Just For Pleasure

I have to confess that I secretly love last person on Earth books. This book was no exception. It was told from the first person and that was one of the things that made it good. From beginning to end the book was just plain good.

Nick Podehl complimented the book better than any one else I can think of. His voice brought the book alive and you felt what the main character felt. In one place the main character was talking about the loss of his family, and I swear you could hear his voice crack and see the tears rolling. Apocalypse Z was written well and the narration made it even better.

50 people found this helpful

Wonder cat saves the day... again...

I enjoyed the first half of the book quite a bit: a story about how a well-prepared man faces the development/existence of a zombie horde. Sure, the main character was a bit too prepared for a guy with his background and job, but still, it was believable. And the way information on the initial sickness was shared (or not) felt very realistic. (Oh, I am pretty sure the technical aspects of, say, diving, guns, or solar panels, etc, were creatively interpreted, but I didn't mind, since I don't really care what size bullet goes into what type of gun anyway.)

About halfway through, the story took a little turn from a survivalist story to a "spy-thriller" wannabe. Which might have been okay - if this aspect had been more than a "let's have the main character get caught up in some spy-ops in order to show him facing zombies". This entire thread is sorta wrapped up, but the reader is never given any information as to the point behind these events. Perhaps it is a thread intended to be brought up in the next book in the series, but, as it is here, it is just a huge red herring put into the story for no purpose other than to have an excuse for the main character to meet a sidekick and venture into zombieland.

There were some other weak points that became more noticeable as the story progressed: especially in regards to the main character's cat. Even if you assume that the main character would risk his own life to save that of his cat... why would he take it out of its cage and tie it to a string with the plan that it would walk beside him during a thunderstorm/zombie attack... hey, I can suspend disbelief and accept zombies, and even that silly spy-ops thread, but a) what cat would walk beside you as if it were on a leash and b) what cat would walk beside you in a thunderstorm, leash or not c) and why would anyone think a cat would come to them when they called it (regardless that it is during a thunderstorm/abandoned building/zombie attack)?

The ending left even more to be desired. I think it is intended to set up the next installment of the series, but the way the main character "found" other survivors was just a smidge beyond believable (another installment of wonder-cat adventures here). And I really hope that the "love interest" hinted at in the next book is not the same one hinted at in this one because I am really tired of male authors assuming that 17 year old girls would be as interested in 30 year old men as these men are in teenage girls.

It isn't overly gory, there is no sex, and I don't recall any excessive swearing. The narration is good and I think the translation to English was accurate enough. Overall it is a reasonable/average entry in the zombie genre. I won't, however, be reading the next in the series since the best part of this book was how the virus/information spread, and how the world initially dealt with this spread.

41 people found this helpful

Meanwhile, in Spain...

Most zombie apocalypse stories I've read were set in the USA. Apocalypse Z takes place in Galicia, a rainy region in Northwestern Spain best known for the historic area of Santiago de Compostela. It's a refreshing change that makes for an exciting zombie yarn.

A widowed lawyer and his cat, Lucullus, watch nervously as things go bad in Russia, then the EU, then everywhere. The lawyer blogs his struggles at first, and then is forced to change to paper when the Internet finally dies. He and Lucullus leave home and bravely traverse Galicia, taking out "those THINGS," as he calls them, searching desperately for any kind of safety.

All the regular zombie tropes are present here, but the story is made exciting by the fact that our hero is just some guy--sometimes brave, other times terrified, but able to use the knowledge he has to get by and survive. If you're at all familiar with Spanish culture, another dimension is added: the lawyer is a definite Spanish "type," so the story becomes more of a question of what would this average guy, the guy you see every morning on the train going into the city, what would he do if there were an apocalypse?

Some sections of the story didn't go fast enough for me--our hero was a little waffly at times, agonizing too much over decisions. But he is a lawyer, so maybe the overanalysis is a kind of professional hangover from normal times. Mostly, I was hooked--I had to find out what was going to happen next. And as an animal lover, not listening all the way through wasn't an option: would Lucullus make it? There was no way I could skip the answer to that question!

I can't say enough about the narration, beautifully done by Nick Podehl who did such a fantastic job on The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Podehl makes the fear, disgust, and sadness really come through. His Spanish pronunciation is pretty good, too.

If you're looking for a zombie story that's a little different, this one is a great choice: a little less John Wayne and a lot more guy-next-door, Apocalypse Z will keep you listening through to the end. I can't wait for the next volume in this saga!

30 people found this helpful

Good, but.... really bad

Any additional comments?
Fun, a lot of fun, pure story! Very fast paced. It's also bad but in a not so bad way. Have you ever watched Land of the Lost? (1970's television) Chaka is just so cute, you want to pat him on the back and can imagine feeling the costume zipper as you do. Then you wonder if the slesstacks were grumpy by nature or if it was simply the combination of those rubber suits and the hot stage lights.

The show is horrible! But we love it right? Yes sir, every bit. Technical problems and everything, we love it. (Well, at least I did.)

This book felt the same. I think the technical problems were huge. My friends have chided and reminded me that the book is TRANSLATED. Well, sorry but translation does not stop me from cringing when I hear about setting the safety on a Glock. (Maybe in Spain Glocks have an external safety????? Uh, no.)

I got the feeling this guy was writing about things he really did not know about. (Guns, sail boats, scuba diving, car parts.) The biggest whammy went something like, "The SUV's battery was completely dead. Good thing I had an extra in the bottom of my backpack. We picked it up in the..." WAIT WHAT?!! Was the battery lost between your chapstick and your gum? Did you know that a car batter is a wee bit larger than say a flashlight battery? For those that don't know: Car batteries are large, very heavy and full of lead and acid. It would take both a large backpack and a small car battery just to get one to fit inside the other. But, don't tip it or it might spill acid all over. Carrying one of these for an average guy means grunting and groaning. Don't tell me you just happen to have an extra in the bottom of your backpack! That would be as logical as suddenly remembering that you had an extra skunk in your back pocket.

