C. Dulaney’s entry into the zombie/horror/apocalyptic genre is an exciting ride. Told from several perspectives, the main character, Kasey, Ben, and Kasey’s friend Mia, the storyline revolves around a zombie outbreak and how these three friends had created a plan to survive. Of course, as with all plans, none of them survive cohesiveness when the events that they are created for actually happens.
The Plan was for Ben and his friends to get to where Kasey is; a remote farm in a rural area. While Kasey is waiting, at times very impatiently, for Ben to arrive, she makes use of that time to fortify her position, check supplies and make calls before the cell towers go down. Ben, for his part, is stuck on a university campus teeming with infected and saddled with other survivors that weren’t part of the plan.
Mia, Kasey’s friend is cut off in the Washington D.C. area with limited resources and no way to get to Kasey’s. Or so it seems. Mia take a good, hard look at what resources she has and makes decision that to most would seem suicidal but to her, works. Her travels take her to and through all kinds of intense locations and into and out of contact with the zombies.
As each of these characters work out their individual issues, transport, security, food, etc, they each have a different take on the event. Dulaney’s writing is edge of your seat intense with action, tension and horror in every chapter. Conveying the anxiety of Kasey as she waits, the urgent haste of Ben as he tries to keep his group together long enough to make it to safety, Dulaney paints, at times, a bleak outlook for both parties.
When all the friends finally get together, they face a different threat. Not only do they have the zombies that will eventually find them but there is also the potential threat from the inmates in a correctional facility just a few miles away.
With the introduction of this new addition to the story, some readers will undoubtedly sit back and shake their head in dismay. Not too many authors in this genre will include non-infected raiders into their plot. In some cases, this detracts from the overall storyline, survival from the walking dead. Dulaney takes this issue in stride and smoothly grafts it into the plot making it work without creating a lag in the action. One minor issue with that is when the felons make an appearance, they leave behind a weapon. This is neither a major plot issue nor does it detract from the story it just seems a bit off as felons or anyone for that matter would not leave behind a working firearm even if it was out of ammunition. The point being is that somewhere down the line, its possible ammunition for that weapon might be located.
Overall, I found Roads Less Travelled – The Plan to be an enjoyable read and look forward to the next book in the series.
