The Morningstar Strain (Z.A. Recht's Morningstar Strain)

If Clancy wrote zombie fiction, that would be it - full of "he wasn't having any of that" or "get the hell out of dodge" and other fine pearls of literature as its most conventional, poorly imaged possible. Add to it that everybody loves guns, all the females are sexy (but nobody does anything with it) and any and all military personnel are role models for the rest of humanity, and you are bored from the second page of a book that reads like "She closed the door. Then she checked the window. Then she turned to the fridge" and other piled-up short, unimaginative sentences. So the writing is bad enough, and the characters' psychology is as bad as well, when everybody focuses on The Mission, and nothing else: dissent, conflict, even self-questionning being completely absent. Hell, they face the fall of their civilisation, and don't doubt themselves a second! You will also learn there that an email to you is something the captain of the ship sees on his radio's screen, that a bush jacket also doubles up as a bra, and be lost in military jargon left intentionally untranslated. So it felt to me like some Clancy stuff, written fast & to be forgotten faster, full of single-minded right-wing extremists being portrayed as the salt - and the conventional essence - of the Earth.

Meh.

I never got great resolution from this story. It just sort of died silently, doing a great disservice to the rest of the book. That's what I remember most about Plague of the Dead.

I love the Zombie apocolyptic genre of course, don't get me wrong. But even a Zombie story can have substance, and spectacular characters. First off, there is this scenario about a General...A GENERAL...deserting the Army. I for one just couldn't see a deserter as a hero. That was his doom in my eyes. No matter the reason, Zombies or Aliens, Generals don't desert. Because to do so in a society damned by the like of the walking dead is to take the things that have made humanity noble all these year and allow them to die as well.

Shame on you General. Don't you remember your first general order? "I will guard my post and everything within my post until properly relieved."

I don't think you were properly relieved.

-H

This book is so predictable and badly written I'm going to ask the author for my money back personally.The characters are one dimensional and poorly written please save your money,in fact the last 3 zombie books I have read where so bad I have been inspired to WRITE MY OWN.I would recommend World War Z

What a great story! I grabbed this on a whim at the library. I knew nothing about this book at it was my first ever zombie novel. A perfect blend of action and survival with a side-serving of zombie horror.

A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.

This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!

One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.

Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.

This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.

some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.

While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.

Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy.

A group of soldiers and aid workers experience a series of unfortunate events on their way home from Africa as the "morningstar" plague sweeps across the globe. Meanwhile, back in the states, a scientist and news anchor develop their own far-fetched plot lines.

This book follows a bunch of characters; none of them were very well-developed, and they all sound exactly the same so it's difficult to keep track of who's who. I also found it hard to care about any of them and I didn't like how sometimes the plot lines made no logical sense (and yes, I get that zombies make no sense but that's not what I'm referring to). For instance, the scientist and news anchor are kidnapped and tortured by the NSA for completely illogical reasons, and at one point, 2 characters stop everything to indulge in a really long boring physical fight even though there are "carriers" and guys with guns about to bust through the walls.

The biggest problem for me though, was that the author seems to rely mainly on dialog (and loads of obnoxious jargon) to tell his story, which IMO, isn't a very good way to tell a story. There were a lot of long passages of dialog with so little description that I would often forget what the people were supposed to be doing and then I'd get confused when they'd suddenly be in the middle of fighting. The fighting wasn't any better either; just long passages of "so and so did this" "so and so did that."

I need descriptions, I need imagery, I need something other than an endless stream of dull info via "he said," "she said," "he growled," or "so and so said, grimacing." The fact that someone grimaces after answering a question doesn't help. It isn't enough for me to form a picture of what's actually supposed to be going on.

Another thing that annoyed me--and this was only a minor annoyance compared to above--was that these zombies aren't supposed to be traditional zombies; they are "carriers" a la 28 Days Later. That's fine; I can totally deal with "infected" zombies in the vein of 28 Days (loved that movie) but this author kept making stupid jokes about the characters being "lunch" or "dinner" etc, which was just obnoxious! I mean, he made it a point to refrain from using the word "zombie" throughout this entire book and he only ever refers to his zombies as "carriers," and they don't actually eat people so wtf was up with these characters joking about being "dinner"?

Even if you're only shooting for a mediocre zombie novel you can do better than this one. I thought Day by Day Armageddon and Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel were more entertaining. I even liked The First Days (As the World Dies, Book One) more than this one...

Z.A. Recht's debut zombie novel, Plague of the Dead: The Morningstar Strain follows two separate tales of survival in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. A virus known as the Morningstar Strain first broke out in the African continent, soon showing up throughout the world. Dr. Anna Demillio, a researcher for the US Army, is among the first to realize the strain's potential. In corresponding with Major General Sherman of the US Army, she attempts to warn the government of the possible ramifications. Inevitably, Dr. Demillio's warnings go ignored, allowing the plague to cover the globe.

Meanwhile General Sherman is leading a group of soldiers and refugees in Africa, attempting the block any chance of the strain escaping the continent. When they're in over their heads, they make way back stateside via a battleship. While all this is going on, Dr. Demillio is in a new predicament of her own in Washington D.C. Both groups find themselves making tough decision and weighing their occupational responsibilities against moral standards. Many situations cause one to really put things into perspective and ponder our own chances of survival in the wake of a global epidemic. The characters accurately reflect how humanity is both neglected and rediscovered in the wake of a global chaos.

Recht's writing style is descriptive and exciting. The novel is a great thrill ride, from the zombie attacks to the government corruption scenarios. What's most interesting about Recht's take on the zombie is that he includes both slow and fast moving infected beings. The virus can infect a living person, causing them to lose their mind. A deceased infected individual can soon reanimate and turn into a braindead zombie. I found this blend to give the story a more unique angle and made the possibility of survival look more grim. I couldn't help but draw many comparisons to George A. Romero's zombie films as well as The Crazies. The concepts are very similar with those films, although Recht does manage to make them interesting enough to make the book stand on its own.

While I found the story exciting, there were a few things that I didn't enjoy. The main thing that I felt held the book down a bit was the dialog. First of all there was a strong use of profanity. Now I'm not easily offended by profanity, but the context in which much of it was used in this book just seemed out of place. Many words and phrases used by the characters seemed very cliche and generic. Aside from the main dialog defects, the story was still strong enough to grasp my interest. The book left off at a perfect spot that made me feel the need to know what happens with our characters next.

This book is the first part of a trilogy, and I will surely be getting the second installment entitled Thunder and Ashes which is already out. Overall, the book has a few minor flaws mainly in dialog but ended up being an exciting read. In a genre that leaves little room for originality these days, Z.A. Recht was still able to create a thrilling and captivating zombie apocalypse survival tale. For fans of zombies and post-apocalyptic survival scenarios, this book is surely one to check out.

Source: criticnic.com 6-February-2010

Format: MP3-CD

At a small airport in Africa some natives come stumbling out of the jungle and move toward the terminal building. A security guard goes out to meet them and ends up shooting them down but only after receiving some fatal wounds himself. It's an unusual incident, but not entirely unheard of in this part of the world. The unheard of part happens later at the morgue.

At the morgue, the attending physician notices some strange things about the bodies that came in from the airport. The lack of blood from the gunshot wounds seems to indicate that the attackers were shot after they were already dead, but why would the guard shoot them after they were dead? And the wounds on the security guard look like bite marks, as if the attackers tried to eat him. Were they cannibals? But the strangest thing of all happens when the bodies on the autopsy tables begin to move and sit up.

It started in Africa and spread fast. People were dying, and then waking up again with an obvious thirst for human flesh. Those they bit or scratched soon fell under the same symptoms. Travel in and out of the continent was shut down and military forces from America and Europe attempted to lock down the spread of this terrifying new plague that had been named the Morningstar Strain. They almost succeeded but in a last desperate battle at Suez, ground forces were overrun by thousands of carriers of the disease and only a few managed to escape with their lives. From there, Morningstar spread around the world like wildfire.

Yes, Plague of the Dead is another zombie book. But that's why you're interested in it, right? And that's why I was interested in it. Because we all love zombies! Well, as far as post apocalyptic zombie novels go, this was one was not exactly ground-breaking, but it wasn't terrible either. Actually it had some good, fast-paced action scenes like aforementioned battle at Suez. Also there are some likeable characters. I can't say that I became so engaged in the characters that I would have been really sad if they died and actually that "brash private" mentioned in the publisher's summary was annoying. but I got along with most of the characters and was genuinely interested in what they were doing.

The pov of the story jumps back and forth between a rag-tag group of American soldiers, who are the last remnant of the group that fought at Suez, and a military scientist in the US, who is the world's leading authority on the Morningstar Strain. The soldiers, along with some civilians that they rescued, retreat from Suez and gradually make their way back to the States. Once there, they are not out the woods however, because the plague arrived before them. As it turns out, the loveable old general happens to know the scientist and they have been in contact with one another and have decided to get together in Colorado, at NORAD. The general and his bunch make landfall in California and battle their way east. They have to avoid towns, which are now full of carriers, but the need for supplies forces them to visit towns anyway making for some exciting and suspenseful escapes. The scientist, along with an FBI agent and a civilian, are in Washington DC and must fight their way west to meet up with the general. Getting out of a major city like DC is no easy task I assure you and there are some exciting moments with this group as well. Of course, Plague of the Dead is only the first book in a series so there's no tidy ending to this one. Author Z A Recht leaves us dangling at the end and thirsty for more.

Plague of the Dead was my first experience with narrator Oliver Wyman. I found him to be a good reader. He created different voices for all the characters and read with a good deal of enthusiasm. His voices weren't bad but the way he read the part of the "brash private" reminded me so much of Bill Paxton in Aliens that I just wanted to scream. Other than that, no complains. Wyman is one of the more versatile narrators having read books in many different categories. He was an AudioFile Best Voice in Non Fiction and Culture in 2008 and again in 2011.

I've said before that Jonathan Maberry is responsible for my zombie obsession, but what I don't think I have spoken about before is that Z.A. Recht's The Morningstar Strain series cemented my love for the undead. As soon as I had finished Maberry's Patient Zero, I went on a hunt for another zombie book, and the first one that I picked up was Plague of the Dead, way back in 2009. In preparation of reading the final book in the series, I decided to go back and read the first two books again, even though re-reading makes me nervous as hell.

Published before every author and his dog had a stab at writing a zombie book, Plague of the Dead captures every single thing about zombie books that I love - it starts with a bang and doesn't let up all the way through.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward, but what I love about this series is the amount of time put into building a plausible cause for the virus - and the fact there are two types of zombies - the carriers who transmit the virus without mercy and the true zombies - those that have died from the virus and re-animated, making for double danger and some pretty gruesome scenes.

There is a huge amount of focus on the collapse of the world - rather than just everything falling apart within a matter of days, the path of the virus is more closely tracked and explained, and although it is a gradual fall, the pace escalates along with the impact.

There are a bunch of varied characters, mostly focused around the military, but some civilians and medicos thrown in for good measure, and in Plague of the Dead, a lot of focus is put on the key characters and all of them are individual and realistic. One thing that I particularly enjoyed is that characters make mistakes that had me almost yelling at the book - all too often in apocalyptic stories the characters are either faultless or just plain stupid, whereas in Plague of the Dead the mistakes they make are driven by emotions which makes them very realistic.

I'm very glad I went back and read Plague of the Dead again - I was worried that time had put this book on a pedestal, but it was just as scary, intense and captivating as I remembered it to be - a book that should be a zombie classic.

