Second Verse, Same As the First

 

Sam Sisavath’s second book of survival picks up where the first book left off…and I predict that this is how all the books are going to go. There’s going to be a metaphorical carrot of safety dangled in front of them, they’ll go for it and that safety will be revoked…or so it seems to go.  Chapter by chapter we get a story told from the perspective of different characters from varying sides (good guys, bad guys, undead peeps). We have Will and Danny, former Rangers and SWAT team members (thoroughly suited for tactical, end of days, killing of zombie/vampire creatures), their girlfriends Carly and Lara (both perfectly equipped to kick some ass…and Lara was a 3rd year med student before the world fell apart), some kids they picked up in book one and now…the new cast of characters.

Without outlining each character,this book focused more on the human threat after the invasion/takeover) this time around. There are bad people in the world that don’t really care if you’re among the last on Earth, they’d gladly attempt to rape the ladies and/or take your resources if given the chance. Luckily, the ladies have become well armed shooters and it doesn’t come to that, but the threat is always there when the group meets new people. Much is made of Will and Danny’s training in the books because it gives them a better chance of survival compared to the “Average Joes” but it’s kind of awesome that Will is impressed with the tenacity and grit seen in the civilian survivors.  There are a lot of bad ass people in these books; they come in both genders and all age groups with one goal; stay alive to see another sunrise.

In the first book the group made the gruesome discovery that these “ghouls” were keeping some people alive in a vegetative state so that they could feed off of them. In order to accomplish this, there are humans known as “collaborators”.  These are people who are given the chance to stay alive, guard “the food” as long as they betray the human race.  These collaborators pose the biggest threat to the survivors because they can hide their agenda and attempt to infiltrate the group, to possibly sabotage them, and give them up to the ghouls. A collaborator destroyed their chances of staying in a safe facility designed for the end of the world in the first book, but all hope isn’t lost. The crew has a chance to meet up with other survivors who are broadcasting on the FEMA radio frequency from Song Island, Louisiana, they just need to get there–avoiding collaborators, ghouls and nihilistic survivors. This could be an opportunity to stop, rest, and recuperate…or it could be a trap.  What’s to be done? To be honest, these people are lucky I’m not with them because I would a) never let them talk to, or meet new people and b) never leave my hiding place except to get food in the daytime. Soooooo, I’m guessing they probably wouldn’t want me in their group and Sam Sisavath wouldn’t want me in his book because not much would happen except it would be the end of the world and I’d be stocked up on Cheetos and Gatorade, munching to my heart’s content and not getting shot by humans or eaten by ghouls. Bam!

So now that I’m 3/4’s of the way through the third book I can say that these books are mostly the same, so why am I still reading them?  Because I love them. Because I cannot stop thinking how I would do in this situation (I’m thinking poorly but I’m optimistic that I’d fall in with some resourceful people).  Now, here’s the thing that I’m having difficulty with; EVERY survivor that joins this group is impossibly attractive. Danny looks like a “Californian surfer”, Lara “is a stunning blonde”, Gaby could pass for “Lara’s younger, taller, blonder sister”.  C’mon, I’m sure that some unattractive people survived this thing too, right?  Anyways, these books are hitting the spot for me right now, although I’m guessing that I wouldn’t make it to join this group since I’m a brunette with no modelling career in sight.

PS. I am getting annoyed by the titles of these books. They make NO sense to be named what they are named.  This is my bete noir, peeps and I’m really having trouble here.