Sunrise by Mike Mullins (ARC)

Sunrise (Ashfall #3)
Mike Mullins
Pub.: April 25, 2014

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever — and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself. 

Wow. I think this might've been my fave of the three. It actually reminded me of that show Jericho that aired several years back where nearby towns in a post-apocalyptic world began feuding and killing each other off for supplies. Alex and Darla et all find the townspeople of Warren living off their land because a nearby town came in, took over and ran off with their supplies. Using the knowledge of one very war-minded individual, they're lucky enough to get it back. Unfortunately the town's people are stubborn about going on the offensive and putting up defenses, so Alex and Darla don't want their group to move back with them. Instead they move to a windfarm, and with the skills of Darla and her uncle, manage to set up greenhouses and longhouses with electricity. But the supplies they need aren't easy to find - and come at a horrendous price. But you've gotta hand it to the two for what they're willing to sacrifice to keep their group alive in a world gone terribly wrong.

 

If you could stomach the first two, you can probably handle this one too, though there were plenty of cringe-worthy moments.

ARC provided by Tanglewood Press for honest review.

The Bane by Keary Taylor (ARC)

The Bane (The Eden Trilogy #1)
Keary Taylor
Pub: March 5, 2013

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

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I really wanted to like this one, I did. I was already a fan of the author from another book she's written, and I love the Terminator movies, the Sarah Conner Chronicles, etc., so I was really looking forward to this. Ms. Taylor did a great job in creating this post-apocalyptic cybernetic new world and I had an easy time picturing what the Bane looked like and how the infection inside them hungered to spread to the rest of the human race. Unfortunately, my love for this novel died there.

Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick (ARC)

Monsters (Ashes #3)
Ilsa J. Bick
Exp. Pub.: Sept. 10, 2013

The Changed are on the move. The Spared are out of time. The End...is now.

When her parents died, Alex thought things couldn't get much worse-until the doctors found the monster in her head.

She headed into the wilderness as a good-bye, to leave everything behind. But then the end of the world happened, and Alex took the first step down a treacherous road of betrayal and terror and death.

Now, with no hope of rescue-on the brink of starvation in a winter that just won't quit-she discovers a new and horrifying truth.

The Change isn't over.
The Changed are still evolving.
And...they've had help.

  

When Ashes first came out, I was a little slow to pay attention. Once I read it, I beat myself across the head because I LOVED it! Nobody knew what was happening, other than people within a certain age range (kids) were turning into Chuckies (aggressive little zombies), the older adults were all of a sudden just dead, and the elderly were spared, but they became easy prey for the hungry Chuckies. For some reason, a handful of kids didn't turn - which included three that met within a national park - Alex, Tom and Ellie. All three had lost everything, but together they formed a new family and found a reason to fight for their lives. Unfortunately, by the end of Ashes, tragedy ripped them apart.

 

Unfed by Kirsty McKay (ARC)

UNFED (UNDEAD #2)
Kirsty McKay
Pub: August 2, 2013

The good news: Bobby survived her Undead school trip. Bad news: her best mate, Smitty, is missing. Bobby knows she's got to find him even if it means risking it all and going out into the starving-zombie-infested wastelands again. Even if it means taking fellow survivors including a couple of old frenemies along for the ride. And even if the zombies are not the only ones who are chasing them this time.

Check out my review of Undead (Undead #1) here.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Forget the wild animals that have gone all zombie on your @ss, and the carrion birds of prey ready to pick you clean long before your dead, the zombies themselves are smarter this time around.

Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy

Reign of Blood (Reign of Blood #1)
Alexia Purdy
Pub.: April 29, 2012

"Never tease anything that wants to eat you. My name is April Tate and my blood is the new gold. Vampires and hybrids have overrun my world, once vibrant with life, but now a graveyard of death shrouded in shadows. I fight to survive; I fight for my mother and brother. The journey is full of turns that I am quite unprepared for. And I'm just hoping to make it to the next Vegas sunrise..."

In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she's willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

"Never tease anything that wants to eat you." Words to live by if you wanna survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin (ARC)

Ashen Winter
Mike Mullin
Exp. Pub.: October 16, 2012 TODAY!!!

It’s been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex’s relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It’s also been six months of waiting for Alex’s parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex’s parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

So Ashfall was pretty awesome, with Alex running for his life from the supervolcano that covered his part of the world with ash, so I had pretty high expectations of Ashen Winter. I've had this book forever and kept pushing it off. Not that I wasn't expecting it to be awesome too, but you have to be in the right mind set to read one of Mike Mullin's books, cause the descriptions and horrors within are so spot-on and realistic, it's hard not imagine this could happen in reality any day now, and that's just disburbing...

Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick (ARC)

Shadows (Ashes #2)
Ilsa J. Bick
Exp. Pub: September 25, 2012 TODAY!!!

The Apocalypse does not end. The Changed will grow in numbers. The Spared may not survive.

Even before the EMPs brought down the world, Alex was on the run from the demons of her past and the monster living in her head. After the world was gone, she believed Rule could be a sanctuary for her and those she’d come to love.
But she was wrong.

Now Alex is in the fight of her life against the adults, who would use her, the survivors, who don’t trust her, and the Changed, who would eat her alive.

Grundgy and Gritty. If a zombie book hasn't gotten you to cringe in disgust and splatter your skin with goosebumps yet, this one will.