The Morningstar Strain Book 1 - Plague of the Dead
Z. A. Recht
Permuted Press
2009
Trade Paperback
303 pages

Plague of the Dead, the first book in the Morningstar Saga by Z. A. Recht, is perhaps, one of the better zombie stories I've read in a long time (and I've read my share.) Every character is believable, the zombies are both hideous and understated, and the action is mile-a-minute fast and succinctly described. While there are some questionable events - a general stuck in a tree for lack of planning, for instance - the book is a very good read and is reminiscent in some ways and has the same feel as Justin Cronin's Passage. Not quite an instant classic Plague of the Dead will, nonetheless, entertain.

Two story lines come together in Plague of the Dead to form one cohesive and entertaining story. In the first, a rag tag group of defunct soldiers and civilian survivors of a brutal plague that began in Africa set off on a quest to reach a U. S. Government medical facility in Omaha, Nebraska. In the second, a medical researcher who was studying the Morningstar Strain pre-plague, a journalist who leaked the story, and an FBI agent who detained them both escape a government prison on the east coast and trek west to meet up with the first group. This secret facility, dedicated to researching the plague, is the designated meeting-place where the leader of the soldiers and the doctor believe they may find a cure for the virus that has caused the plague. Unfortunately, the infected victims suffer from symptoms often described as appearing zombie-like and each trek is fraught with danger. Zombies, bandits, and the last remaining government agents make each journey difficult and the losses heavy.

Recommended for post-apocalyptic fiction fans, action-adventure lovers, and zombie phreaks from all shambling walks of life.

4 out of 5 stars

The Alternative
Southeast Wisconsin

I just read this book, I borrowed it from the library not knowing anything about it. This was my first zombie novel. I love the walking dead tv series and I wanted more, so I borrowed the walking dead comic books from the library. It was good, but I prefer the regular novel with more description and deeper character development. So I saw this book and decided to give it a try. It was really good. There was a lot of action and I finished the book in 2 days, though it would be easy to read in a day, but I have to feed the kids. I'm not going to get into detail like others do, I'll just say it's worth the read. I didn't think it was too gory, for those of you that aren't fond of that, but it wasn't a kids book either.

I read the description about the author on the back of this book, and he mentioned something about a trilogy if he didn't die (I'm paraphrasing). I liked the book so I got the second one, which was also good. On the back of that book the description mentioned the author in the past tense. That upset me so I googled it and sure enough the author had died. I was really upset because I liked the book so much I didn't want to just leave it undone, luckily another author finished the third book. I haven't read it yet, but I can't wait.

Z. A. Recht, The Morningstar Strain: Plague of the Dead (Permuted Press, 2006)

The late Zachary Recht died in December of 2009 at the age of twenty-six, leaving behind roughly half of the final book in the Morningstar Strain trilogy. Word on the street is that it will eventually be fleshed out by another author and released by Permuted, with the blessings of Recht's family. Good news indeed, as the Morningstar Strain books are quite a surprise, if you're not familiar with Permuted stuff. A number of Permuted authors have recently gone, pardon the pun, viral; David Moody was picked up by Thomas Dunne, Kim Paffenroth has published through Baylor University Press, and just before his death, Recht was picked up by Simon and Schuster. As a result of the latter, Plague of the Dead, which had been out of print for a while, got itself a re-release and shelf space in major bookstores.

We start off with a nasty new disease coming out of the African jungles, where so many of these ugly things have started (Ebola, Marburg, supposedly HIV...). If you've seen a few fast-zombie-that-aren't-really-zombie movies (think 28 Days Later...), you've got an idea of the first stage of the disease, known as Morningstar. The trick of it is that carriers who aren't correctly dispatched also rise from the dead, seeming more like Romero-style zombies (shuffling and moaning and all that). Plague of the Dead takes us through the first months of the disease as it spreads from Africa to the rest of the planet through the eyes of a number of people: an Army general, a Red Cross worker, a virologist who's become the greatest living expert on Morningstar, and a number of others. This is an ensemble-cast book, but an ensemble-cast book in the way Dean Koontz does it; they all start out in different places, but you know they'll all wind up together eventually.

At least, you know that after the first few chapters. The introduction of Rebecca (the Red Cross volunteer) threw me for a loop for a good few pages until I figured out what Recht was doing, and then I got back on track well enough. After that one hiccup, everything went smoothly, and I ended up finishing the book in a weekend (taking time out to devote to other books I'm in the middle of as well); Recht has some fine ideas about the zombie apocalypse, and seems to have had enough sense of his own limitations to keep the scenarios he spins on a very small scale (most of the scenes gravitate towards small rooms), looking at one piece of the puzzle rather than trying to give an overall picture--a trap many purveyors of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fall into all too often.

The book does have its shortcomings, though the majority of them (having to do with proofreading) can be laid at the feet of Pocket/Simon and Schuster, but the typo level is about standard for modern novels, so if you've gotten used to it, no problem. Also, I tend to like my series books to at least have the illusion of being standalones, and the ending of Plague of the Dead leaves no doubt in your mind that there is another book coming. None of this in any way constitutes not recommending the book, however; this is, in the vein of many recent survival-horror novels, less about horror than it is about action (Recht, a vet himself, devotes a number of pages to the military's operations against the undead--your mileage may vary, but the reason I love fantasy novels by authors like Elizabeth Moon and Steven Erikson is exactly this), but there are some passages where things get pretty creepy as well. If you like this kind of mix, then you definitely want to pick this one up. I've already got Thunder and Ashes, the second book, waiting for me on the shelf. *** ½

When I first started reviewing zombie books, Permuted Press was the publisher that had the biggest selection at bookstores. In my opinion they are the biggest independent publisher of zombie literature out there. I'm not saying they are the only ones, but the biggest. I stumbled onto Plague of the Dead online months ago, maybe even a year. It took me a while to read and shortly after I started, I heard about Mr. Recht's passing. Now that I'm writing this review, I really wished I could have had some contact with him to let him know how much I enjoyed his book.

A virus known as Morningstar has found its way out of the remote African jungles. Before anyone could contain the disease, it spread across the continent, and then across the globe. The carriers would suffer from a high fever and suddenly go insane, killing anyone in their path, until someone kills them. But that's only the beginning. Soon after a Morningstar carrier is slain, their eyes reopen and seek the flesh of the living. Not for nourishment, but as a way to spread the disease.

Lt. Colonel Dr. Anna Demilio of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (acronym USAMRIID) is the leading expert on the Morningstar Strain. She tried desperately to inform the leaders of many African countries about the severity of Morningstar, but her claims were dismissed. She warns her friend and colleague, General Francis Sherman, who then must fight his way out of Africa along with his men and refugees to the United States where they think its safe... But little do they know that the dead are stalking around every corner.

Plague of the Dead is the kind of book that I didn't expect much from until I started reading it. Once I got passed the email exchange in the beginning and the meat of the story was revealed, it turned out to be one heck of a zombie novel. It's probably one of my favorites. I loved the characters; each one of them had some uniqueness to their personality that made them stand out. General Sherman was an excellent character; I honestly felt that if he was a real person I would follow him into battle.

The zombies in the book were something that I've never seen before. I loved the idea that first, the infected are somewhat like the rage infected in the films 28 Days/Weeks Later, and once they're killed, they come back to life as the shambling slow zombies we all love. There were a lot of fun plot twists and surprises that kept the book interesting until the last page was turned.

Some of the writing was a bit hard to get passed. I hate it when writers have very noticeable "shock" moments. For instance, there's a scene where a coroner is reviewing some autopsy reports. A corpse stands up behind him and approaches. All while the coroner has his back to him. When he finally realizes that the infected man is behind him, the line, "And his mouth dropped open in awe!" or something to that effect, is there. It reminds me of old time radio when a shock moment happens the listener hears, "dun dun DUN!" to give it more effect. There were a ton of "dun dun dun" moments. There's nothing really bad about it, it just made me laugh.

But all kidding aside, I really enjoyed Plague of the Dead. It's the kind of book that doesn't come around very often. It had me hooked and wouldn't let me go. It still hasn't let me go. I want to start reading the sequel, Thunder and Ashes, but I'm waiting on it. Mr. Recht passed away while writing the third installment and I heard that a ghostwriter is going over his notes and putting together the final book. When that one is close to being released, I'm reading Thunder and Ashes and then diving into the third book. But for now I will give Plague of the Dead, 5 Undead Heads out of 5. It's an excellent story that was well written by an author who will be missed.

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (2/07)

When I started reading "Plague of the Dead" I was expecting a fun but cheesy zombie tale. I couldn't have been more wrong. It is the first book in the Morningstar Strain trilogy by Z. A. Recht. The world is being overcome by a zombie apocalypse caused by an artificially manufactured virus. This virus is called "The Morningstar Strain." It is transmitted through saliva. The virus causes tissue deterioration; however, it does not kill the host immediately. As the body starts decaying, extremities start falling off. It also causes a fever so high that it destroys all higher brain functioning. It reanimates dead hosts, also referred to as "Deceased Ambulatory Viral Hosts." After the body dies, the virus takes complete control over its functions. The only way to stop a dead host from reanimation is to destroy its brain. In this case, the people defending themselves would shoot them in the head.

Lt. Col. Anna Demilio is a US Army Researcher working out of the Institute of Infectious Diseases. She is an expert on the Morningstar Strain. Not only has she been tracking it, she has ideas on how to stop it. Lt. Gen Francis Sherman of the US Army and Demilio has been corresponding with each other. As the Morningstar virus starts showing up all over the world, their lives are heavily impacted. Sherman and his troops take off from Africa on a destroyer. They decide that they best chance they have of surviving is to go AWOL. Even then there are many casualties. Demilio is kidnapped by a secretive government agency. They are after her knowledge. She and a couple of people on her side manage to escape. She is working her way to a lab where she can continue her research and try to end this apocalypse. Sherman and his people are trying to make their way across the United States to reach her.

"Plague of the Dead" really surprised me with its depth. It is a well-written story that actually makes you believe that something like this could really happen. That is the scary part. The characters are well-developed and have you rooting for them. The twists and turns in the plot add excellent aspects to the story. I could not put this book down until I finished it, and now I have to patiently wait for the next title in the series to be completed. I highly recommend this book.

Received book free of charge.

I really enjoyed this book but I would not label it a Zombie novel. Why there is a fair share of dead people coming back alive, the book concentrates more on the virus causing it.

What was clear to me is that the author has a firm grasp on virology and this lends to the realistic hue to plot, this for me added to the horror of the tale. The story starts with the spread of the virus throughout the world and the devastation it brings.

From this the story evolves into two distinct narratives, one being that of a military group and refugees trying to stay one step ahead. The other group includes a Morning Star expert, journalist and a rogue NSA agent. Their tales run parallel to each other intertwining ever so slightly.

Plague of the Dead will have me coming back for book two and I hope it delivers as much action and suspense as this one.

I have read tons of zombie stories and this one ranks up there with some of the best.

While some have said they could not identify with the characters, this wasn't a problem for me. I found myself rooting for each one when the time came to do so and hated to see any of them meet their end.

In the story there are two types of zombies. One is slow, (those that have already been killed and reanimated)while those that have in someway been exposed to the virus and have yet to "die" are fast. It still takes a shot to the head for them to be put down for good.

While you don't get as much zombie action as you do in other titles, I think this is more of a story of a group of people coming together for one common goal. That being to find a vaccine. With that being said, I do recommend this book to fans of the genre.

RIP: ZA Recht

Lt. Colonel Anna Demilio of the USAMRIID knows the danger of this new bug dubed the Morningstar Virus.The goverment plays down the advances of the virus in africa despite Demilio's warnings. The story follows the US soldiers (and civies) from Africa to the the USA all the while running from the Morningstar Strain.

