"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, 1954

"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, 1954

Honestly heart-wrenching and will hold you hostage in horror.

Written in 1954 but set in a post-Apocalyptic 1976 in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles-- whereby a turn of fate Robert Neville is the only living human remaining. Everyone has been afflicted by some virus that resulted from a worldwide biowarfare and spread via dust storms. The afflicted turns into a sort of "vampire."

"I Am Legend" is probably one of the first fusions of horror and science fiction. It's powerful and disturbing reworking of the vampire myth has made it a classic and enduring novel that had and will continue to have a profound impact on generations of writers and movie makers alike.

The author easily and effortlessly conveyed Robert Neville's loneliness and ennui with his harrowingly consequential states of mind and being. The heart-wrenching relationship between Neville and the dog brought tears to my eyes and profound sadness. Ruth's behavior was unexpected; her betrayal to him followed by her betrayal to her kind.

In the end, there was nothing left to be said but, "I am Legend."

I can't recommend this novel highly enough.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)  It was amazing!



From Wikipedia:
I Am Legend is a 1954 horror fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson. It was influential in the development of the zombie genre and in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. The novel was a success and was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, as The Omega Man in 1971, and asI Am Legend in 2007, along with a direct-to-video 2007 production capitalizing on that film, I Am Omega. The novel was also the inspiration behind the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.

From Goodreads.com:

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.

By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.

Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes #2) by Peter Clines, 2013

Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes #2) by Peter Clines, 2013

Ex-Patriots is the second novel in Peter Clines' Ex series and takes place two years after the first novel. This time instead of our lineup of heroes fighting Los Angeles gangsters, super-villains, and zombies, they are fighting the U.S. Military super-soldiers, super-villains, and zombies.

This installment in the series introduces us to some new characters who become welcome additions to our Ex-Heroes; Captain Freedom and the Driver join  St. George, Cerebus, Zzap, and Stealth

The story is told similarly to the way as Ex-Heroes with the "Now" and "Then" times; cleverly introducing flashback moments for showing the history of several characters and how their actions or events they lives by led up to the actual set of events in the "Now" time.

Unfortunately, a lot of the flashbacks, "Then" time, of the supersoldiers were of no interest to me. I didn't see the importance of the backstory or history of a super-soldier that was a secondary character in the story. I simply found myself speed-reading through those portions.

What I liked best about is the pop-culture infused tale of superheroes surviving the zombie-apocalypse is that it takes in Hollywood; mentioning and describing sites and landmarks I am very familiar with.

Overall, the climax left much to be desired. At best, it petered out and for me, didn't feel like an ending.

On the entire series, I would say the Ex-Purgatory (#4) is the best and stands on its own with prior knowledge of the previous books. Ex-Heroes (#1) comes to a second best and serves as a good introduction the entire series.  Ex-Communicated (#3) ranks the same for me as Ex-Heroes. The addition of Corpse Girl to the team was fantastic. And that leaves Ex-Patriot in last place for me.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

"My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)"", by Diana Rowland, 2011

"My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)", by Diana Rowland, 2011

I came across this book via goodreads' recommendation engine. I was a skeptic at first and thought silently, "ugh. Another zombie book. Well, at least the cover art was cool."

From the second I started the book, I devoured it and couldn't set it down.  It was fast paced, kept me intrigued from chapter to chapter and had me grinning most of the way through the book.

Whether you like zombie stories or if you hate zombie stories, I think you will just plain enjoy if not love, the protagonist Angel.  The humor, situation, and one white-trash zombie makes for delicious fun.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for something fun and easy to read.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)