In two words: LOVED IT.

"Layered" is the key word that comes to mind - not a term I've frequently used when describing a book about zombies. "Mountain Man II: Safari" was a morality play as much as it was a zombie / thriller. One line summarized the entire book in my estimation: "When you dance with the Devil, you don't change the Devil, the Devil changes you..."

In MM2 we see Gus slip from good-hearted survivalist trying to make his way in a post-apocalyptic world yet still holding on to the notion that people are inherently good, to "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and taking out all of his feelings of betrayal and disgust towards humanity in his "safari" against the Zeds. We see Gus staring into the void and determining whether or not to cannonball right into it and measure his splash. Want to know which way he rolls? Ha-ha! Read the book! (you'll not regret it!)

As any good sequel does, several lingering questions from the initial 'Mountain Man' book are cleared-up - one in particular with absolutely skin crawling results! And the ending? Satisfying, but with enough open-ended issues that an MM3 is definitely a possibility.

Overall, a solid step forward even from MM1. Great action sequences, really turned-up the intensity in the combat scenes and still managed to weave a tapestry of human descent into "becoming that which we most revile" as well as leaving open the possibility that we / he (Gus) can still be saved.

Five stars. Get it, read it, thank me later.

Cheers,

- Savage