Brian Keene City of the Dead Review

Overall Rating

A great sequel to Keene's gore filled zombie novel 'The Rising'.

Nope...can't think of any!

Brian Keene City of the Dead. Synopsis:
"Where can you go when the dead are everywhere? Cities have become overrun with legions of the dead, all of them intent on destroying what's left of the living. Trapped inside a fortified skyscraper, a handful of survivors prepare to make their last stand against an unstoppable, undying enemy. With every hour their chances diminish and their numbers dwindle, while the numbers of the dead can only rise. Because sooner or later, everything dies. And then it comes back, ready to kill."

Brian Keene's 'City Of The Dead' is the sequel to the post-apocalyptic zombie novel 'The Rising'. The novel begins by reliving word for word the last chapter of 'The Rising'. This is because the novel takes off from exactly where 'The Rising' ended (with its nail biting cliffhanger). From here on in, the novel races ahead with building tension as the survivors join up with others within a massive fortified building.

New characters are soon introduced whilst others are soon killed off. Keene manages to inject a vivid personality into each 'important' character, creating a desperate situation which the reader feels part of.

The building is soon compromised by the huge attacking army of zombies lead by the undead character Ob. The story becomes packed with blood-filled action as the survivors try desperately to fight off this ever growing army.

The origin of the zombies is explained more fully within this novel, developing the basis of the whole storyline. This adds nicely to Keene's original take on the whole zombie genre.

Again, the reader is treated to plenty of zombie animals, with undead birds and rats becoming a massive threat as they pack together.

All in all, this novel forms a great sequel to Keene's "The Rising", delivering fast paced action, nail biting horror and blood drenched gore that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

The novel runs for a total of 367 pages and was first published in June 2005 by Leisure Books.