| Thunder and Ashes Posted: Thunder and Ashes starts out where the first book left off in this trilogy. We have the split story, one of General Sherman and his team of army men and civilians making their way from the west coast towards Omaha, hoping to meet up with Anna Demilio and her much smaller group coming in from the east coast. They are racing towards a facility where they hope to hatch a vacine for the Morningstar virus, the plague that has swept over the world creating two forms of plague victims, one still alive, fast, and brutally violent, and one undead, slower, but just as dangerous and canibalistic.
I could have given this story a full five stars, it does rate that based on the action in the story. General Sherman's march was far more interesting to me, especially his pit stop in a little town in Kansas, than the more brief excerpts from Anna and Mason's more silent trek, but their stories tie together nicely, with plague victims, raiders, and rogue government agents all nipping at their heels. The story is cohesive and written with a certain amount of zip to it.
I am no military expert so I have no reason or desire to punch holes in the author's use of various terms and equipment. Again, the story and its use of military armaments are smooth and seamless. We are provided with an action packed zombie thriller as two sets of people are racing against the clock, not even sure what they are racing towards will mean anything in the end, but they are determined to do whatever it takes to get there and try to spare humanity any more agony from this brutal virus, if at all possible.
Where I would be critical of this book is in more or less minor details that unveil themselves towards the end of the story and I hesitate to spell them out because I have no interest in revealing plot points. Suffice it to say that there were two key things that happen that I did not feel were specifically needed to advance the story. One scene simply felt redundant, an echo of a scene from the first book in the trilogy having to do with one on one combat...almost laying the groundwork for a very similar scene in book three. The other issue I have lies within the epilogue and what I would deem an incredibly convenient story element revealed that will play a huge part in the final installment of this trilogy. I suppose I am just not a fan of something that the odds of happening are one in a billion revealing themselves so conveniently. Please understand, these are really minor issues for me and as such do not want them to be considered deterents for anyone interested in picking up this story.
The writing is fast paced, the characters are entertaining, and the story is fun. Perhaps some of the characterizations are a bit exagerated, but when you are dealing with an end of the world type plague, I can certainly understand how some folks would seem a bit over the top. I found myself growing attached to quite a few of the characters and really look forward to finding out what happens in the final chapter of the Morningstar Trilogy. This was a genuinely fun and exhilerating zombie romp. |
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