The public was not properly notified due to the efforts of the government to hush it up. By time the characters reach the US, it is clear that the virus has hold. This virus infects the living turning you into a mindless flesh eating zombie, but it keeps you alive. These "living zombies" are fast and can chase you down as the never wear out. The other form is the more traditional Romero zombie, slow shamblers. Formerly fast zombies (ones killed without a headshot)can be killed the same way any person can, however they will wake up again as shamblers. Shamblers can be killed with a headshot, but inflicting damage anywhere else does not kill them.

This book has everything from an all out assualt and military defenses to close quarters battles and shut in sieges. There is plenty of action to keep you interested and the writting is of solid quality. The only issue maybe that the characters are bit more shallow than I would like. I'm a big fan of indirectly fleshing out characters, its a way of working in little kernels of info on them that will make characters a little bit more real. That's not to say the characters wre not interesting, far from it.

In the end Plague of the Dead intorduce little new to the genre. Even so, Recht managed to take the sacrificial hero, paranoia, and outright terror of survival to twist them into a cohesive and exciting reading experience. This is book that I had a hard time setting down, in my mind that is the best mark of good book.

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Plague of the Dead takes another twist with the zombie genre, showing that the zombies can and cannot be dead at the same time. Z.A Recht, author of the new zombie novel Plague of the Dead brings a new twist to the genre.

Beginning with a strange-if not disturbing-email from a scientist in the army, it tells of the inevitable danger that the new and strange plague may bring. While the scientist tries to warn people about it, it doesn't do any good, and that means that people are vulnerable. It hits our home of the United States when a medical examiner turns his back for just one moment.Africa is the center of the action, and if where the plague originated. Fires sprung up from every town, and the dead were attacking and devouring the living . . . And the ones that they killed also got back up to eat the flesh of the living men. The military tries their best to deal with it, but when they find that they can't do anything other than separate Africa from the Israel area, they have to flee. This is where the military steps in to take action.

Recht brings many new things to the genre, especially the exciting way the military works. With scattered traces of emails and government conspiracies hidden in its depths, Plague of the Dead is a different, if not new way of the zombie genre. The main characters are real in the sense of the military, we learn how the military could operate if such an event were to happen, and we learn several different aspects of the military that most people don't know. Recht shares the knowledge of weapons and military strategy in this book, and he does a very, very good job doing this.

Plague of the Dead brings us into a different view of the zombies, with the way that they can be alive at first, then die and come back to life as true zombies. Sprinters and Shamblers are they way Recht describes the zombies, and makes them even more terrifying. One bite infects, two bites doubles the rate, and from there, it goes downhill when the zombie plague hits Africa and spreads into the United States.

Plague of the Dead is another novel that must be picked up if you are a fan of horror and zombie fiction. It's hard to put down, it's exciting, and it leaves you wanting with more of this new way of zombies.

A very good book. With it's own uniqie and engaging take on zombies.

The book is all about the Morningstar Strain that transforms you into a mindless raging creature (a la "28 Days Later") that is hell-bent on biting anyone it can find--to spread the virus. The nice twist is that when the infected die or are killed, they come back as slow shamblers--the traditional "zombie."

The whole viral approach makes the whole thing a little more "believable," and therefore a little more "scary."

There are definitely some tense moments. I really like that the book begins before the outbreak, so you can follow it from beginning to chaos.

To me this book takes the James Cameron "Aliens" approach to the genre. Instead of a slow, ponderous build-up to the horror, it's fast-paced and action-charged. It's a great approach the keeps you engrossed and wanting more.

The only real problem, is that the end totally leaves you hanging!
Good thing I've got the second book on order!

Plague of the Dead is a riveting entertaining, action-packed story about a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by disease which turn ordinary people into zombies. I listened to the unabridged audio book, and this is one of the best stories I listened to all year. I particularly like the general Sherman who honestly does his best to safeguard his `charges' and see that people get out alive.

It took a while to `get' into this story, but once I did, I was intrigued. The author envisions a world where the rules no longer apply and where survival of the fittest, can mean putting a bullet into the head of a former love -one or companion. The author did this tastefully, no excessive Stephen-King-esque descriptions of gore and bodily fluids, just action, adventure, and a cast of characters you will grow to love.

If you like audio novels, recommend it. The action is non-stop and makes you want to work-out just to hear more!

Plague of the Dead is good zombie tale. The best thing about the book is how it seamlessly integrated both slow and fast zombies as well as "living" (i.e. infected people) and undead zombies. The explanation and rationale for the inclusion of both types of zombies is so simple that I'm surprised that no one has used it before. I hope that others use it in the future.
There were a few things, however, that hold Plague back from being a great book. I'm guessing that Recht has a military background because there's a lot of military slang and detail. On one level, that's impressive, but I think it detracts from the story at times. There were some parts of the book where I really wanted less detail and more action. This book also features a lot of characters, that are at times, hard to distinguish. When you have a group of soldiers, and more than 4 of them have names that begin with D, I start to get confused. I found myself often have to skim back to refresh myself as to which character was which.
Plague gets a solid 3 stars from. It's a good book. If you're a fan of the genre, definitely one worth checking out. I'm sure I'll try to get my hands on the sequel at some point.

I have been hungry for intelligent zombie fiction. So far, I have been pretty unsatisfied. Until now. I just got this book in the mail and I read it cover to cover. Up until this point, I only saw Max Brooks as a standout in this genre. His survival guide was abolutely awesome, and I felt that World War Z was a great appetizer of things to come from him. But the whole time I read that book, I was wanting more. The stories were too short for me. I wanted more. And Z.A. Recht has definitely delivered. Keep an eye on this guy, he's going places.

Reading the book, you can tell that Recht went to a lot of trouble to research details so as to make it more believable than any zombie story I have ever read. His spin on the origins of the plague and it's pathology is superb. His military and weapons details are pretty good as well. As a VERY picky Iraq veteran, I was pleased.

Characters and their development are great as well. I found myself growing a bit fond of the various characters in the book and I am anxious to see how they survive and develop or if they survive at all.

The action is great. I could give examples, but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone. Think of whatever cliche blurb you can think of, but this is the real deal, folks. Intense.

And finally, the plot is great. Plenty of possible side stories I could see developing maybe in the later books and the main plot itself is pretty fresh. I cannot wait to see where it goes.

But the last and most telling thing that was on my mind upon finishing this book was this: Why the hell hasn't a major publisher snagged this guy and his book yet?! Mark my words, people: Z.A. Recht is going places. Do yourselves a favor and pick this book up!

I promise you will not regret it.

Boy, how do I write this without sounding like a total fanboy? The way this story flows it plays like a movie in one's mind. I've always been a fan of fiction that accomplishes this sort of pacing. I found myself immediately assigning my favorite actors to the various characters and seeing their individual mannerisms come through the parts.

For the curious, yes: I am a fan of the zombie genre. And to be fair, there's a lot of stuff out there (much of it less than enjoyable, especially to a somewhat jaded fan) so it takes a lot for something to stand out from the crowd. Plague of the Dead doesn't rely on the zombie gore to carry the plot, nor does it try to constantly one-up itself with increasing levels of shock. Instead its events escalate in a logical albeit exciting manner. If I had to compare it to some other well-known genre, I would say it almost belongs in the category of "disaster movies." The theme is not nihilistic and despairing but about people trying to preserve hope and fight for a dreamed-of future.

The zombies themselves are a bit different than what one might be used to. I won't spoil it by saying how. ;) Let's just say it makes you think about them and actually take the time to imagine just what the heroes are up against from moment to moment. And of course they aren't the only danger out there. Large-scale disasters and/or wars tend to bring out the best and worst in people.

There is one minor item I wanted to mention, but it wasn't enough for me to knock off a star: one or two characters had a relationship which struck me as a bit contrived. But given the outlandish situation the humans find themselves in, you wonder if just maybe you might react in the same way. People are funny that way. ;)

Bottom Line? Plague of the Dead is different. If you like the media big 3 (TV, movies and books) plus the pacing and characterization of such productions like Bones, Black Hawk Down, and Behind Enemy Lines you might really like this too.

After reading "Plague of the Dead" you will want to read the sequel. That is not so bad tho because the sequel is equally good. A rare enough thing in any series.

"Plauge" starts what I believe, will be a at least a three part series. The book starts out with some sketchy explanations of types of virus's (mostly African) and how they spread via some emails between a general (Sherman) and a military scientist (Rebbecca) who is studying a new strain but.. that doesn't mean that the book doesn't get right to the action. The action builds quickly as does the character development.

That brings me to the characters.. They are believable and interesting, they cause you to either like or respect them or both. The story follows two basic sets of characters as they try to get to a lab from opposite ends of the continent.

I have to interject politics here. I am new to the zombie book genre but, like in most of the "end of the world as we know it" genre I have noticed two basic themes. On the one hand, the author will be a socialist and the zombies will not be the real terror.. really.. just like us but... different, more needing of understanding than anything.. no, to them the real terror in their zombie novels is that the government has broke down. No government to run to is the most terrifying thing they can think of and salvation only comes from a re-established government.. even with the help of blue helmeted UN soldiers.

The other type is the more individualist type.. the zombies are dead. they feel nothing and are motivated by the desire to eat you or, in the case of "Plague", spread their strain. The government is either evil or impotent and the individual has to fend for himself or in small groups.

I much prefer the latter. "Plauge" strikes a good balance I believe. A realistic balance where not all government is evil but individuals need to fend for themselves. Where the zombies are the real terror and people are on their own or banding together in small groups.

One thing.. I love firearms and cars. Nothing turns me off more in a book than talking about guns that don't exist or couldn't work the way the author says. Recht did some research... his guns and use of them is almost flawless. The only nit I wish to pic is that there never was a Winchester lever action in 45 colt. I know, a minor thing. Also, even tho I am not a military man, Sherman seems to get caught in some real bad military blunders. Some of this can obviously be attributed to the fact that the enemy is like nothing anyone has ever seen tho.

All in all.. one of the better of the dozen zombie books I have read so far and deserving of five star. The "flaws" are just me being nit picky and do nothing to detract from the book(s).

If you like mindless action this is a good read. Though I like deep stories, sometimes I can shut off my mind and just let the plot take me for a ride. This book is pretty short on deep characters but plays more for heavy action.
The premise is simple a virus sweeps the globe leaving two types of zombies. Living dead that are plague carriers who are still alive called "sprinters" and "shamblers" who are plague victims who have died. You guessed it; sometimes you have to kill them twice. Of course they over run the world in short order.

The book follows two sets of characters, General Sherman and his rag-tag group of survivors from the Suez Canal. We follow them from the Middle East, to a destroyer, and finally to the west coast of America. Their quest? To meet up with an expert on the Morningstar virus that is also a friend of General Sherman. The author focuses the most attention on this group, which offers the best results and the plot moves along very quickly.

The second set of survivors is a TV journalist Julie, the doctor and friend of General Sherman Dr. Anna Demilio, and a rogue NSA agent Mason. Long and short Demilio gets in trouble providing details of the plague to Julie who puts it on national TV. Another NSA agent Sawyer arrests both Julie and Dr. Anna and puts them in top secret jail in D.C. As the world falls apart due to the Morningstar plague, Mason, switches sides and realizes he needs Anna to survive, he helps both women escape. As the world falls apart, Sawyer continues his pursuit of the "traitors". This part of the novel is interesting but not as interesting as General Sherman's group. I have not read the second installment but I would guess we will see more of this group in the second book.

Before the book ends, Anna gets an e-mail out to Sherman and they agree to meet at the fortified USAMRIID facility in Oklahoma City. Dr. Anna's group is right at the outskirts of D.C. at the end of the book and Sherman is in Oregon just having survived a rescue attempt of group of survivors.

