storyline. I am so glad that I read it, because it's more than just blood & gore and the end of all things. The characters make you care what happen to them (no they don't run upstairs when someone is chasing them) & Mr. Pajak seems to really have thought through how society would break down and how we would react to it, both good and bad.

Since getting a kindle recently I have been able to indulge my love of zombie fiction. At first I devoured them indiscriminately simply because I could. But recently I've stumbled onto a few truly well-written, character driven stories that I hate to finish because they leave me wanting more!

Mad Swine is definitely one of these. I was drawn into Mark's world so quickly it left me a little breathless. With his survival skills and his trusty SKS intact he acknowledges the chaos but does not surrender to it. He does what I think most of us would do, head for home. For Mark that means Randall Oaks.

The author does not flinch from the truly gut wrenching losses inevitable in a zombie apochalypse, but he doesn't leave us there. As it must, life moves on and fleeting sanctuary is sometimes found when most needed. You have to meet Kappy, a warm, welcoming character who seems to know what is needed and delivers in fine form.

This story conveys the real sense of constant and intense wariness which are needed for survival in a world full of crazies. The relationship between Mark and his brother Brian veered in directions I did not expect. The neighbors aren't just zombie fodder, they live and breath and make it easy to care about them.

There's a very natural progression of events in the struggle to both create and maintain safety and community. Who do you trust when lives are at stake, who can be counted on and more importantly who can't be.

I am really worried about Mark and the good folks of Randall Oaks. As tough as it's been getting up and running again I think the worst may be yet to come.

No pressure, Steven Pajak, but I can't wait to dive back into compelling world you've created here. Thanks!