Victim Zero (The Fall) Paperback – July 24, 2013

Never boring. Kept you glued to the pages. Fast paced action. The idea that zombies could change from mindless to possibly thinking beings ; is a refreshing change of pace. A good read.

This book hits you in the feels numerous times, and this particular concept of the start of the zombie apocalypse is completely fascinating! I hope the rest of the series reads the same, as I am interested to read that as well.

I really enjoyed reading it, loaded with action. I'm hooked!

1. What type of book is it: adventure, action, drama, etc? This book is a zombie apocalypse thriller.2. What is the story about, in general? The story is about Kelvin McDonald, the man whose work was used to spread a high mutable organism that causes the reanimation of the dead.3. What/Who is the target audience? The target audience is teenagers, young adults and maybe adult men. Those who enjoy the genre will also enjoy the book.4. How is the proofreading? I did find a few errors, but less than five. If there are more, I didn't notice them.5. Is there character development? The main character Kelvin (Kell) is a very compelling character and the only three dimensional character in the book. We aren't really given a backstory of tragedy ... because we LIVE it. We travel alongside Kell as the world goes to `hell in a hand basket'. We live his changing moods and twisting sorrows. We walk with him through pain, suffering, rage, moments of levity and a whole gamut of other feelings. Kell is NOT a well man. We won't know what he wants, because he doesn't know either. Kell is among the most complete characters I have ever read.There is `ego "He-man" porn', so be ready for it. The thing is that Kell has a lot of other concerns, other angles that help on the `ego porn' scenes.Most secondary recurring characters are provided enough back story and personality for two dimensions. That's ok because as Kell is such a rounded out individual the traditional character roles can be followed without remorse (Protagonist: 3 dimensions. Secondary chars.: 2 dimensions. Tertiary chars: 1 dimension). Personality wise, perhaps two secondary characters were one dimensional to the point of numbness.Now, some bad news. The antagonists are one dimensional. There is no gray area. Its either black or white. No in between. No evil person is going to change sides. Ever. No good guy is going to completely change sides to the evil side. Ever. Thus, the characters suffer from rigid roles, even if they evolve within those roles.6. Are the characters likable? Most of the characters are likable. The antagonists are generally one dimensional, and I am not talking about the zombies.7. Does the story keep its pacing? For the most part, yes. There is a lot of compelling survival action. Also, there is a lot of survival logic that seems very credible. I like that the world is dark. I like that survivors are looking out for: themselves and loved ones. Everyone else comes as a very distant echo. Building communities out of that sort of mentality is a challenge, at best.8. Do you have to suspend disbelief? Considering the world logic, I have to suspend disbelief in some decisions that seemed too illogical for me to truly believe in them. Also, as I mentioned before, the world is black and white. Good and Evil are rigidly defined between the side of the protagonist and the side of the antagonists.9. Is the book worth the asking price? Yes. I did not feel I wasted my money for the ebook. Good price.In conclusion: Victim Zero is one of the best zombie apocalypse stories I have had the pleasure of reading. The main protagonist is solid if somewhat 'He-Man/Superman'-ish. Most secondary characters are compelling. The science behind the dead is believable. The antagonists, though one dimensional, are somewhat smart. The pacing doesn't feel as if it slows down at all. The black and white rigidity of "us" versus "them", while surrounded by undead cannibals, wasn't wholly discouraging. My disbelief was tested but I could live with it. The price is solid at $4. The proofreading is excellent. The story is exactly what it says it is: a survivor zombie apocalypse thriller. Good book.3.9 Stars

Wow, a collaboration between Joshua Guest and James Cook? Who would not want to read that?This tells the story of the scientist who made the virus and knows everything about it. He does escape the lab knowing that the only way to kill the zombies is damage to the head. And he soon learns a lot more about how to defend himself. He is a huge man, very tall and big. He saves some women from marauders and they become his best friends. They know a safe place and they go there. I won't tell you details because I don't want to ruin it for you. This book grabs you and doesn't let go. I read it in a day and a half and it only took that long because I had other things to do also.Since this man, Kell, is the man who created the virus, he wants to find a place to create a lab to find the cure for it, since he feels so responsible for the apocalypse. So lets hope this happens.I am now on the second in the series. Here I go again, getting into a series that is not complete yet. I am hoping these authors are hot on the third one so I won't have to wait long, read other books, forget what happened in the first ones and have to read them all again. But I could not resist reading a zombie book by Joshua Guest and James Cook, both remarkable writers in their own right.This is one women should like too. I like books that mostly men like and also those that women mostly like, except for strictly romances. So if you like excitement and characters that you can really care about, this is the book for you.Oh, I wanted to tell you that if you have Amazon Prime you can borrow this book, so I did. Yay!