Overall a good read. Stay away from this one if you are looking for deep characters and moral conflicts. This book is straight action with very limited characterization and a very Us vs. Them mindset. We get no deep love stories or power mad survivors in this one. I think the only reason this one works is that it keeps you moving at such a good pace with very solid action.

It does have some minor faults for example the idea that thousands of zombies would go across the desert following 1 truck all the way to the Suez Canal is a bit farfetched. I would have had a large group of survivors from Cairo goes towards the Suez Canal followed by a large number of Morningstar carriers. That is more realistic and would lead to some hard decisions by Sherman. An airstrike on the zombie swarm heading toward the Suez would have been a bit more realistic as well. Also, the trip to the island to fix the destroyer is a bit unnecessary (but amusing nonetheless) as the boat could still sail albeit at half speed. Also with the Sawyer character I really don't think he would care once everything started to fall apart. But he seems like a solid villain and I am interested as to where they will take him in the next book. Also, the Julie the hacker thing really is stretching the plot a bit. Let's face it; I would put my money on the NSA guy or Dr. Anna for having more brains than a reporter to hack a government database. In the author's defense, I think he realized if he explained too much, it would slow down the pace of the book.

I hope the author can keep this level up or the books that follow might disappoint. But I would recommend reading this if you like zombie books.

So when I first started reading this I felt bored. It seemed to drag on and more and more characters kept being introduced. But about fourth of the way in things really picked up. That's why I'm not giving it 5 stars--it was very slow in the beginning. Im reading Thunder and Ashes right now and it has a much better start. If you like zombies and post-apocalyptic action thrillers, you'll enjoy this series.

I have enjoyed reading Plague of the Dead. Glad I purchased it but almost didn't because it had more than a few reviews under 4 stars. But this is a book about zombies......not classical literature....so one can certainly enjoy it for what it is worth. Kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait to finish it. I have also enjoyed World War Z and Day by Day Armeggedon and it's sequel. I put this one right up there with those in regards to it's credit worthiness as a zombie novel. Note that I have read some bad ones too which I will not mention here so I don't say all zombie books deserve to be read. Definitely give this one a chance, if you are a lover of zombie stories. Reviewed by: Female, age 46, who is still a zombie lover!!

I've become a huge fan of the zombie genre in the past year. I read alot of horror and crime novels. Of all the zombie books I read, this one blew me away. I was a little put off at first by the infected having the "rage," but Recht totally pulled it off. This book (and the series for that matter) has it all--- guns blazing, zombies attacking, suspense lurking... Recht doesn't sacrifice character development for the sake of action. I got to know all the characters really well, and it prompted me to get the next book. Put aside your knowledge of biological and geographical facts, because it is slightly askew at times in this novel, but I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

You might as well get the second book, too. You'll want to read it! I can't wait for the third book!

The End of the World has begun. It is called Morning Star. A virus of unknown origin and is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Those who are infected are subject to favor, chills, and very violent behavior. As the virus further takes hold those who are infected become incoherent and insanely violent. Their only will in life is to destroy any human that isn't a carrier of the virus. Those who are infected will eventually die but the virus isn't done. It reanimates the carrier who then rises and walks the earth seeking warm human flesh. Destruction of the Brain is the only way to bring the carrier down for good.

Anna DeMilio of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has studied the virus. She knows it has the power to destroy mankind, and she is trying to warn the world. She knows that if it isn't quarantined to Africa the whole world will soon be overrun. Her warnings aren't heeded in time, and after a military operation in North Africa fails to contain the virus soon the entire world finds itself in the middle of a massive pandemic that cant be stopped. All the major nations of the world start falling into chaos. The carriers are roaming the streets of all the major cities, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. Anna with the help of a reporter and a rogue NSA agent escapes a burning Washington DC in hopes of meeting up with a rag tag military unit. She hopes to find a safe place to continue her research. She is on a mission to find a cure before all is lost. America is in chaos now and they all know that the journey ahead will be pure Hell.

I have said it time and time before, but I will say it one more time. I am a sucker for a good zombie story. I have also come to expect nothing but the best from Permuted Press releases. They publish the best Zombie Fiction, so when I got my copy of Plague of the Dead I was expecting nothing but the best, and Surprise Surprise I was blown away once again. Plague take off early and the action doesn't stop till the last page. I started and finished it in two days. It has some of the best action scenes you will find in a Zombie Story. The Suez Canal fight scene had me literally on the edge of my seat. I didn't want it to end. Mr. Recht has written one hell of a story and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Plague is only the first installment of this story. He is going to make a trilogy out of this story and I cant wait for the next installment. I am salivating for it now.

I Highly recommend Plague of the Dead to all Zombie Fiction Lovers. Plague is 28 Days Later meets Dawn of the Dead. It has something for everyone. Go grab yourself a copy and I can promise you that you wont be sorry.

I have been waiting for this book for a while now, and was overjoyed to receive it for X-mas. Recht is responsible for a new, doubly-terifying wrinkle in zombie fiction. I've often heard it debated whether the new fast zombies or the classic shambling ones are scarier. Morningstar gives us both! The first stage of infection has the morningstar virus acting like ebola or other fluid-borne bugs, and can be transmitted through various fluid exchanges (ew). The second stage fills the infected with rage and a ravenous apetite for violence, not to mention a veloceraptoresque pack hunting skill. If they die in this stage by any means other than destruction of the Cental Nervous System, they reanimate as classic undead zombies in the virus' thrid stage, at which point they can only be killed by destruction of the CNS.

You see what I mean? Nasty things!

Not only has Recht created what could be the most awful zombies yet, he provides us with engaging characters with largely realistic interactions (few characters are "flat" or anonymous without purpose).

Another thing that makes this book ineresting is that it, like Brooks' World War Z, is set on a global stage, spanning an ocean and two continents.

Go for it. If you like well-executed zombie stories, you'll devour this book.

I wasn't all that impressed. The writing wasn't much better than a high school lit course would provide. Sure, it had lots of action but none of it was very well developed. I felt the soldiers were not military enough, esp. with a 3 star general just deciding to go AWOL with a haphazard little band of refugees.

I did like the difference in the zombie make up. There were basically 2 kinds of zombies, sprinters and shufflers. The sprinters are still alive but have been infected with a virus that acts a lot like rabies. If these sprinters are killed then they reanimate to a slower version of a zombie that also decays.

There is not much detail on the zombie itself (how long they survive, decay properties, etc.) and I feel this is a weakness in the story.

Plague of the Dead is a very strong entry in the zombie horror genre of books. Z.A. Recht does an excellent job of keeping the action moving throughout the book, and adds something new to the zombie scene. Some people prefer the George Romero slow zombies, while others prefer the 28 Days Later fast zombies. Plague of the Dead has BOTH and there is a good reason detailed in the story. At 303 pages, Plague of the Dead goes by almost too quickly, but this book can be picked up for around $10, and you might have enough money to pick up it's sequel. it was a great summer read.

I felt throughout the whole book they spend more time explaining why the virus was effecting humanity and less time fighting zombies..which oddly enough is the opposite compliant i have for every other zombie novel..lol..i thought it was good though..(j.l bourne is still my favorite) HOWEVER, i am currently reading my way through the 2nd novel thunder and ashes by Z.A. recht and its amazing!! so if anything i would recommended reading this one just so u can then read thunder ands ashes..which is awesome...

I'm a huge fan of zombie movies so dove into this book with great enthusiasm. It started strong, but a little after the halfway point it began to falter.

The beginning was great... a deadly virus appears in Africa and the international community does its best to quarantine the entire continent. This was great stuff...

But once the focus turned to the general and his rag-tag group of survivors making their way east to America, with an entirely superfluous stop in the Phillipines, I began to lose interest. I was hoping for more "big picture" stuff that outlined the extent of the zombie apocalypse. But instead, the book focused on the general and a few victims of a mysterious government agency on the hunt for answers, leaving me pretty much in the dark as to how bad things were across the world.

The set-up was great but the ending was a bit disappointing.

In Plague of the Dead, Recht creates a familiar zombie apocalypse story including flickering lights in morgues, martial law border restrictions, and heroic characters sacrificing themselves, cos they got bit.

Despite being well-trodden territory, Recht does this all very well. The danger feels real, the zombies creepy and the desperation of the characters is almost palpable.

Looking forward to number two

I've read just about every Zombie novel currently available; just ended up getting into the stories. Plague Of The Dead, Day by Day Armageddon, and Tooth and Nail are all great first in the series books. One thing great about this book is that it has the characters making very realistic decisions. If you can accept the basic idea that zombies are rising, you can easily accept what happens throughout the rest of the book.

The second thing I really like about ZA Recht's two books are, they follow the same pattern; both are believable. DBDA was a really good first book, DBDA:Beyond Exhile was not so great and took some really strange and unbelievable twists.

Anyway, I would rank Day by Day Armageddon, Plague of the Dead, and Tooth and Nail about the same, but Plague of the Dead has a follow up which is every bit as good as the first book.

...

While Plague of the Dead has some strong moments, overall it disappoints.

For example, there are two main story lines: 1- a general, his troops and some civilians try to figure out what to do in a world overrun with zombies; 2 - a scientist, a reporter, and a Federal agent try to avoid both zombies and bad guys.

Unfortunately, a bit more than halfway through the book, one storyline disappears until the Epilogue.

Another way this book disappoints is in making the characters alternate between doing bright things and doing things a 10-year-old would realize are incredibly stupid.

######## slight spoiler ahead #########

For instance, in one scene, the agent/scientist/reporter trio is trying to escape from some bad guys and zombies. As they make a break for it, enemies literally breaking down the door behind them, the agent is challenged to one-on-one, unarmed combat. Instead of shooting the bad guy, he obliges and, after several minutes of fighting, wins. Meanwhile, the other bad guys make it past the door and begin shooting at them.

Instead of simply shooting him and having a nice five minute head start, the guy who 2 pages before was yelling at the reporter to hurry up, has now placed them in imminent danger of being killed.

############# end spoiler #############

And the whole book is like that. Just when you think they've figured it out and will be smart for a while, Recht decides he has to have someone do something totally asinine to add some drama or action to the story.

Like I said, smart to stupid in 4.3 seconds. D'oh!

This is the first zombie book I ever read. I do like to read a good horror book, but I never thought that I would enjoy this type of horror. But I do and it's all because of this book. The writing is very well writen and the plot flows throw out the book. It's a good read and really sucks you in. His attent to detail and his charcters make you feel like you are really there. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a good horror book it's not just for the zombie lovers.

I absolutely loved this book.If you are a die hard zombie fan this is the book for you.Even if your not a fan of zombies this is still a great book.It doesn't just have a bunch of mindless killing and gore,it has a little bit of everything.As soon as I started reading the book I was hooked.It freaked me out ,it made me laugh,it even made me get a little teary eyed.Well dang it even had so romance.But,anyway it kept me intrigued from start to finished and when it was over it kept me wanting more.So I went looking for the second book.Which was even better then the first book.But that is a different review.That I'm getting ready to write right now.So go ahead and get the book, you won't be disappointed.

If I were a high school teacher and one of my students turned in this story, I'd chide them for paying too much attention to gung-ho war movies and not enough to the dialogue, detail and character development. At one point, there are three different characters in a single scene, all with last names beginning with "D" and it was virtually impossible to tell one from the other because they all sounded the same.

A good zombie / end-of-the-world story not only delivers shocks, it also forces us to look closer at ourselves and society. I think the author shows promise and with a little polish, could turn into quite a good storyteller. This book is certainly ambitious, and deserves a look from fans of the genre.

