Uncle Jack has been very naughty

Up until recently Keith Blackmore's first two zombie books 'The Hospital' And 'Mountain Man' had been one of my all-time favourite zombie stories. So I had been eagerly awaiting this one for some time. I pre-purchased ‘Safari: Mountain Man 2’ on the strength of those first two. But unfortunately for Mountain Man 2 I had just finished listening to several other zombie books which were really very entertaining. The opposition for this one had certainly stepped up a notch or two. Those other books were Chris Philbrook’s “Adrian’s Undead Diary”, Timothy Long’s “Z-Risen” and Eloise J Knapp’s “The Undead Situation”.

I suspect I suffered from having built this one up too much over the time. But nevertheless it was very entertaining. I pretty much listened to this one in one sitting. All of the things I liked about the first one are still here in book two. Gus, the crazy man who speaks to his bottle of grog and calls it ‘uncle Jack”. The comic book style action… which makes me feel young at heart!

The main character, well pretty much the only character ‘Gus’ is once again the sort of bloke that I feel I would like to get to know!

The story is further developed by introduction of other enemies for our lovable character Gus. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away, but I can tell you the new enemies are not all human!

Once again the narrator does a brilliant job with matching up the voice to Gus. R C Bray’s narration now has a major impact on my purchasing decision… he is that good!

In summary, I loved it. Not as much as the first, but it is funny, entertaining and the narrator’s voice is pleasant. I have already pre-purchased the next in the series. If you like zombie stories, or want to give one spin. Then I would highly recommend this series. Keith Blackmore’s first “The Hospital” is a short story and is only 2 hours long (very cheap on audible) and will give you a good taste for the ‘Mountain Man” series.

24 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

great follow-up!

Any additional comments?

safari picks up right where the mountain man left off. gus has just fought off roxanne and her boyfriend's gang. his house is trashed and full of dead bodies, but there's no rest for gus. even though he has had the crap beat out of him by roxie, he has to attend to things, and the first being his shattered teeth. roxie's knee to his face has broken some of his teeth, and in one grisly scene, gus has to play dentist.

gus is haunted by his betrayal and the loss of his friend, scott. he drowns his demons with booze and killing zombies. safari is darker than the mountain man as gus' loneliness causes him to hallucinate and to start losing some of his humanity. reminiscent of the movie, cast away, gus has an imaginary friend in the form of a captain morgan's bottle. their banter is funny and touching at times.

there is tension throughout the story, and you wonder when gus' boozing is going to catch up with him, especially since he's solo. there are a few holy $hit scenes, where you're definitely thinking how in the heck is gus gonna get out of this hornets nest.

i think safari is faster paced than mountain man, but the plot does not feel rushed. there is a lot of zombie bashing as gus dons his nomex suit, neck brace, and helmet.

the mystery to the disappearing bodies is revealed, and i have to say it's quite shocking. it's definitely unique, and something you won't be expecting! no, i'm not going to tell you!

once again, rc bray does a great job narrating the story. he is definitely one of my favorite narrators.

overall, an excellent follow-up to the mountain man. if you liked that story, then you'll really like this one.

18 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE BOOKS EVER!!!

If you read the first book of this series then you have to read book 2. The writing for book 2 was just as funny and unique as the first book.

Any book that incorporates a talking Captain Morgan Bottle that urges the protagonists to go out for Zombie Hunting Season is a can't miss book. I forget how many times I laughed out loud at the dialogue between Gus and Captain Morgan.

My only disappointment with this book was that it contained no information about Scott and his pursuit of the sociopathic serial killer Tennor? Hopefully that will be addressed in a third book because that story line has a lot of potential not to get any follow up on.

I'm sure anyone who reads this book will have one or two favorite lines, for me without doubt my favorite line in this book was near the end when Gus asked Adam what kind of shape he was in when they found him. Adams reply, "You looked like a piece of steak flipped off someones barbecue and rolled around in S#!T."... Hahaha.

This is a great book no doubt about it.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

even more deadly terror has risen

SPOILER ALERT. If you have not read “Mountain Man book 1″ better read it before this one. Otherwise you will not know how everything went down.

Gus was badly hurt, between Roxann and the bikers he has sustained broken teeth, cracked ribs and other injuries. To ease his pain he found his best friend, Captain Morgan, and had a drink, or two, or three.

At the start of a cold winter Gus is hurt and alone, again. This is how book 2 starts as we continue to follow Gus’s will to survive. Through the coming months he slowly heals. During this time he drops down the well of despair and loneliness. He has long conversations with a bottle of Captain Morgan rum. Still needing supplies he makes trips to town in the truck the bikers left at his gate.

