Monster Island: A Zombie Novel (The Monster Island Book 1)

Monster Island is a four star zombie book. Dekalb is on an important mission to New York City to find some medicine, but there is a huge problem. The dead won't stay dead and New York City is overrun by the undead. During Delalb's mission he encounters Gary. Gary is a zombie that can talk and think and he can communicate and control the dead. When their paths cross who will best the other.If you like zombie books then I recommend Monster Island .

Dekalb is a weapons inspector for the UN. He and his young daughter have been captured by a Somalian warlord. He's been offered refuge for his family and a possible new life for his daughter under certain circumstances.His mission is to sail to America to find drugs to treat AIDS, since this is what the warlord is infected with, while most of the world has been infected with the zombie virus. It sounds impossible...it sounds like a suicide mission. Who else is going to be able to take care of him and his daughter when firearms are what you need to survive in this new and devastating world?Gary used to be a doctor. Now he's the smartest dead guy in the world. Or at least that is what he'll tell you when you talk to him. He knew there were two options when New York was swallowed alive by the zombie plague: be eaten or join them.Using his medical theory - that the dead stop breathing, depleting oxygen to the brain, and causing them to be mindless when they reanimate - he hooked himself to the right medical equipment, and then took his own life. He woke up dead.When the dead are able to think, a zombie infested world will become more terrifying. Gary and Dekalb aren't as different as you might think at first glance; the both have the same goal - survival.I first ran into David Wellington's books in a used book store. I picked up his 13 Bullets series, which is about vampires. He does extremely well with the darker side of monsters, and I fell in love with his writing style. A fifth book of his vampire series is coming out soon, and I felt that I need to explore the rest of his work. Monster Island is the first of a zombie trilogy, and I must say, the first book had me captivated again. I look forward to reading the rest of this series, the continuation of his vampire series, and recently, he has started a werewolf series.If you are ready to step away from the cuddly monsters that have been creeping up on us, and get back to the basics of horror, read some of David Wellington's books.

And so continues my zombie reads with David Wellington's Monster Island, Book 1 of his zombie trilogy. This was a Must Read for me since it takes place in New York City, and as a Native New Yorker, books that take place in and around the Big Apple go onto my list. Not necessarily because they are great reads, but more because I want to see how accurate they are to the locale.The Zombie Apocalypse is already underway when Monster Island opens. Dekalb has already lost his wife to the plague, leaving him to protect his daughter in a world overrun by the dead. He is captured by a band of female warriors, most of whom are still in their teens and who under the command of Mama Halima, and he is separated from his daughter. While his daughter is being well taken care of, he is left to his own devices in a darkened prison cell, along with numerous others. While trying to negotiate better terms for the prisoners and expressing his desire to be reunited with his daughter, Dekalb learns that Mama Halima is sick and needs drugs. But not just any drugs. The female warlord is HIV+. Dekalb agrees to venture out under armed escort to retrieve the drugs she needs in return for his daughter. He soon finds out that all of the military medical bases have been looted, but he refuses to admit defeat. He says he knows where he can get the drugs, but he will need a ship and a crew. Once the ship, crew, and armed escort have been obtained, Dekalb sets sail for New York City.Meanwhile, in New York, Gary, a med student, has all but given up hope. He thinks he is the only one left. He is of the mind, If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and he has studied the zombie population at large and thinks he has discovered a way to improve upon their condition. They don't have to come back as shambling, decomposing, flesh-craving corpses. So, taking the equipment he thinks he will need, he sets a make-shift lab in his apartment and sets out to commit controlled suicide. When he awakens to his new life, he finds his experiment has been successful: he is dead, but he can still think and reason, and he can talk.When the Dekalb and Gary cross paths, Gary convinces Dekalb that he can help with his mission, as he is able to move amongst the dead without fear of being attacked, since he is one of them. The only condition Dekalb has to agree to is that they take Gary with him when they leave. But can Gary be trusted? And is there something more going on than either one of them suspect?While Monster Island starts off as your typical zombie apocalypse tale, it quickly evolves into something more. You won't find government experiments gone wrong here, nor will you find the dead rising as a result of radiation exposure or the product of some Haitian priest or priestess seeking revenge for a wrong done to his/her people. No, the reason for the dead rising delves deeper into the supernatural realm, which, when I saw where it was going, I wasn't sure I liked at first. Now that I have put some distance between the reading and the writing of this and allowed myself think on it, I feel this is the downfall of the novel. While the story did keep me interested to a point, my interest in it began to waver half way through when I saw where it was going. I know this is the first book of a trilogy, but I feel the whole supernatural element was too ambitious to be explained away in one book. In fact, I found the plot to be a little too contrived. The story starts in Africa, then jumps to New York City. You mean to tell me there was no place closer than the United States to search for the needed drugs?My other issues with the book lay with the characters. I know they exist, but I had a hard time swallowing the whole teenage Amazonian militia thing. Since there are so many of them, the female characters strike me as being relatively flat, even those who have been assigned names. Dekalb as a hero doesn't work for me, as his character is too weak. While his main motivation is to be reunited with his daughter, he allows himself to be pushed around by the girls. Even when they are on foreign (at least to the girls) soil, he rarely takes charge of a situation, and when he finally does, it seems to out of character for him. Gary strikes me as the most interesting character, but even his character loses his uniqueness half way through.I do have the other two books in the trilogy, and I will get to them eventually, but they are not high on my list of books to get to. The most diehard of zombie fans might want to add this to their Must Read list, but if you like your zombies of the more traditional variety, you might want to pass this one by.

Most of the criticism I see here is the book doesn't follow the formula of zombie genre. This is why i liked it. Why read essentially the same story from different angles? What Wellington does is change the rules some so the traditional story evolves into something completely different but in the end it's still about the need to survive and finding out what drives that compulsion. Yes there are some significant new variables thrown in that defies logic but zombies defy logic. I just want the writer create his world with his rules and see if characters act reasonably in it.What i got was a story that is unpredictable, fun, imaginative, smart, and at times poignant. It's unique often brilliant and funny. I read it in one sitting and will read the other two in the series

A fresh take on a great genre, Wellington delivers a page turner that is horrifying.

I know zombie lit involves suspension of belief, however this really involves suspension of your brain in formaldehyde.Most of the 1 star reviews have covered the story (and it's flaws) in more than enough detail, but suffice to say, I read all three in the trilogy and somehow this is actually the best of the bunch (if such a thing is possible), as it gets more and more 'out there' with each installment.Doesn't follow a traditional Zombie route, which would be fine if it didn't end up becoming a form of supernatural fantasy (which isn't why I bought the book)Reads a bit like the bloke and some of his mates sat around a camp fire drinking beer and smoking something, with each of them having to add the next line to the story in turn, as it gets more and more whacky.Wanted to enjoy this (I really did) as it was a mighty tome with ZOMBIES(as are the other two) but sadly it was just a bit 'pants'.

I just stumbled into this book by chance, it seemed like pulp fiction but/and it had zombies in it: why not?The beginning was quite ok, it developed as a post apocalypse novel with a nice twist, but as the plot unveliled the book turned into som pseudo-fantasy-drama-cum-horror wihch in its most clumsy passages became truly hilarious (but i don't think that was the author intention).Charachters get lost in the huge holes of the plot, some other more than being "round" are almost schizophrenic in their ever changing attitude.The so called hero he's often disappointing (even at being an anti-hero) and quite useless.All the other characthers are just forgettable puppets, the only one being someone you'd feel empathy for, having an incredibly underdeveloped role and structure.All in all i really wonder how this author manged to write a whole series of this s***.Luckily I bought a second hand copy which i paid only 1£

I'm not that into zombie's, films and books alike, they have been done way too many times, but maybe its because I had read this trilogy first and David Wellington set the bar so high, love this trilogy and is currently one of only 5 books i've ready twice (2 being part 2 and 3), this book would hands down kick the ass of all zombie movies / tv series if done properly.

I tried very hard to get into this book with no avail.I liked the idea of what the survivors were trying to achieve (getting medical supplies), but a thinking Zombie and the Egyptian mummy cum on, Really. I suppose everyone likes different things though and someone will like this, but to me "NO".If you like not the norm books you will like this one but if you like current zombie literature I'm afraid you will be wasting your money.

a good twist on a zombie story. Very enjoyable read.