I picked this up as I've been enjoying zombie movies more lately and I thought it would be neat to go ahead and read about zombies as well.

This was a satisfying book, though not overly so and I still feel that after all is said and done, that the price of the book was a bit high and normally wouldn't have purchased this book other than the fact I had a gift card and could 'afford' to do so. I think $9.00 would have been a better price for the book at the outmost.

Still, a good book overall, made you interested in the characters and its interesting to see how the virus moves across the world and just how screwed up everything gets. Lots of people die, lots and lots, and some characters that you really wish hadn't either, but that's how it is in a zombie thriller.

If the price doesn't scare you, pick it up, its a good read.

I was a new reader to this writer. I highly recommend you purchase from this Author. I was surprised to find the style of journal slash, email story very easy to follow. This is the first time I have read a style like this. And to the Point the story is amazing. It jumps between characters quite a bit but does not leave you in the dark. It paints a large picture of the disaster taking place. There is plenty of action for you non reader types and a very tangiable level of fear through out. I enjoyed this book very much. I am a harsh judge of books as I have had the privilage to read so many great books so I know a good one when I get my hands on one. I would recommend that you buy this book. Of the last 25 books I have purchased and read in the last 3 months this one is the most entertaining. The elements of realism that the author describes morninstar strain make you feel that you are at ground zero, desperate and fighting flesh eating monsters all around. Amazing read. Let the horror never end 5 stars!

This was one of the first zombie books i bought. It started me on a search to consume zombie fiction. I constantly re-read this book as well as the second in the Plague of the Dead series. If not for this book i probably wouldn't have picked up any other zombie related stories. Now almost everything is zombie related. The story is great, the characters are interesting. As i finished the first book i imediately started the second. That's a good read. Now i anxiously await the release of the final in the triology. This book along with Mira Grant's Feed series, and J.L. Bournes Day by Day Armageddon are my favorites.

Recht was the start of my zombie obsession. Just the way he writes, it's so smooth, and gripping. I don't think I'll ever find any books that will affect me like his have. He's made the apocalypse seem like it could really happen, and that's what I like the most. I have yet to find another zombie novelist that could have character development, mixed with a believable disease, and have a well thought out story line, that's not boring or stupid, to tie it together. This is an amazing book, and you will love it. The only thing I can complain about is the double perspectives, I found myself wanting to get back to Sherman, when he was talking about what Julie and Anna (I think that's her name I'm not positive) were doing.
Other than that I highly recommend this book, and I recommend Thunder and Ashes, the sequel.

Being a Zombie fan my entire life (You should hear the stories my mother has about me as a toddler) I can tell pretty quickly if I'm going to enjoy a zombie story or not. In this case, I DEFINITELY did. It was awesome.

I'm not going to give a synopsis or anything, I'm just going to say read it. Its truly worth it. I loved the whole trilogy and have them sitting on my bookshelf awaiting a more than likely second run through.

I found this book very entertaining, some reviewers are complaining about "Stereotypical military/government personnel" well, guess what... ALL military/government personnel are trained the same way! so of course they are going to be "stereotypical". There are some slow spots in the book such as what goes on with Demilios' group, but try to find a book that doesn't have slow spots. The only problem I had with the book was with General Sherman... he seems a little slow to think at times and leans towards being absent-minded once or twice which can be annoying because generals don't get their stars by being either one of those things but i justify it to myself by remembering that fact that he is pushing 60 (at least) and older gents tend to have those problems.
I wish i could give this book 4 and a half stars, the only parts i really could not justify to myself was where rebecca the nurse acts i think out of character by shooting someone (won't spoil it for you) and 1 or 2 other such situations i can't remember off the top of my head.
So to anyone who's a fan of the "shambler" or "sprinter" or both, i highly recommend this book.

P.S.
definition for
stereotype: a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

There should be a warning on this series, especially for someone who just stumbles upon it like I did. I read the first two books in a day (yes, they were that good!) About 20 pages into the third, I was trying to figure out what happened to the writing. It was stumbling, not cohesive, some of the characters changed personalities, it was just very different. So, I stopped and did a little research. This is when I realized the author apparently passed away before finishing the series, and it was thus finished by a ghost writer. The first two books are amazing. The story and characters are well developed and it leaves you wanting more out of the series. Then there is the thrid book.... The final book is so horrible and poorly written I was severly dissappointed. Z.A. Recht was very talented and could have taken this story to great places, with his passing the series should have also followed. If you read this series, read only the first two which are absolutely wonderful, leave the third in the trash.

What a great story! I grabbed this on a whim at the library. I knew nothing about this book at it was my first ever zombie novel. A perfect blend of action and survival with a side-serving of zombie horror.

A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.

This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!

One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.

Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.

This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.

some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.

While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.

Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy.

Z. A. Recht was able to keep me completely entertained throughout his novel without a dull moment. His explanations of the virus are the most plausible of any zombie book to date. I truly enjoyed this novel and I look forward to the rest of his trilogy. Enjoy the ride!

Even though the prologue states that this is the type of zombie book Tom Clancy would write, it is hardly that. The characters are paper thin, the action scenes, while having their moments, lack any sort of military realism (zombies fording the Suez Canal?!?), and the book is filled with some laughable cliches, such as "Men In Black" NSA agents that make the movie version of MiB look like a documentary by comparison (interrogation by spotlight...come on!). I was hoping for something much better. It is not an awful book - in fact, I think it would make a decent screenplay for a movie - but fails to rise above its fan-fic roots.

After finishing the Day by Day series I found myself wanting to read something that would capture me the same way so I picked up Mr. Recht's Plague of the dead. This was a fantastic read to say the least and Z.A. Recht has added his own terrifying twist to the Zombie Apocalypse<-(I refuse to spoil it for those who wish to read the series). Z.A. Recht and J.L. Bourne are the uncrowned kings or the Zombie Apocalypse you will have no regrets diving into this series.

This Book has provided great characters and the storyline is excellent.Francis Sherman reminds me of Ben Raines of William Johnston "Out of the Ashes" and the struggle to survive is realistic with the sudden loss of known people.The character of N.S.A. agent Mason had me thinking of the actor,who played Fox Mulder on X-Files,as the renegade trying to redeem himself and help the one scientist to find a cure for the disease.The Book gives us a ground zero for the disease to spread over the world and is a great prequel to "World War Z".

If the Z in Z.A. Recht doesn't stand for Zombie, it ought to because the man has given the world a great zombie novel in Plague of the Dead (actually, I think the Z stands for Zach, but maybe he can go about getting that changed). Usually, when I start reviewing a zombie novel or movie, I start by pointing out that this horror fan has never been a huge fan of zombies, but I'm not going to do that this time around. Thanks to the one-two punch of David Wellington and now Z.A. Recht, I now consider myself a true fan of the zombie genre. Today's new crop of post-apocalyptic horror writers have created something far more interesting than a braindead, animated corpse wandering the countryside looking for revenge on behalf of some voodoo queen.

Out of the remote regions of Africa it arose, a virus that made Ebola look like a case of the sniffles. The Morningstar Strain, as it was dubbed, doesn't just kill you (and thus itself); it reanimates your sorry ass and sends you out looking for sustenance in the form of human flesh. Yep, you can't blame any black ops government operation for the epidemic that threatens to exterminate human life on this planet this time around. This virus is completely natural - and beyond deadly. Lt. Colonel Anna Demilio of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) actually goes out of her way to warn the powers that be of the threat early on, but the bureaucracy as well as international opposition doesn't even allow for any travel restrictions to be put in place until it's far too late. By the time U.S. leaders realize the extent of the threat, carriers escaping the troubled regions have transported the virus to various places all over the world. America sends in troops to try and cut Africa off from the Middle East and all regions beyond, while the leaders back home rely on wishful thinking alone to keep America's shores safe of the threat. An official policy of denial actually hamstrings Demilio in whatever futile efforts she might have made in terms of working toward a vaccine - and lands herself and a brave, plucky reporter named Julie Ortiz some quality time in one of the NSA's least hospitable accommodations. The country and entire world is going to hell, but the government is consumed with punishing those who release the already obvious truth as traitors to their country.

Military attempts to cut the virus off on the African continent come to a head at the Suez Canal, but the forces under the command of Major General Francis Sherman are overtaken in the end by an endless horde of zombies. The veritable army of the undead comes in two flavors. While the shamblers are slowed down by the effects of rigor mortis and various decay, runners (those who succumbed to the virus before death) will freakin' run you down and can only be stopped by a shot to the head (or a skull-bashing whammy, but you really don't won't to be close enough to one of them to have to resort to hand-to-hand combat). Take these guys out in droves, and more of them just keep coming, climbing over the remains of the fallen. After a harrowing coastal evacuation, the ranks of survivor soldiers and refugees easily fit on one naval destroyer. Those numbers fall further thanks to an outbreak of Morningstar on board the ship. With limited men, food, and weapons, and no communication with any other military forces, Sherman and his men have to come up with their own plan once they reach the waters off the American West Coast. They soon get undeniable proof that even the rural sections of the country have not been spared in the least by the doomsday virus. The only seeming hope for humanity lies in the efforts of Sherman and his ragtag army of soldiers and civilians to eventually link up with Dr. Anna Demilio.

Plague of the Dead features just about all the zombie action you could want, taking you from the armed African offensives leading up to the battle at the Suez Canal to a number of dangerous and thrilling scenes of urban warfare inside America's hinterland. The fighting is, more often than not, intense and bloody, which is just the way I like it. Many a good character is lost along the way, some heroically and others quite ignominiously, but those who survive grow into really strong characters you really root for - and that, plus the promise of more bloody good zombie action to come, leaves you primed and ready for the forthcoming books in Z.A. Recht's zombie trilogy.

Recht obviously did his homework for Plague of the Dead, which deals largely in military skirmishes with the armies of the infected (some of whom are undead, some of whom resemble the 28 Days Later-types). The battles are gripping and the soldiers are likable; the subplot about those trying to expose the truth of the Morningstar Strain isn't as interesting but it has some good moments, especially when nefarious government agents get involved.

If you like apocalyptic horror and military combat then this one's definitely for you; but I think any general zombie lover will appreciate this book.

I have been on a zombie kick the last few months, and have read a good majority of the zombie books out there. This one kept me turning the pages and was very hard to put down. If you liked Night of the Living Dead, or 28 Days you will enjoy this one. It doesnt have talking zombie which I personally hate more than anything. This is a Zombie story.... I need to say that again. It bugs me when I read reviews with people complaining about how the book was written blah blah blah............Take it for what it is.... ITS A ZOMBIE BOOK!!!!!
The book ends on a cliffhanger, which I really hate because I am not a patient person. I cannot wait for the next part in the saga!!!

Again, if you love Romero and his zombies you will get a kick out of this one!

First the good.
Mr. Recht excels at his descriptions of the undead in his novel "Plague of the Undead." I loved his explanation of shamblers and sprinters; it really bridged the Romero and Danny Boyle visions of the undead. Unfortunately I was unable to connect with this story at any level because of what I believe is a complete lack of research in military culture, tactics, and techniques. As a middling Soldier at best, I can appreciate his portrayal of a General Officer that miscalculates (often) and must live with his bad decisions.

