Saturday 2 March 2013

Beyond the Barriers by Tim W. Long: Book Review


Beyond the Barriers by Tim W. Long: Book Review
Seriously lately I’ve read a LOT of zombie apocalypse books, none have been bad thankfully a lot of them mediocre a lot of them a decent read and then you get a gem.
Beyond the Barriers was one of these gems, written by Tim W. Long an author I have interviewed and speak to on occasion who I can also hopefully call a friend now as well.
Tim has other Zpoc books out there his most famous being the Among the series this one is a little less known but I implore you to search this out on book or kindle or even audio form and read/listen to it, I have it on audio and any time I have had to listen to it I have I’ve been literally glued to it on bus journeys walking around supermarkets or even taking the dog for a walk.

Let’s tell you a little about.

It first off the survival aspect in this book is a tour de force at depicting the living in the wilderness on supplies then foraging to what I can only say as the best description I have so far read in any Zpoc book.
Ex-special forces and seemingly reasonable guy Erik Tragger is caught in the middle of an undead rising. He uses his military experience and just common sense to pack up and get the hell out of dodge.
Stocking up from a local store and in the process saving some lives he flees to the mountains in a cabin. Before getting there we are introduced to a man named Lee, he will have a bigger impact on the storyline later. Erik does a good job of surviving for a while, unfortunately being human and curious and wondering how the cities towns are doing coupled with the fact he wants to scrounge some more supplies.
It’s here he finds out a grisly happening the virus has evolved when he meets a green glowing skin and eyed creature. Almost losing his life he’s saved by people holed up in the store he went to earlier and his life his saved by one individual he helped out.
Learning the green skinned ones are people who have fallen to eating the flesh of the dead and the virus has evolved in them and given them the power to control the actual undead. In the market while he’s staying there Erik meets a woman Katherine who he falls for.

While him this woman Kat and the guy he saved make a detour so the rest can escape and head towards Portland where they believe humanity still exists. The plan goes a little awry and Erik and Kat (which she hates being called by the way) escape back to his cabin.

All is well for a while but as always in these books it goes wrong, later they get separated. I won’t spoil the rest of the book because it really is worth the read what I will say is the ghouls are one of the coolest enhancements of zombies I’ve read in a book and from the initial encounter they only get more intelligent and scary.
Lee pops up now and then as a human protagonist that clash with Erik’s ideals and they often come to blows, I hated this guy he was a proper dick.
I was really upset when I came to the end of this book but I have learnt from my friend Timothy a sequel is on the lines this I cannot wait to read. As for scoring this book I give it an excellent five out of five stars and THN big two thumbs up recommendation.



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