Descent (The Walking Dead Series) - Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead

The only negative comments I have is a technical one. The author needs to know the difference in weapons terminology. "Clip" & "magazine" are not interchangeable. They are two different things.

Other than that, another great Walking Dead read.

A fantastic and thrilling follow-up to the madness that was Phillip Blake.....a critical turning point for Lilly Caul and the future of Woodbury! A must-have for any fan of the Walking Dead universe!

I gave this novel one star because the store doesn't allow a score of zero stars.

Let me begin by stating that I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead and the universe in which the characters exist. I enjoy the comic books and love the television series. But, as a reader, I much prefer novels. Therefore, I was delighted when the first novel, Rise of the Governor, was released in October 2011. While nobody could claim the novel is great literature, it was entertaining and a solid parallel to the comic books. Novels 2 through 4 were equally enjoyable (even though I was a bit miffed about 3 and 4 being split).

However, novel 5 "Descent" is AWFUL! The new characters are weak, one-dimensional, and downright moronic. The recurrent characters, except Bob, behave as though they've learned nothing since the inception of the zombie apocalypse. Furthermore, even though the entire premise of The Walking Dead universe requires the reader to stretch his or her imagination to its limits, there is so much in this book that I just couldn't stretch my imagination to accept (such as Bob's ability to create the underground safe haven).

This installment is simply a money grab that takes advantage of a loyal fan base who, until now, would buy anything that includes "The Walking Dead" in its title. But, after this installment, stick a fork in me. I'm done.

I started out really liking the series, but as the books have gone on, they've started to become repetitive.

By now you know as soon as they describe an interaction between one of the main characters and member of the opposite sex, which men she'll want to hook up with next. 4 books and 3 romantic relationships. She doesn't even let the bodies cool before she's crawling on people.

This book goes off the main path a bit and has some interesting thoughts that haven't been addressed before. It's a major fiction story, so it's hard to say something isn't believable. However there are a few things here that when you consider all the rest of the WD universe, they seem far fetched, or they don't fit in? Does that make any sense? It's kind of like when cousin Oliver showed up on the Brady Bunch. It just leaves you thinking WTF is going on?!

You know how the main characters are, but when they walk into a scene, they're completely described again. Martinez is described as wearing a camo jacket and bandanda. So every time they have him enter a scene, instead of saying "Martinez walked up" they say, "a figure appears, it's a large male, wearing a salvation army jacket and bandana over his long black hair". The book would be half as long if they got rid of that.

Another annoyance that has really gotten to me as I am almost done with the last book in the series. I realize there are only a few ways to describe certain things, but the same words are used nearly every time something is mentioned.

Every gun fight smells like cordite.
Things are bright as phosphorus
Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence, Cyclone Fence
salvation army clothing
copper smell

Just to name a few. There's a term they use to describe the walker's eyes, but I can't think of it right now.

Overall, they books have been really good filler while I wait for the new spinoff series to start.

The first three books in the Novel series are AMAZING...The Rise of the Governor is probably my favorite. There are subtle changes that make a massive negative impact on the current series that Kirkman is absent from. The story is compelling enough to continue reading but it soon devolves with the introduction of the stereotypical snake-oil selling revival rev. Jeremiah. It was great to see how the town of Woodbury fought off the massive horde after the assault on the prison. You hear and see the perspective of many other characters like Speed, Ben, and the short lived Hap..these characters gave Descent variety but like I said everything goes into hyperdrive after the intentions of the Rev. are revealed. There are batshit crazies in every religion, but tv shows and books never seem to get the "Cultist Christian" variety right. They tried to do the same thing in "Hell on Wheels" tv show, but it always comes off as forced. Even the seemingly "normal" believer Calvin Dupree won't shut up with the Christianese lingo. In the Reformed Church I attend, anyone who talks like that is either a really really new to the faith or full of it. Most believers I know aren't these pie in the sky, idiotic types that are portrayed in the book. Most believers I know don't hyper-spiritualize every encounter as divine intervention, but then again those in the book are clearly cultists and not the sensible, normal type.

Lilly is also a bit of an idiot. I have no idea why she would just turn over the reign of power to a person she just met..maybe Bonansinga is trying to show her with flaws but that seems so inconsistent. She is very pragmatic with most of the decisions she makes but in the book, she asks the Rev to be leader too quickly. Then everything falls to crap.