Am I being mean? I hope not too mean because I was able to get past all this and enjoy the book despite the problems. I will read the next if comes out here on Audible and in English.

I bought this because I had long drive I had to get up very early for. It kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat. Lots of fun. Zombyriffic!

26 people found this helpful

Some real annoyances, but a decent story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A little fact checking could have gone a long way....1) SCUBA tanks are filled with compressed air, not oxygen. I thought the narrator was going to assemble a cutting torch when he was just going diving. 2) Those things on a diver's feet are not flippers. They are fins. If we are to believe the narrator was a regular diver before SHTF, this should have been corrected. and 3) The narrator familiarized himself with the basic functions of the Glock, including the trigger and the safety. -- I'm paraphrasing a bit. Glocks do not have an external safety. If the narrator had never fired a gun before, he would certainly not be familiar with the Glock's three passive safety mechanisms.

None of them require the shooter to do anything but pull the trigger for it to go bang. But by far, the biggest annoyance is this. The author has tried to avoid the Z word at all costs. He describes the dead walking slowly around, stumbling, mumbling and pursuing the living. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, call it a duck, dadgummit! He even at one point compares the creatures to those in second rate horror films. Oh, you mean the zombies?

I'm about half way through this book and it's driving me bananas!

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I might get there....

Which scene was your favorite?

I did like his interactions with the hapless neighbor.

Was The Beginning of the End worth the listening time?

meh

25 people found this helpful

Overly dramatic

What would have made The Beginning of the End better?

The narrator is reads every sentence as if it is the end of the world. Please pardon the cliche and pun. The problem is that the narrator doesn't give the listener a chance to rest. Everything is "gripping" or "shocking" or "unforgettable". I know that you can blame it on the author, however, I am reading the book along with the narration via Whispersync and reading the book is much more enjoyable and makes it easy to forgive some of the author's flaws. Halfway through the book I decided to stop listening to it and just read it. The narration made it unbearable.

16 people found this helpful

glad i live in u.s. where we can have guns LOL

Any additional comments?

different kind of zombie survival story. all of the zombie survival books i've read or listened to are u.s.-based. this story takes place in galacia, spain. the 30 yr old protagonist is a lawyer and a cat man. it kind of threw me, being a 30 something dog lover. but i guess to each his/her own. LOL

i enjoyed the beginning of the story b/c it's like a slow boil. a virus breaks out causing the eu (european union) to close each country's borders. nobody knows whats really going on. for a while it just looks like a really bad virus, causing people to get really sick. what i liked about this part was how the author filtered out the news- the lead character's journal reports what the different news channels are and aren't reporting. the first few hours of the story have the lead character fortifying and hiding out in his house, listening to the news reports and talking with his neighbor who wants to flee to his boat at the marina.

the lead character is a diver who has a spear gun as his weapon. remember, he's in the eu, in spain. it makes me thankful, here in the u.s., we can buy guns. LOL

the first part of the story, our lead is mostly alone and isolated while his family and neighbors flee to safe areas set up by the gov't. seeing what happens to these safe areas is horrifying. there's not a lot of space/land area in galacia as in the u.s. so it's interesting to see how a different culture reacts to a panic. here in the u.s., we don't seem to trust the gov't as much. imagine 350,000+ scared and hungry people packed into a small port base. one of the characters put it best. with maybe 350 toilets that's over a 1,000 people using it a day. the infrastructure can't handle that.

the middle part of the story seems a little implausible- the lead character runs into a crazy ukranian boat captain that makes him run an errand to get his stuff back. but by the end i was happy, wishing the story continued.

the main character is scared and freaked out a lot, but he does grow stronger. it's believable development, remember, he is just a lawyer, not an american survivalist.

there aren't a lot of big zombie fighting scenes- one man against a horde. instead, there's a bunch of sneaking around, taking on and fighting small groups of zombies, which is kind of more believable. there are descriptions of larger zombie fights when the lead character tries to put together what must have happened from all the bodies and ammo strewn about.

there are several gripping scenes- slowly driving through a mass of undead so as to not damage the truck, being stuck in crawl space for 24 hours without a weapon while the zombies ramble through the store killing and eating some of your party.

nothing comes easy and there's always a price to pay for mistakes. i think that's why i enjoyed this story.
Overall, middle of the road zombie fare.

16 people found this helpful

My Second Favorite Zombie Book Behind WWZ.

Would you listen to The Beginning of the End again? Why?

YES! I will listen to it again. This story captured me from the first 10 minutes. The story is one of the better of the genre. Next to WWZ it's going to be difficult to find a better zombie book and I love zombie stories.

The performer was excellent. He has a very distinct voice that works for the listener. He captures you with his performance and makes you feel as though you are there.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Luculus the Cat! That poor little guy.

Which scene was your favorite?

I actually loved the beginning of the book when things were falling apart.

Any additional comments?

It's my second favorite Zombie book behind the master classic World War Z.

6 people found this helpful

Felt Like I was Right there With Them

If you could sum up The Beginning of the End in three words, what would they be?

Great Book Love the voice of the narrator he kept the book exciting voice was easy to listen too also...Good action along with gore and suspense. Wanting more could not put it down. I only listen to audible books in my car but found myself holding my Iphone and listening to the book. Looking forward to the next book. HURRY PLEASE.....

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Lawyer

Have you listened to any of Nick Podehl’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listening to him

6 people found this helpful

Why You Cryin'?

A grown man weeps and vomits his way through a zombie apocalypse. I have never heard of a grown man spending so much time crying, even over boo-boos.

6 people found this helpful