Brian Keene - City Of The Dead

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.

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The book begins where The Rising left the reader. Luckily, for those who didn't read the book shortly after finishing the first one, the last chapter is repeated. Jim Thurmond, Frankie and pastor Martin travelled through five states facing death with each step to finally reach Jim's ex-wife's house to look for Jim's son Danny.
Danny is alive and reunited with his father but the zombies aren't far away. The house soon is ambushed from the outside and it is only a matter of time until they face the inevitable once again.
They find themselves in a small room without escape while the zombies try to burn the house. le, attracted by gunshots, Don De Santos, leaves his panic room for the first time in what seems to be forever. He sneaks up to his attic to discover faces and little Danny in the neighbor's house. With time running out he manages to lift his ladder from one window to the other and all are save - for now.
Wounded and scared they all flee in his SUV but are soon in trouble again. Chased on top of a parking garage they are rescued by a helicopter which takes them to the seemingly only safe place left: The Ramsey Towers in New York City.

Wounds healing and adjusting to a new life, they think they might have made it until the undead form an army, preparing to ambush the tower and killing the last remaining living humans on earth. The hopeless battle for their lives and all that humanity stands for begins and leaves a group of ten people underground trying to go, well, nowhere.

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Keene's impressing way of describing the war inside the tower almost blew me away. He has this thing to involve different characters which shortly after face their death while the reader just thought a new, lasting character, entered the story. He does that in a very natural way that it always feels saddening to read that this person dies.

What happened in this tower was rage, wrapped in simple words that made it feel like it's real. Placing gruesome pictures of people overrun and dying where ever you look in ones head.
The eerie feeling in the underground tunnels left goosebumps on my arms. Imagine standing in the tunnel, smelling the sewer and it is pitch black around you. You don't know where you are going, what's around the next corner or who is standing directly in front of you staring in your eyes.

Keene gave his story something real and alive so that the ending isn't shocking at all.

"Everything dies, but not everything has an ending."

The zombie-fan is delighted !

Rating:
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Mass Market Paperback: 357 pages
Publisher: Leisure Books (May 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0843954159
ISBN-13: 978-0843954159

Footnote:
Keene just published another book strongly connected to 'The Rising':
The Rising: Selected Scenes From The End Of The World contains thirty-two short stories based in the world of The Rising and City of the Dead. Now, fans can witness how the undead epidemic plays out across the globe-Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States-nowhere is safe from the zombie invasion. Meet new characters you'll come to love, re-discover old characters you thought were gone, and find out what happens after the fateful events of City of the Dead.
(Product description taken from Amazon)