Victim Zero is the story of how it began. The end of the world starts with curiosity and greed--the scientist looking at a new life form, testing, trying to see what it can do and the people in charge, deciding to make money off of the new organism. Bad idea. Very bad idea. It spreads quickly, leading to the death of millions. Follow the scientist, Kevin McDonald, through his attempt to survive and to cure the monster that he inadvertently unleashed...I have been following Joshua Guess' Living With the Dead for several years now (I actually read his blog daily) so I was expecting to enjoy Victim Zero but was not expecting to be this impressed. My only problem with Victim Zero was that it was way too short... don't get me wrong, this isn't a novella or anything (I would guess it would be about 200 to 250 pages and covers a lot) but when reading, the end came way too quickly. I literally did not put Victim Zero down until I had finished reading it. More, give me more!!!!Victim Zero can be read as a stand alone novel. As a matter of fact, if you are not familiar with Living with the Dead, get this book first. It definitely ties in with the blog and its resulting collection of books, but you do not need to read the blog to understand the book. I think that they compliment each other, but reading and enjoying the book is not dependent on following the blog.If you enjoy zombies, human nature, action... get this book. Guess has become a master, a must read author whose insight into humanity--the good and the bad--is undeniable. He makes you think and question, "what if this happened?" It is so plausible, that I can't help but think that this is the way that the world will end, a combination of curiosity and greed. Way to go, Joshua Guess!

This is the best of the genre I've read so far. It isn't superhero stuff, all guns blazing, one climactic action will make everything ok. Its about trying to exist, trying to live through each day, trying to make sense of this new world where there is no recognizable code to live by. The main character reflects, debates, has thoughts and fears about the amount he has contributed to this new world - he isn't gung ho, he feels guilt and that's a refreshing change. The female characters are capable and contribute rather than being decoration and in need of 'saving'. Only criticism I would make is that the time gap in the middle of the book could have been used to help the reader get to know the female characters even more. Nevertheless less, a good read.

Kell was part of a team of scientists who were trying to make a man strong and invincible, but , something went wrong and the man died. He came back to life raging and wanting to rip the scientist apart. Victim Zero!The epidemic grew out of all proportion, and when Kell watched helplessly as his wife and baby daughter were ripped to pieces, he made a vow to find a cure for the plague, and single handed my kill as many instead as he could. I loved this book and once started I couldn't put it down

I dislike zombie books. However, the idea of a prequel to a zombie series caught my attention. It sounded like it really could be something worth reading. It turned out that 'Victim Zero' really was worth reading. It's the story of the escape of an organism from the lab. What makes this organism interesting is that it appears to bring the dead back to a form of life, hence my references to zombies. I suppose that the true genre for this book is first encounter fiction, it just doesn't feel that way. A well written book that I enjoyed that deserves four stars BUT I really don't want to read anymore in the series. Survivalist books are really not my thing and that is what this book was turning in to at its end. It's a personal thing others will no doubt feel otherwise.

This was an enjoyable enough story to keep my interest, somewhat different from other zombie stories because of the foundation of why it began and hints of something intriguing to come.Reasonably fleshed-out characters, if not completely believable. The moments of justice were well done, and, I think, the majority of us would have reacted that way (or perhaps I believe in justice rather than mercy).Overall, a worthy read.

This dreary tale proved very heavy going and I put it aside after maybe 10%. I later thought that I might be being unfair and tried again but by the time I got to the meeting with Laura and Kate I was ready to gnaw my fingers off with boredom. I felt no empathy with the main character which is always a bad sign