Bob is still arguably the best, most dynamic character. Everyone else seems so bland or one sided. The worst part is that invasion continues the crappy crazy Christian story arc...blah

I'm reading the books out of order, but whatever.....

The book focus on Lily and her efforts on rebuilding th town of woodbury after the death of the Govenor and dealing with the pressures of bieng leader of a town in a zomble infested world.

Things begin to look up for the town, when Lily and a group of her friends discover underground tunnels that allows them access to travel outside of woodbury without having to run into walkers,

They use those same tunnels to help a young man that stumbles across thier town who begs them for help inorder for them to rescue his group.

This book is filled with deep and complex and likeable characters, (although Lily and bob did get on my nerves a couple of times) and gore expecially when the zombies are bieng described, when they ar bieng killed, when they are eating and when people are bieng killed by them.

It's very exciting and it makes you look forward to the next book. I know i am.

I firmly believe Bonansinga should not be writing. The first two books in the series were all right. The last two just weren't good at all. The writing style isn't much to be admired, many of the same adjectives and verbs being repeated (why is everyone constantly licking their lips when nervous????). Everyone smells like juicy fruit and two different people in the series are wearing two different REM shirts. How likely is this in an apocalypse? Bob has a wife at one part in the second book and in the very last book all of a sudden she never existed. Kirkman held together the first two but honestly I think that a graphic is where these plot lines belong. Too many details contradict one another in the book. Too many things are predictable. And I can't help but saying, why does Lily fall for every guy that smiles at her? She doesn't have enough leadership skills for me to believe her story. Plot line is OK but the writing style is awful.

Jay Bonansinga owned this story! You don't need to be a Walking Dead fan to enjoy the adventures of Lilly Caul in this latest installment. If you are a TWD fan, you will wonder why the writers didn't write this one into the show! Every book in this series left me wanting more. I was hooked after reading The Rise of the Governor and Descent was the icing on the rotten cake left over in the Apocalypse. The writing is intelligent and very descriptive. The characters are rich and full of life (well the living ones anyway). I absolutely recommend the entire series and am waiting patiently for October for the next installment.

This book needs an editor, badly. The author appears to have less than zero knowledge of firearms. He seems to have been raised on the notion that all weapons are assault weapons mixed in with a smattering of any vehicle with a tire wider than a bicycle is an SUV. When the author described a characters .357 revolver as being a seven shot because it has "one in the breach and six in the cartridge" well... I about lost it.

The book itself reads like longform clickbait. We are constantly being told that the THING that just happened is going to have huge repercussions later yet nothing ever comes about.

Technical details are important to me, but apparently not to Jay Bonansinga.

- He describes a revolver that only holds "...seven rounds. Six in the cartridge and one in the breach." That's not how a revolver works.
- Bob says that cyanide shuts down your cells' oxygen production. Animal cells don't produce oxygen.

The book just doesn't have much suspense. The resolution of crises is facile. Maybe my mind wandered, but it seems like a walker super-herd is about to destroy Woodbury. Then one woman and some dynamite destroy it. Then it's back again.

After reading the previous four books, I'd have to say this book was really good. Though, my first and foremost favorite would be the rise of the governor, this specific story is a good step to branching off the story line. I did think some stuff was a little outrageous, like super hoards just magically appearing and appearing. But, that's where imagination comes into play. I read this book in 4 days. It's an easy read,nothing too complicated. Lily Caul is brought back down to a descent character again since they really over did it the last book.(not a huge fan of the fall of the governor part2) Bob is one of the easiest characters to like as well. I'm glad they finally gave him a story of his own rather than just being a town drunk. I'm anxious to see where this story evolves.

I was really excited to see this hit the marketplace and ordered it. I admit I was a bit nervous to see that Kirkman no longer seems to be writing it along with Bonansinga but after a couple chapters I was hooked! What a ride! Very great story and lots of great twists, can't wait to see where our little group goes next! Great work!

I am looking forward to more of these. Additional characters help keep my interest going. Honestly I was getting tired of the governor stories and was looking for something different. This will keep me coming back for more. The "regular joe" just trying to survive never gets old.

I like the earlier books in this series, but this novel is amazingly stupid. Mr. Bonansinga actually believes the Underground Railroad was really built underground. And no one noticed it being built in Georgia in the 1850's. I'm surprised he didn't have locomotives and rails in the tunnels. A handful of TNT goes off like a tactical nuke. There are numerous other examples of really numb plot devices. The plot and characters were poorly written, as well. I couldn't get through it all.