Deadlands

Deadlands is a book that SHOULD be in your collection of zombie novels. Eric S Brown, author of World War of the Dead

What a great read! Of all the zombie films and stories out there...this has to be on your top list. Scott takes you into a harsh post apocolyptic world filled with horror and an intense struggle of mankind's will to survive. Also, I think this book did successfully what Land of the Dead failed in doing...create a disturbing but convincing intelligent zombie.

This story is an interesting take on the typical zombie end of the world genre. There has been a catastrophe that has ended the world we know and the zombies didn't cause it, they are just the by-product of the disaster. What makes the book different is the Earth is more dangerous in the beginning and the zombies are more of a dangerous annoyance, until the zombies begin evolving into something else. Check it out. My only complaint if you want to call it that is the book isn't longer.

I am a lover of zombie novels and this one did not disappoint me at all. From the first page to the last I was drawn into it and the book held me on edge all of the way through. Scott Johnson did an excellent job with his characters and I am anxious to read more from him.

The world has been decimated. Its cities laid waste in a mysterious and all consuming war. The remaining denizens of this charred hulk of Earth reside beneath its barren surface in primitive subterranean cities awaiting the day when they may re-conquer the world that was once their inheritance. However, on immerging from the depths of their earthen domiciles, they discover that the devastation from the long forgotten war was complete, the very air so contaminated by its remaining pollutants that they are forced to retreat. However, this hideous war that destroyed the earth's surface, leaving it barren of plant and animal life, also unleashed another devastating atrocity. The dead have arisen, have clawed their way from beneath the ruble of a once thriving civilization and are seeking to sate their never ending hunger on the few remaining citizens of this planet of horrors. Is this infestation of the living dead and their seemingly intelligent destruction of the subterranean cities merely an accident of nature, or is a greater force propelling their ceaseless destruction? Will the answer be unearthed in time, or will the world that was once so civilized, so highly advanced in its technological purists, succumb to the dark forces of the Deadlands? The battle for Earth begins . . . The enshrouding atmosphere of this novel was perpetually vivid; the numerous descriptions of the barren and heat scorched Earth were astounding in their surrealistic quality and easily conveyed the nightmarish perception of our planet gone awry. Despite the heavily laden atmosphere of morbidity and impending doom, the author still persisted in maintaining an aura of hope causing the characters' struggles to be more realistic and their personal dilemmas more relevant. Each elegantly worded phrase, each smoothly flowing sentence, conveyed the utter horror of the situation whilst maintaining an underlying tone of hope despite circumstances that are seemingly devoid of sanguineness. The author refrained from employing stereotypical good and evil characters. Rather, each vivid character presented in this book, both the heroes and the villains, were thoroughly brought to life and contained both good and evil attributes causing them to appear more realistic and thus enhancing my reading experience. Although this novel boasts no great length (190 pages) and the author continually presented the reader with fast paced events never allowing the story to be pulled into a quagmire of inertia, the characterization was astoundingly complex thus lending an air of reality to an otherwise fanciful adventure. Instead of focusing on inconsequential details of the character's lives and uneventful circumstances inherent in their daily routines, their raw emotions - - - the very souls of the characters - - - were exposed to the reader revealing deep heartfelt emotions and poignant events causing them to become instantly endearing. I was completely immersed in the story and was able to feel