Dying to Live

Released: 2007
Horror, Sci-fi
Author: Kim Paffenroth
Pages: 256

The breakdown:  A tale of the end of the world and how the survivors are trying to cope with a new life and survive daily zombie threats.


Well with my love of zombie stories, I figured I'd give this one a try.  First book in a series of three, this one deals with basically one man's story.
He survives a vicious viral attack that turns all humans into zombies once they die or are bitten.  He doesn't know what happened to his family as the virus basically breaks out and takes over in a single day or two.  He wanders the streets looking for food, and shelter, killing zombies as he goes.
He finally finds a bunch of survivors by accident and they take him in.

They've set up a lot in a short amount of time and have rules and policies that he has to learn.
Everyone has to contribute to the group somehow and eventually volunteers go out into the dangerous surroundings for stuff like supplies.

If you want to read the book, I won't ruin it for you, but I discourage it.
Unlike a story like The Walking Dead, or Day by Day Armageddon this one is not a page turner and the story is not meaty enough to get lost in.  You don't ever really invest in the characters and for me, at least, there wasn't enough tension and drama.  In some scenes, it definitely feels as though the author is trying too hard to be gory just for gore's sake, or really stretching trying to bring in new ideas on zombies when you don't have to if you're story is good enough.

2 out of 5 for it being a less than mediocre attempt.