REVIEW: Dead Beat by Remy Porter

Remy Porter is a new author who is trying to make his mark in the undead community. His first published novel Dead Beat has not been released to the public yet. We were able to receive an advanced copy through the connections of BuyZombie.com and UndeadintheHead.com. I have read Mr. Porter’s novel and I must say we are very excited to have this new addition to the undead family.

Johnny Silverman is a police officer in a small town. Without warning the town is overrun by an infection that turns the residents into flesh eating zombies. Johnny fights his way through the town and makes it back to the police station. There he is met by Summer Harris, a fellow police officer. At first she is trouble with what is happening outside but later comes to terms with the dead rising. An inmate is also left stranded in a holding cell, while the dead roamed the streets.

The three come in contact with another group of survivors and they decide to gather. Lester, the inmate, stays behind while the two police officers venture to find the other survivors. Little do they know that these survivors are not everything they say they are. The community is assembled but with infighting and struggles for power, the survivors are in for more then they can bear. The living dead are not the only enemy.

Remy Porter has a fine novel here. The plot is not unique but he does spice things up a bit to make it his own. Some of the characters can be a little dull but others do shine. The problems and struggles the survivors go through are very entertaining. Dead Beat truly is an excellent start to Porter’s writing career.

Like most first time novels there are some flaws. Most of my complaints are not with the story or the author, it’s with the editing. I know this is an advanced copy and the publisher told me there may be minor errors. The errors I came across hurt the flow of the story. I am not entirely sure the editor will correct the mistakes before this book hits the presses. If they said minor changes then I am almost certain they were talking about the spelling errors and misuse of words. One more thing I will comment on is how slow the beginning is. I read the first few chapters and thought that I was in for a harsh read. After I worked through the start, what came next surprised me. The story really launched forward and it was as if the beginning never happened. Later, the story did dull out but like the beginning the story took off and I was hooked again.

Dead Beat was a fun and enjoyable read. I love the idea of cramming a lot of different characters into a small room and have them go at it. Even though the zombies in Dead Beat are sprinters I still enjoyed it. Sprinters were never really for me but I will have to be fair and say Remy did a fantastic job. The action and gore scenes were wonderful and I envisioned everything as it was happening. Not many story tellers can do that.

BuyZombie.com would like to thank Remy Porter and Wild Wolf Publishing for giving us the opportunity to review Dead Beat. We will support this author and continue to do so as more work from Remy Porter is published.

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