Joseph Hansen (5)

"Zombie Rush 4: Banished from Hell" is filled with many 'firsts': introduction of a new kind of "human/zombie" that is almost impossible to kill; Dean thinks he has finally trapped the psychotic cannibal doctor, but all is not what it seems; Lisa is put on trial for the murder of a fellow policeman; the new president of the United States visits the town and tries to rig the trial in hopes of finding Lisa guilty and executed before leaving; street gangs are killing each other and more intent on protecting their turf than each other; and another strong female character saves Lisa and then comes face-to-face with the psychotic doctor.

Mr. Hansen states that this book completes the series...every question is answered, but the ending leaves itself wide open for continuation. In the afterword, the author mentions that a new series will soon begin with ties to this one - which does make sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series and highly recommend it for those wanting a great story with just normal people coming together and working hard to survive. Great read Mr. Hansen! Kudos!

John Podlaski, author
"Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?"… (lisätietoja)

I have to admit that I was thoroughly engaged with "Zombie Rush Trilogy". Lt. LIsa Reynolds is ready for her first day on the job - leading the police force in a small town. Little does she know that something infected the population of the world during the night and turning many of them into zombies. Her introduction is cut short and the entire force goes out to investigate the killings and bring back order.

Lisa is a strong female lead and take charge kind of person. She joins up with a small group of survivors who band together to fight the zombie hordes. In this storyline, the author introduces readers to the "Runners", zombies with almost super powers...they run fast can keep up with moving vehicles and can also leap to great lengths; they were tough to kill and many died underestimating them..

The group of survivors grow into the hundreds as they take over a mall parking lot and begin to build a fortress using tractor trailers...many are refrigerated and contain food. Two of Lisa's police officers survived the day and were leading their own groups to safety. They soon join up with Lisa's group and agree to follow her directions. The group is no match fighting the zombies when using guns - there's too many of them. They soon develop new weapons by using mechanical construction equipment which can kill thousands of zombies and build funneled corridors to thin out the mobs into more manageable groups. Their success is giving the group a sense of hope and making them stronger. Everyday, the fortress grows in size as the perimeters expand to support the added amount of survivors that arrive. Lisa still has access to the only AM radio station still operating and uses it to communicate with survivors and guiding them to their stronghold.

A second story line follows a medical doctor who welcomes the zombie apocalypse. He has an obsession with killing and then eating his victims and now he doesn't have to hide what he does in fear of losing his practice. Lisa finds that he is extremely clever and enjoys to play cat and mouse, often setting traps that his victims easily fall into and escape routes if things don't go as planned. He soon uses the zombies against the survivors in hopes of overrunning the fortress and helps them by sniping and killing the survivors who operate the killing machinery.

Soon, the survivors number tens of thousands and the fortress continues to expand, eventually pushing the perimeter beyond the town boundaries and retaking their lost town. Everybody contributes to the groups' survival and Lisa continues to keep them safe and nourished.

This is a graphic novel, scenes are overly descriptive and paint mind images that may cause some readers to be uncomfortable. If you can stand it, then I highly recommend this book. After reading the trilogy, I learned that the author recently released book 4 in the saga and I quickly purchased and downloaded it to my Kindle. Mr. Hansen is marketing book 4 as the conclusion to the series - it'll be worth it to see how the main characters fare and what happens to the world as we know it. Great job Mr. Hansen!

John Podlaski, author
"Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?"… (lisätietoja)