Now the bad.
Despite his original and creative perspectives, Mr. Recht loses me and anyone with even a cursory knowledge of military tactics, techniques and procedures very early in this novel at the Suez Canal. To think that the United States' response would be a single general officer (without a staff, nay without an entire DIVISION of THOUSANDS) and a few hundred soldiers without any combined arms support is just ridiculous. Sorry Mr. Recht... do some research and I might get with your next series. I can't support even an independent publisher with this trash. Were I not an informed reader, I might have gone along with the (tired) secondary FBI/CIA conspiracy theory for the sake of plot, but the total ineptitude that every government and military agency is shown in is inexcusable. I don't suggest that the mil or gov response could or would be better, as this is purely speculative, but I have to hope that a million or so people with slightly better than a community college education could come up with something better than this.
Furthermore, the characters all seem to be cardboard cutouts, plot devices, played out B-Movie stereotypes... the photographer that's not afraid to put his camera down and pick up a gun... the medic that saves lives and takes down the undead... the naive private on his first mission. I could go on but you get the point: There's little new here.

Final Analysis:
Potential buyers... don't get me wrong: I love the genre but I won't recommend this book, and I won't throw down my hard earned cash to find out if the sequel is any better. Go buy World War Z, you won't be disappointed! Re-read it if you have to! You'll find no satisfaction here.

I loved this book. The first of a trilogy, it keeps you in suspense. Not your typical zombies by far! Loved all of the characters, felt like I connected with each one. Very well written. Scary and fun to read. Couldnt wait to start the next book.

I went on a zombie novel binge a few months ago, and this is one that I picked up based on a majority of the reviews being quite good.

The story itself is pretty interesting, and I like the two ongoing but semi-separate storylines. I'm normally of the opinion that zombies shouldn't run, but the idea was pretty clever of the fresher ones sprinting while the long dead ones are shambling fleshbags.

Now, on to the minuses. The writing. Sweet lord, the writing. It seriously reads like a sophomore's english mid-term. Very uninspiring dialogue, (If I remember correctly there's a mention of someone changing moods "faster than an obsessive compulsive changes underwear".) Really? I mean, REALLY? Also, tons of editing issues. If you have enough imagination to write an entire book, I'd like to think you also have the capacity to distinguish between 'to' and 'too'.

Also, as a former member of the Army, reading a lot of the military parts made me actually cringe. The technical and tactical parts were pretty good, but just the romanticized description of how the soldiers felt and acted were cheesy beyond belief. A kind-hearted General paired up with a gruff, 'I hate everyone except my commanding officer' Sergeant Major? Not exactly the most original thing to suffer through.

I know I'm dwelling a lot on some of these low points. Overall I'd say the book was above average. Let me put it this way. If the author continues this 'saga', and takes some time to think out the sentences and wording so that they are maybe 50% less vanilla, I'd probably buy it too.

This combination Hot-Zone/End Of The World/Zombie Thriller sinks it's teeth in to your throat in the first few pages and doesn't let go. Following the interwoven stories of a military doctor trying to cure the epdemic know as the Morning Star Strain and a General who are trying to prevent the it from become a worldwide pandemic, this well paced, well written novel is hard to put down.

As a fan of the Zombie genre, I can say without a doubt this is one of the best Zombie novels I have ever read.

[...]

I liked how he was able to combine two different types of zombies (fast and slow) into a workable, more realistic 'Zombie World." I have read my share of zombie books in my day, and this is up there as one of my favorite. I am actually half way through book 2, and its better than this one even, but only slightly.... i would say 4 and a quarter stars :p

Plague Of The Dead is one of the best novels I have read in the zombie genre. I have read a lot zombie fiction before, so there is nothing here that is brand new, but overall, this is a story that actually works. The characters, for all their strength and weaknesses, are decently fleshed out (though I can see, quite a few reviewers will not agree with me). The action moves along at a clean, fast pace. The few holes that exist in the plot and the somewhat unsatisfying conclusion are the only real problem areas, but these are to be expected in this genre. Overall, I definitely recommend it.

This combination Hot-Zone/End Of The World/Zombie Thriller sinks it's teeth in to your throat in the first few pages and doesn't let go. Following the interwoven stories of a military doctor trying to cure the epdemic know as the Morning Star Strain and a General who are trying to prevent the it from become a worldwide pandemic, this well paced, well written novel is hard to put down.

As a fan of the Zombie genre, I can say without a doubt this is one of the best Zombie novels I have ever read.

[...]

I liked how he was able to combine two different types of zombies (fast and slow) into a workable, more realistic 'Zombie World." I have read my share of zombie books in my day, and this is up there as one of my favorite. I am actually half way through book 2, and its better than this one even, but only slightly.... i would say 4 and a quarter stars :p

Plague Of The Dead is one of the best novels I have read in the zombie genre. I have read a lot zombie fiction before, so there is nothing here that is brand new, but overall, this is a story that actually works. The characters, for all their strength and weaknesses, are decently fleshed out (though I can see, quite a few reviewers will not agree with me). The action moves along at a clean, fast pace. The few holes that exist in the plot and the somewhat unsatisfying conclusion are the only real problem areas, but these are to be expected in this genre. Overall, I definitely recommend it.

I liked this book. The writing is somewhat odd at times, the characterization is minimal (most of the characters are walking one-line stereotypes -and you can pull at the max two lines of description from the others) and the author seems to have a juvenile enthusiasm for the military that can be painful at times (the recurrent "hoo ha's" in the second half of the text border on parody). Still I liked it. It delivers some good moments of visual zombie violence, some genuinely frightening scenes and (very nice touch there) it has both traditional "shamblers" and more modern "sprinters". I recommend it as a light-hearted break between two heavier reads.

I love zombie fiction. I really disliked this book.
The writing comes across as high school fan fiction - but trying very hard to be taken seriously by giving a lot of (non-zombie) side story, that doesn't go anywhere. Its easy to lose track of the characters (especially the 3 or 4 guys whose names start with 'D'). There is a full 100 pages in the middle of the book that have almost no action at all. The first 200 pages build up to a huge let down, and then the book doesn't have an ending.
I really want to warn zombie fans that their 14 bucks is better spent somewhere else.
Also - this is my second major disappointment from Permuted Press - so I recommend that you use caution when considering their horror fiction. Maybe this is because I am a reader to begin with - and the people attracted to this specific genre don't recognize bad writing, or are more forgiving of it because they are just happy to have somebody writing about zombies.

Excellent book, well worth the read. gets right into the meat of the story; characters are appropriately fleshed out (no pun intended) and believable. I thought it was better than World War Z and Day by Day Armageddon. In fact, I would say this was the book I thought World War Z was going to be.

Adapting this guy into a screenplay for a big budget movie would be a breeze. A studio should snatch this up.

If you like your zombies (and who in their right mind doesn't) as slow AND fast then check out this military based zombie book. Right from the first page the author sets the stage for a world wide epidemic, a virus that changes people into biting mindless creatures and when they die they come back as classic Romero style zombies.

Tons of action, tons of zombies and a scope that rivals that of WWZ. Check out this excellent book but know what you are getting in for. Not that this is bad, but the book can be formulaic at times and somewhat predictable. I know some didn't care for the boat stuff but I loved it.

Now I just need to read the next one!

I previewed some of the material of this book online, and couldn't wait for it to come out in book form. Thanks God I wasn't dissapointed. The combination of medical thriller with the zombie word is a winning formula in the hands of Z.A. Recht. Great charaters, fast moving story, great book even if not a zombie fiction fan. For those of us who are, this book is some of the best work in this area. Z.A. Recht and J.L. Bourne (Day by Day Armageddon) are two new writers who's careers I'll be following in the future.

Yes, four stars for the zombies. A great mix of pre-existing zombie mythology and some gripping action sequences definitely stand out. But two for the people because the characters are really disposable. They're a bit cardboard, and it's really hard to care when one of them dies. As others have pointed out, the multiple "D" named characters all blur into one because no one is really developed (a more important "D" word that would have helped this novel). I didn't realise it was the first of a trilogy when I read it, so I found the ending sorely disappointing. Now that I know that, I'd cut it some slack, but I don't know that I care enough about these people to want to read about them further. If you just want to read some fun zombie mayhem sequences, it's worthwhile, but it gets a bit tedious towards the end when it becomes more about the people who become MORE thin as characters as the story goes on, and, in essence, are less interesting than the nameless undead they fight, which is a shame, because I really wanted to care. Still, some fun military/zombie action if that's what you seek.

Im a dinosaurs/time travel kind for my sci-fi.
the jurassicparkish ANY story where man&dinosaur collide in a scenerio
is my kind of story.prehistoric cloneing stories where creatures of the
past are restored to run amuck is my FAVORITE!
ALL non-fiction dinosaur/prehistoric animals too!
and time travel,and/or the blend of the 2 is waaaaaaaay ME!
KENNEYSILLS

The Morningstar Strain virus was first seen in Africa and Anna DeMilio of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is the foremost authority on it. Nobody heeded her plea to quarantine every person anywhere who comes down with this illness. Now it is out of control spreading globally, but also when one dies they are reanimated.

Egypt is lost to the reanimated so the United States makes a stand at the Suez Canal, but thousands of carriers break through the front line. Only luck enables Special Forces General Shannon and some of his squad along with a Red Cross volunteer Julie to escape by ship to America where like the rest of the world the virus owns the metropolis areas to include much of suburbia. Anna desperately continues her research hoping to find a miracle elixir while Shannon and his remaining force wonder how to fight an insurgency from within.

This first book in the Morningstar Trilogy contains a fresh unique twist to the zombie mythos with an Ebola like virus that reanimates its dead victims. Z.A. Recht has created characters that seem real especially the medical researcher and the general as neither is used to failure, but that seems to be their common thread at this time. PLAGUE FOR THE DEAD is apocalyptic fiction at its thrilling best.

Harriet Klausner

Most zombie books tend to be predictable, poorly written and fall prey to contrived and overused events. The Morningstar series is well written with interesting characters and imaginative but practical storylines. Can't wait for book three. Any chance of this series becoming a movie? Long live the Z.

I thought this book was okay, but it's still an interesting read if your into zombies. The book started out a bit slow with some of the characters emailing back and forth, but it eventually gets a little better with the outbreak starting at an airport in Africa. I guess my biggest beef against the book is the one-dimensionality of the characters and the whole conspiracy theory, bad guy FBI/CIA agents torturing people was a little far-fetched and ridiculous. Also, the book never ends which leads me to believe that there might be a sequal...

As The Post -apocalyptic Zombie Stories go.......this is one of the best. You will never put it down once you open it. The Characters are well done and very likeable. I can't tell you enough BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

I have a serious thing for zombies. If it is about the undead I will read it or watch it. Because of this I have read a whole lot of horrible books. While this is certainly not the worst of the genre it does come fairly close.
The novel is grammatically sound, sadly an unusual trait in most zombie books. This does help an awful lot, but it certainly isn't enough to overcome paper thin characters throughout the book. I mean it, there isn't one well developed character in the entire book. Transparent, poorly researched caricatures of people are all you get, and it is often enough to make you cringe. There's the gruff general who is a natural leader, the plucky red cross nurse, and enough soldiers stolen from various movies to fill a small stadium.
Another glaring problem is the lazy story development. This book is made up of long strings of ridiculously convenient plot devices that carry the story from A to B. It reads like the author had a an idea for the beginning and end of a story and decided to slap together enough filler to get you from one to the other.
I gave the novel two stars because I think this is the author's first book. Since his technical writing skills aren't too bad there is room for him to pull it together and learn how to write at least marginally interesting characters and plot lines. Considering how god awful much of this genre is, it is at least a bit refreshing to find a writer that knows the difference between 'there' 'their' and 'they're'.

Aren't there supposed to be zombies in a "zombie novel"?
85 percent of this book is military personal talking about a zombie invasion that's going on in the background. And when the zombies finally creep in from time to time it's very short and without the usual zombie skin-shredding. At least I won't have to waste my time and money on the second book. Sorry Z.A.Recht, R.I.P., but there are much better "Zombie Novels" out there. If you want gooey gristle and bloody, sloppy entrails, check out one of the Brian Keene zombie books.
I really wanted to like this book, but, too bad for me. If you like your undead books filled with military action and very little flesh-eaters, then get this book. Otherwise, skip it.

I will generally read or watch anything zombie related so, of course, I ran to pick up a copy of Plague of Dead - unfortunately, I just as quickly had to put it down. Its a shame really, I LOVE the idea ZA Recht had for his infected/undead. Really, it was a great idea and that is why it gets two stars from me. The prose (or lack thereof) was awful. Long rambling on sentences. Character development done in one sentence. Just Awful. Plus the characters were so transparent that, personally, I couldn't keep them straight. The General became the Captain and the Private became the doctor in my mind as I read the confusing prose in each of the 5 chapters I managed to wade through.
Will I one day pick up Plague of the Dead and give it another shot? Maybe.
Do I wish that Mr. Recht had taken a little more time to develop a writing style before he ultimately slaughtered his own brillant idea?
YES!
This story has LOTS of potential (and I mean LOTS!). Its excellent ideas simply suffer from poor writing skills.

I don't think this book touched the table after opening the package. The story is fast paced and intriguing. It is clear the author uses this as a hook for more in the saga, but I was still satisfied with the resolution of each groups' chapter of survival. I am glad I didn't pick it up as it was originally produced, as patience is not a virtue. It was a little short, however. I will be purchasing the rest. This is a perfect addition to your library. It sits well on the shelf next to Max Brooks or J.L.Borne. Pick it up at your earliest convenience.

I loved this book and i can't wait to get the sequel which has just come out and ive ordered and now i'd like to shamelessly plug my own book at the expense of a small quotation on the store here in the united states seeing as im from the UK and you know what us Brits are like, we love to blow our own - Please be a good citizen, do wonders for our overseas relationship and buy Deathday by Eugene Bruce (23rd in the list if you type my name in) I love you America!

The story takes the reader through Africa, the Middle-East and finally to the United States. The story becomes more compelling as the number of soldiers and civilian refugees dwindles and they are forced to find supplies where they can.

If only I could have been better convinced that the battle at Suez was truly un-winnable, then I would have given this book 5 stars. That wasn't even the key turning point in the story that it seemed to be; The world was lost before then.

The story is very good and I am glad I read it. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

I have been a huge fan of re-animated dead since, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, and for awhile I thought that was the only way I could get my zombie fix, via movies or video. Imagin my joy when I found out people were writing full length re-animated dead novels!
I researched alot of the differnt Zombie novels and I settled on Plague of the Dead The Morning Star Strain. What can I say this book, it was so well written, the research put into this book and the well thought out plot lines were done so amazingly well you forget that this is a story about re-animated dead people. We have virologists, military people deserted towns, gun fights, the story moves fast and leaves you wanting more. I recommend it, The Plague of the Dead does not disapoint. Its not a teeny bopper story, with nothing but blood and guts, this story is written for mature readers I know,, I am 41 and this is for adults to have a great time reading about how a virus kills then re-animates.

Ok, if you are a 12 year old kid who hates to read, are kind of a military nerd, and like zombies, and your Mom hands you this book in order to jump start your reading skills, this book would be five stars. Zombies, military references, it is all there for you.

If you are mid thirtish, and looking a dark zombie apocalypse NOVEL writen for ADULTS, with things like signifigant plot development, gripping characters that aren't cliches, some semblence of realism (even in Sci-Fi you have to be able to suspend some disbelief), etc, I'm going to have to recommend that you pass this book by. This book should be in the pre-teen section.

For what seems to be a trilogy POTD is a great starting place. Not as violent as most "zombie" movies POTD is more about survival and the toll it takes on humans. I like how the military was dipicted as heroes instead of Government cover-up types although there are some in the book. Z.A.Recht you have a new fan.

Decker, Dewen, Denton, Darin, Don, Demilio, and more!!! How can one keep these characters straight when the names begin with the same letter, four end in the same letter, four are two-syllable names, and they all have the same undeveloped personality. That's just lazy writing. However, the story is an interesting, if typical, zombie plot. I enjoyed the adventure. I liked the new zombie lore of mixing "infected sprinters" and "undead shamblers." I wish there were more hands-on action. Much of the plot development required one to overlook flaws. Soldiers and doctors seem to have no qualm killing comrades (because they're in the way of their escape). But it was still a fun read.

I've read a lot of zombie books and must say this one and "Thunder and Ash: The Morningstar Saga" (book 2) are very good. I do hope the author follows up with a third book. The ending of "Thunder and Ash" left that option available.

Serouisly if you have not read this book and you are a fan of zombie/horror get this and the second one riiiiight now. Both this and the second in the series made me loose countless hours of sleep... not only because I couldn't put them down but after I was done all I could picture is a shambler creeping out from the shadows to have at me. Author is fantastic in the details of the battles and struggles of the whole outbreak. a must read.... now I just need the third one. T-virus and rage virus have nothing on the morningstar strain! Get it now...

I finally have a break in school for a month, so I'm actually back to reading for fun for a change! :) I bought this after reading World War Z (which I also enjoyed) so I'm kinda on a zombie kick.
I have to say this book is very good right from the start and doesn't let go until the last page. I finished it in 2 days and it really is a fast read. The idea of 2 types of zombies is interesting and made sense once it was explained. This book was hard to put down and if you are a zombie fan I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Just when I was starting to think World War Z and Day By Day Armageddon were the only 'readable' zombie books, I stumbled across this gem (and I've been reading a LOT of them since I got my Kindle for Christmas). It's amazing how much crap there is out there. Rest assured that this is actually a good one. If his sequel was available on Kindle, I'd be reading that right now instead of writing this review.

Great story, well written. The only thing I didn't like was that this book details the downfall of civilization, but ends there. I hope there is a sequel so I can find out what happens in the aftermath and how the survivors cope in their new world.

If you enjoy Zombie stories like I do (guilty pleasure) then you will really enjoy this one. This book has all of the attributes of a world-wide zombie apocalypse. It incorporates a causative agent and the in-effective efforts of the military. The story centers on several different characters and their experiences. It is a complete story but could very well have another book following the surviving characters.

I am thoroughly convinced that the publisher and even the author are writing some of the reviews here.
I just got done reading a review that said great character development, and was wondering if we read the same book. Here is an example of the introduction of a character......"Freelance photographer Sam Denton grinned wryly behind his dark sunglasses" and you also find out that he is a Canadian a half a page later.
That's how this individual was introduced, and that's all you know about him, even though he is one of the main characters.
What about the families of all these refuges and soldiers? Are they all orphans? Are they all single? Did they all lose there families in a car accident when they were kids? Not one individual in this book is interested in finding out what happened to their wife, husband, kids, parents, brothers, sisters or friends back home.
Given the severity of the virus and also the fact that an entire continent was being quarantined, where was the rest of the worlds armies, especially the middle eastern troops? You mean to tell me that we were holding the Suez canal with a couple hundred troops and the only airpower we had was a helicopter gunship? I could go on and on but I will close with the only reason I gave this book 2 stars instead of 1. The grammar was good.

This looked promising, but I can't get past the first page and here's why: in a story that relies heavily on USAMRIID on the base of Fort DETRICK in Frederick, MD, is it asking too much that the author spells "Detrick" correctly? This does not bode well for the rest of the book, and at professional prices, I expect a professional product. There are far too many excellent choices for far less in this genre to waste the money on this one.

I've just finished this first book in the Morningstar Strain saga, and I've got to say, it rocked my socks off.

Plague of the Dead is better by far than David Wellington's zombie trilogy and J.L. Bourne's Day by Day Armageddon combined.

The inclusion of both speed zombies (for lack of a better way to put it) is brilliantly handled, as is the detailing of the initial containment attempts.

I would recommend this to any enthusiast of zombie lit. To borrow from Stan Lee, excelsior!

Ok this book is poorly written and theres no other way to say it, the characters are totally useless plus there are a number of times when i lost what was happening. I mean they stop in the Philippines for a bit then they leave and i kinda missed that happening?! Theres also a hilarious bit with a magnet gun that i think the author had bigger ideas for but then he seemed to dump it, after all he made great pains to introduce it and then *poof* it was gone.

The game you can play though is called 'guess the movie', there are probably over 50 times when i could name the movie and even the character that delivered that exact line in a film! Aliens, The Terminator and a whole host of others, i would urge you not to buy this book but maybe get it from the library, read a third of it and then if you still like it go and buy a copy. Anyone giving this tripe more than 3 stars is either retarded or works for the publisher ;-)

And yes before you all jump down my throat, its alot better than i could hope to write yadda yadda and i like the fact he mixed shamblers and sprinters, im a shambler purist so at least he got a positive mark from me on that. Which incidentally is the reason this gets 2 stars.

Go and read World War Z if you haven't already its a much better investment of your time and money.

Oh and before i go i have to mention this, theres a scene thats just too priceless. It involves a hoard of zombies about 2 minutes away from killing 3 main characters and an evil government agent shows up, ooooo. Our hero has a gun and 2 people to protect from imminent 'death by zombie' but he decides to have a fist fight with this guy as its the honorable thing to do *rolls eyes*. It was hysterical, i actually laughed out loud reading it in bed, the description of the fight is then the most hideous piece of teenage masturbatory material ive ever read. Bravo.

I can't believe this book got such a high number of 5 star reviews..it is terrible on so many levels. From the dumb foreward talking about Fort Deitrich (as a person who has worked there, I can tell you that foreword was a pile of rubbish, and it's Fort Detrick, not Fort Deitrich). As for rest of the book, painful. I couldn't stop cringing at the scene where the undead are crossing the Suez canal, 4 helicopters and few artillary pieces for defense??/ Come on! Pure rubbish. Go buy World War Z, or less so Day-by day, but avoid this book (and the equally terrible sequel) like the plaque!!

The wacked out anti-american conspiracy theory spewed out in the prologue kept me from even attempting to read the free sample! I mean, come on, the writer states that most Americans think that the U.S. government was involved in 9/11 and made up bird flu in order to control the populace? Please don't wear your fringe politics on your sleeve if you want to sell something. This potential buyer was certainly put off... The story might be very good, but I wasn't able, in good conscience, to support the author because of the political viewpoint.

I don't mean knock this book, but honestly it seems like it was too short and while it is action packed you honestly don't feel anything for the characters. However, as I mentioned, the action is quite intense at times and completely side tracked me from my complete lack of compassion for any characters. Also it leaves you hanging and I expect the sequel to be quite the action packed, zombie filled romp.

This book is poorly written and poorly edited. Some of the scenes, things that happen in the book were just dumb. This is one more novel to be thrown on the pile of zombie lit that just kinda sucks...seems everyone is trying it, yet few are really good writers with good ideas.

Trust me, this book is NOT worth your time... or money. It reads as if it was written by a 14 year with zero talent. The characters are in place, but their dialogs are ridiculous. For example, in the book a well educated CDC scientist goes on live TV and describe the virus as being "one sick puppy". The book is full of stupid cliches like this and I just couldn't bear to finish it. It is ridiculous, slow, unexiciting and worst of all, predictable.
DON'T WAST YOUR MONEY ! !

Once I started reading this book, it was very hard to put it down. All I can really say about this book is that its a must read!! I will be reading the rest of Z.A. Recht's books as they are released.

Plague of the Dead is a very solid zombie book; it successfully bridges the gap between Romero's shuffling zombies and 28 Days Later's Olympic sprinters. I read the entire book in one extended sitting - which I'm rarely compelled to do.

Highly recommended to those who liked titles such as World War Z, Day by Day Armageddon, Down the Road.

One of the best Zombie books I have read, second only to "World War Z". It takes the virus approach as to the cause of the outbreak and combines the traditional shambling hordes of George Romero with the ravenous maniacal zombies of 28 days later. I can't wait for the next 2 books to come out.

Let's face it folks- zombie fiction ain't up there with that Billy Shakespeare fella. It's not meant to be quality literature that lasts through the ages. But there's no reason it can't be fun and readable. This book, unfortunately, is neither. I purchased this book before a long flight and really, I mean HONESTLY, tried to read it. I ended up reading SkyMall instead (Coincidentally, I now have several pet stairs and ion home filtration systems).
The fact of the matter is this: This book is poorly written with an unimaginative plot. Without spoiling the "plot" for those who wish to purchase, this book is everything bad and cliche about the zombie genre and the writer made no attempt to do otherwise. Now, with that being said, I will continue to keep this book in my bathroom and try to read it.

I really don't see how this book could slog through a trilogy. I am a fan of the genre and had read this book based on the positive reviews here. They are in error. This is not in the same league as 'World War Z', let alone 'I Am Legend' or even the book adaptations of 'Resident Evil'.

This book comes across as written by a 12-year-old who's research on the military appears to have consisted of talking to someone who once knew someone who knew someone in the military, with a little Wikipedia thrown in. The characters are superficial, one-dimensional, inaccurate stereotypical caricatures. Dialog is so trite and cliché one ends up rolling one's eyes so often they lose focus. Combat scenes are laughable and cartoonish. Research on virology seems non-existent. Knowledge of government agencies appears to have come from the back of a cereal box.

This book may make a mediocre comic book, but is not even worthy of the artwork for a bad graphic novel. I was glad when the book finally ended, and regret the time it took to get through it.

Don't waste your money or your time on this book. There are far better works in the zombie genre.

Great story. Character development is very good. Plot is magnificent. There is a lot of action and you feel the excitement. You feel for the characters and get to like them. I didn't want to put the book down. Now that I am done I want more.

I really thought that this book was not worth my effort. I checked the local book stores for a few weeks trying to find it before purchasing on the store. The book was very generic, and read just like a made for cable action movie. The only redeeming quality was that it was actually about zombies, and I am a freak about zombies.

Honestly it was a face passed book that was very fun to read.

I have read a few Zombie novels and this one centers on face passed action and a writing style that is very conducive to readers who want something thats not cheesy.

Enjoyable read in the usual dead bodies walking genre. The virus idea is quite good, and it is obviously set up for book 2 which no doubt i will buy. Jumps around a bit and a lot of characters but well worth the read if you enjoy this type of book

I read this entire book and I have to be honest. It was the single most perfectly written failure I have ever laid eyes upon. It doesn't matter that the book isn't nuanced or classical, it matters that it wasn't any stinkin good. It didn't do the single most important thing a zombie novel should do. It should have made me fear the possibility. It didn't, nor was it any fun to read. I found myself reading through chapters and having the most intense feeling of Deja Vu. Then when a character would die or any major event happened for that matter, I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation. Don't waste your time or your money, this one is a stinker.

Would have a better novel if they'd had a couple of bright, college educated people proofread it. Implausible details on almost every page: a photojournalist who use film in 2007, a virologist who does research on Malaria, local news stations who have interviews with the CIA chief, a CIA chief who uses the phrase "you commie bastard" during a TV interview. It distracts me from the narrative, which seemed good enough, at least in the first 85 pages I read before discarding the book.

aside from the junior high plotting and a breathtaking lack of knowledge as to basic geography, elementary geopolitics, computer security, our system of government, the military, human relationships, logic, nuance, character development, motivations, even character differentation, its the dialogue that really gets me.

Horrific Example One: Evil government agent (shamelessly ripped from the Matrix) is confronted by former detainee bearing a gun:

"Doctor. It seems we were in this situation once before, only then it was I who held the weapon."

sweet jesus.

Horrific Example Two: Africa has been quarantined and is lost, billions of innocents consigned to goddawful deaths at the hands of undead cannibals. Our fearless General, faced with this reality, thinks only:

"Sherman shuddered to think of a massively overpopulated city like Shanghai becoming compromised."

seriously? a billion people are dead and he's "shuddering" at the prospect of [random asian city] going under? what?

za, my man, you seem like a nice guy. the first rule of writing is: write what you know.

do research, lots of research, before writing anything else. please. research the locations, research the types of people, their professions, their cultures. (a kenyan grandmother citing the "law of murphy"? ffs).

(also, the characters constantly forgetting/ignoring the *key* detail to the virus is extremely aggravating.)

To me, Z.A. Recht's Plague of the Dead has the distinction of being the most ambitious, epic and inventive of Permuted Press's somewhat lethargic and pedestrian line, however extremely poor characterization, a pervasive disregard for fact checking or character and world details and a rushed, surprisingly timid style completely buries any creative surprises that might be found within.

I won't deny Mr. Recht his props. In some ways, he really deserves them. Most of all because I think he might have done what many considered to be impossible, he came up with a new way to present the zombie plague and he did it by simply combining the age old with the new in a way that works really surprisingly well. Its so inventive and fun in fact, that I wouldn't be surprised to see the idea of sprinting, rage filled and infected living that when killed then rise again as the shambling, shuffling dead start to catch on and appear in the more "main stream" zombie stuff. It was a creative bend on existing ideas and it worked. Kudos, Mr. Recht, well done. He also has not only obviously put together some thoughts and a little bit of research on his plague, its biology and its origin, but also on his greater story itself, as this is just the first part of a proposed trilogy. I can respect the effort evidenced, at the very least, if not the execution.

Because, quite frankly, this is where Plague of the Dead stumbles, falters and then fails. The characters are so one dimensional that calling them paper thin would be a compliment. Their motives and speech patterns are completely and totally interchangeable. If you had a page of dialogue without qualifiers, you wouldn't be able to even guess gender, let alone the character identity. At their core all the characters can all be boiled down to simple, one word descriptions: General. Girl. Scientist. Loner. Black guy (admittedly that's two words... sue me.) but even then they get confusing: Soldier, soldier, soldier, young soldier? To top it all off, half the names are so similar that at a glance, many could be mistaken for each other.

And speaking of "at a glance", the worst mistake of the book is so huge, that it simply can NOT be ignored. CAN NOT! Now, lets ignore the fact that he obviously did not even look at a picture of the Suez Canal, lets ignore the fact that he obviously has no idea as to the Suez Canal's purpose, lets ignore the fact that there is no way in the world that if a dangerous plague was threatening to jump from Africa, from Egypt and over the canal, that the entire opposite bank wouldn't be lined with the entire Israeli armed forces, not to mention a huge chunk of America's, lets EVEN ignore the somewhat silly idea that we would even TRY to quarantine Africa, alright? Barring all those little flubs, which, come on now, when listed together suddenly don't seem so little (and this is by no means an even close to complete list of all the inaccuracies, mistakes and things that don't make sense) barring all those things, there is one mistake that towers over everything, that destroys, DESTROYS, any credibility the author or his book might have had, a mistake so god awful dumb that... I can't even quantify it, man...

You'll read some reviews that will refer to it as a "simple" geography mistake, but let me assure you, it is not. Look... Africa is to the WEST of the Suez Canal, THE WEST! You don't even need a detailed map in order to see this. A child's globe, even an inflatable globe beach ball where you'd find a big yellow blob labeled simply as: Africa, would tell you this at a glance! AT A GLANCE! Africa = west of the Suez! Africa only connects to Asia at one point! ONE POINT! COME ON, MAN! Who was the editor on this book? They should be fired, just fired out right. A typo, a mistake... that's one thing, but for an entire chapter he gets this wrong and that only makes it obvious that the Editor DID NOT do his/her job. Doesn't this upset Permuted Press? Is this what they want to present to the world? How very, very professional.

So what else? Really, at this point, after that, is it worth going into all the little aggravating mistakes, technical inaccuracies and poorly conceived and choreographed moments? I could go into the fact that a hundred or two more pages or so were needed and that the story was crippled by be confined to so few. I can go on about the lack of character development and the hesitancy displayed when faced with an emotional character moment but not when it came to gore, but what's the point? I mean, if you can get it wrong that Africa is to the west of the Suez canal, does anything else really need to be said?

Overall, this is a very poorly done book, but it is one that feels like a very early first draft, as Mr. Recht shows an inventiveness and a sense of action and story lay out that could be nurtured into something much better, if only given some time, even if the end result would most likely be somewhat clichéd and surface. And while, yes, the blame for this does lay firmly on Mr. Recht's shoulders, a healthy portion also falls on Permuted Press whose editorial staff did the man a massive disservice with their ludicrously poorly performed job.

This is a cheap, paper thin, clichéd, one dimensional child's adventure, but there is a sparkle of imagination contained within that might someday outshine the myriad of mistakes and mis-steps... maybe.

My recommendation: Anyone with even low-medium standards need not apply.

I cannot fathom how this book is getting good reviews. So poorly written I could barely finish it (kept hoping it would get better -- FAIL). Disjointed plot line (and not in a metafiction type of way; in a sloppy way), cardboard characters, overuse of hyperbole, jumpy -- ugh, just terrible. Sorry that the young man who wrote this did not have a good editor otherwise it might have amounted to something more than a curiosity.

I was really hoping this would be a book on par with Day by Day Armageddon.

If you are a vet and enjoy the zombie genre STAY AWAY!

To the author, if you plan on putting soldiers and or sailors in your books please, for the love of god, have an Army or Navy vet read it before you publish it. It's embarrassing to read.

I am not going to waste anymore time writing about this piece of kindling.

I really don't see how this book could slog through a trilogy. I am a fan of the genre and had read this book based on the positive reviews here. They are in error. This is not in the same league as 'World War Z', let alone 'I Am Legend' or even the book adaptations of 'Resident Evil'.

This book comes across as written by a 12-year-old who's research on the military appears to have consisted of talking to someone who once knew someone who knew someone in the military, with a little Wikipedia thrown in. The characters are superficial, one-dimensional, inaccurate stereotypical caricatures. Dialog is so trite and cliché one ends up rolling one's eyes so often they lose focus. Combat scenes are laughable and cartoonish. Research on virology seems non-existent. Knowledge of government agencies appears to have come from the back of a cereal box.

This book may make a mediocre comic book, but is not even worthy of the artwork for a bad graphic novel. I was glad when the book finally ended, and regret the time it took to get through it.

Don't waste your money or your time on this book. There are far better works in the zombie genre.

The book sells for less than $5.00 in paperback and they want $12.00 for Kindle and other e formats. Sorry Simon & Schuster, does not compute.

I don't mind paying a price equal to publisher list for paperback, but I refuse to pay a premium/penalty price for avoiding the paperback carbon footprint.

I appreciate the genre & the effort. The writing's just very weak, even for a huge fan of zombie fiction it is hard to get through. Check out World War Z for something better. I appreciate the effort but whoa it is juvenile writing 101

This book had a lot of promise. However, I think even a teenager would have laughed at the plot holes in this one. Set in 2006/2007 the book overlooks the power of the internet to spread information. US forces are the only major players in stopping the virus and the three top commanders end up in a firefight. The troops are told to shoot and ask questions later, but when a civilian is hit by a truck and a medic says he is burning up with fever they leave him with food and water in case he isn't infected. The author even gets his east/west directions mixed up for almost an entire chapter. Knowing that Africa is to the west of the Suez Canal is a pretty basic thing. I gave it two stars for one reason. I was ready to discard the book after getting a third of the way through, but I wanted to find out what happened to the characters. Not interested enough to look for a sequel.