The Aussie Zombie

I'm always a little wary of the second book in a trilogy, but reading Thunder and Ashes was a bit different than normal. Although The Morningstar Strain is a trilogy, this is the last book in the series fully written by Z.A. Recht (the third one is partly ghost-written) and I've read it several years ago, so I was pretty much aware of what I was getting myself into.

The first book in the series, Plague of the Dead, is very much about establishing the characters, the virology and the collapse of the world in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. Thunder and Ashes focuses more on just a few particular events, and how the remnants of the human race are faring as they try and survive. There are goodies, baddies and several characters that cross the line between one 'side' and the other, but it does lack further character development.

One thing that I did find very frustrating was that in the last book characters made mistakes because of emotional reactions which was realistic, however in Thunder and Ashes they made stupid mistakes that I couldn't understand - going into a town that obviously has seen some bad shit go down just to 'check it out' isn't something I would expect from a group of highly trained military.

In Thunder and Ashes, some of the characters that appear to be key characters in the first book start to fall into the background which is a shame, but the others start to really establish themselves as leaders, fighters and hardcore survivors. There is a continuation of the focus on the military and the search for a cure, with both plot lines crossing into each other constantly.

Like Plague of the Dead, there are a lot of action scenes, and all of them exceedingly well-written with some heart-stopping moments as things hang in the balance, daring rescues take place and the defence of pockets of survivors take top priority. Although there are action scenes in the first book, in this one the stakes feel infinitely higher and more personal, which I really enjoyed.

As a 'middle' book, it's not a bad book, but there were some disappointments for me in the character development, and although the pace is frenetic it didn't really feel like events were particularly moving forward. However, this is definitely a book for post-apocalyptic and zombie fans and a good continuation of the series.

Read more of my reviews atThe Aussie Zombie