Except for Scott, every “normal” human he meets has tried to kill him. Now he doesn’t think twice about killing in self-defense. As his sanity spirals down he makes plans to get rid of all the zombies in Annapolis.

To his horror it is not only the zombies that are a threat, a new, even more deadly terror has risen.

I listened to this book straight through. Well, almost, straight through. The pace was fairly fast and the action was vicious. More problems and plot twists. The characters in this part of the story were what we could expect when the basic rules of humanity are gone. I found this part very believable and well developed.

Mr. Bray did a splendid job of bringing this book to life. I didn’t have a problem with his voices and liked the tone of his telling. Everything was clear and easy to understand. The book cover gives you the jist of this book. Audio production was without fault. Very well done. Book 3 here I come.

Audiobook purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at audiobookreviewer dot com

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8 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

One trick pony

Weakest of the three books in the series (so far). A lot of the best parts of the other books have been the interpersonal relationships. This book has none of that unless you count having a friendship with a duct taped bottle of Jack D. This should have been the first book in the series (albeit with a different ending).

Spoilers:
This book amounts to the same trick over and over. Zombies and or rats, lots of rats. It's like a comedian with one joke. It got very redundant over time. The same thing happened a bit in the beginning of the third book with Scott but then that book started to get better over time. You reach a point where you say, "I get it. There are a lot of rats."

As usual, RC Bray is awesome. His range is incredible and he makes excellent decisions as far as his delivery goes.

Not a terrible listen but not "edge of your seat."

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Awesome!

If you could sum up Safari in three words, what would they be?

Drunk Zombie Killer!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes these are such great books and safari is no exception.

Any additional comments?

Gus is such a badass!

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Excellent Series!

Would you consider the audio edition of Safari to be better than the print version?

Yes - RC Bray was great.

Any additional comments?

This is a very good series. It's basically just an every guy who got lucky and found a well supplied hideout after the apocalypse and then has been smart and careful enough to stay alive. There are some very creepy action scenes - very skin crawly - but most of the series is a slow build exploring the daily life and mind of a man who is surviving - mostly alone - alternating between extreme stress and monotony and slowly getting a bit nutty. My other favorite authors are JL Bourne and DJ Molles. If you are a fan of either or both of their series I think you will like this one as well.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

I can't say enough good things..

What did you love best about Safari?

All of it, honestly...

Who was your favorite character and why?

Berry, the main character

What does R. C. Bray bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

That "X factor" that only a great narrator can in an audiobook

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

yeah, no tears and I won't spoil anything

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

He's not hunting wabbit!

Would you listen to Safari again? Why?

Yes. I am not one to repeat listen, usually, but the Gus-isms in the Mountain Man series are epic. I'm sure I may have missed one or two.

What other book might you compare Safari to and why?

No real comparisons, which is a credit to the author.

What does R. C. Bray bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The exuberant defiance, surprising angst and ultimate affability that is Augustus Berry.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Hey, there's no crying on the mountain - but I laughed a lot. Like a lot a lot. I will admit to more than a few really close calls that made me hold my breath. And want to projectile vomit.

Any additional comments?

Zombie apocalypse fiction (is that redundant?) at its finest. Two rotten thumbs up.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Gus is back!

Augustus "Gus" is back from Mountain Man Book I and he's drunker than ever. When the readers last left Gus, he was hunkered down in his mountain solar powered home and killing invaders after his betrayal-of-a-lust (Roxanne) gave up his location. He succeeds in fending himself and his home but at great cost; Gus's humanity is dwindling, he's drinking more heavily, and has sunk into depression. He hears voices in the guise of the Captain ( Captain Morgan Rum), and is facing a new, deadly threat. Only hint is that they screech and no one likes them, ever. Maybe cats...Now Gus is the man for the job, but for how much longer? When the new threat arrives, Gus has a plan to take it on, but it only half works and now he's in a more perilous situation than before. Book II was less compelling for me this time around simply due to the fact that Gus is making very stupid decisions (yes, there's luck but it only goes so far), he is abrasive, dangerous, and he's no longer the sweet man we knew from Book I. Nor is he someone I'm rooting for by the end. In this book, he seems more cruel, less human, and no longer an every man but an angry man instead. I realize that characters evolve and change, but either Gus taking such a drastic character upheaval is the work of a great writer or the author ran out of ideas on how to make Gus's life more exciting. Safari is still a very good zombie novel, but a small part of me was just itching to see Gus finally make his last, but fatal dumb move throughout this whole book.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile