Eric A. Shelman put together a fun read in the first of his Dead Hunger novels. We start the novel after the outbreak has already wiped out the majority of the population though we don’t stay there for long. We soon discover that we are reading the journal of one Flex Sheridan and find how exactly he has survived the outbreak. It’s a flashback that leads to ‘now’ which is a proven format that readers love to follow the only issue that I have with this format is that we always know that the main character will be safe until the book is caught up to him. Even with that being the case though you will get sucked into Eric’s writing as Flex starts his tale with his kid sister giving him a call and telling him how hungry she is.
Yes zombies are spread not just by bite in this tale. Flex gets to his kid sister’s just in time to save his niece from the flesh eating monster that his sister had become. Still, killing family isn’t something most people would feel comfortable doing so in an interesting twist he finds a way to subdue his sister and take her along. Just in case there’s a way to cure him down the line. When leaving the area he runs into his ex-girlfriend, Gem, who with the eve of the apocalypse at hand wanted nothing more then to try to stay safe with Flex. She was Flex’s “one that got away” and you get a strong look into how he processes having to survive and live with the woman he loves above his own life being back in his life.
The character action is great but we don’t focus on just these three survivors. Yes, Flex is the main character but we also add in a scientist named Hemp and a scrappy woman named Charlie to the mix. The character interaction is great and you can see them evolve as the book continues through. They are looking to have their own safe place not surrounded by a ton of people as safety can be found in numbers too many just sounds like a bad idea to them.
The writing is solid, the characters are great, and the plot works. You can really get into the mindset of these characters and feel the worry, pain, and love that they feel. Wait though what about the zombies?
The undead in Dead Hunger are described in the most gruesome of ways but there are new twists to them that should keep you drawn in. The zombies are not intelligent but seem to work in a hive or community. They will help one another and appear to try to stockpile their food for later. Their food of course being us. How though are they able to stockpile food? Whose going to stay still waiting for one of the undead to eat them? Well they added another new feature to the zombies here. They have the ability to paralyze their victims temporarily.
The book is a great read and I’m so thankful it was suggested I pick this one up since now I get to stress that you should as well!
You can pickup the book at Amazon.
