He's Back!

I can thank Keith Blackmore’s “The Hospital” his first book in this series, for really get me hooked on the zombie genre. And hooked I have become! Dam you Mr Blackmore! But as what happens over time, your taste changes, or at the very least you sample a larger variety on offer and you discover that there is so much more on offer. This addiction has cost me hundreds of dollars. However, the first two in this series have always held a special place in my memory. I found the main character Gus to be so endearing.

Out of the legion of other zombie stories I have listened to since those early days. I have always liked a story in which the main character reminded me of Gus. The dry sense of humour, the matter of fact way in which he deals with situations.

I like it when the author does not try to make the zombie story as serious one. I like it when it is a bit tongue in cheek. Gus fits this role extremely well.

I was not a big fan of the last one in the series ‘Hellifax’ probably largely because Gus was largely absent from it.

I am so pleased to report Gus is back! But, there is something about him which is different! He and the Captian don’t talk much anymore (well to begin with). However the thing which took me most by surprise is at times Gus no longer is the drunken superman that I had pictured him to be from the earlier titles in the series. He is now a much more worn out old bloke who wet’s himself when he is scared by other alpha males. He has lost his mojo!

There is so much to tell about this story, but I won’t because it will spoil the surprise of it all. But what I will say is that this one has really gone up a level!

There seems to be a level of maturity about it. The way in which the characters and storyline comes together over the previous book is huge improvement. This one was so good I wished the story wouldn’t come to a close. New developments in this one took me by complete surprise. Even though Gus may have lost his mojo, he is still the same old Gus!

The narration of Bray was once again excellent. He really is an excellent narrator for this type of story. The speed was a little slow and was best sped up a tad. So the story itself was shortened a little bit as a result. Might be important if you are watching your credit to hour value like me.

I don’t think anyone would purchase this title in the series without listening to the earlier books. So there is not much point in me saying ‘buy this one’. But if you are reading this review and you think you would like to give this series a go. My advice would be grab the free short story ‘The Hospital’ to test the waters. If like me you didn’t like the previous one in the series and you were a little wary about purchasing this one. Well don’t stress, this one is good, very good.

TWO THUMBS UP FROM THE FAST FAT MAN!

36 people found this helpful

Didn't think it could get any better!!

Not even finished reading Well Fed and I am ready to rave about it. Gus is back and kicking butt as usual (yeah!) but the other characters from zombies, bad guys, and women that kick butt...Let me just say the author out did himself. I didn't know things could get any worse at the end of the world but they can! From humor, horror, and tears, everything I look for in a story Keith Blackmore gave it and more. The narrator handles every character's voice very well whether male or female (how does he do that?) This series is at the top of my list with The Remaining, and the Joe Ledger series. I went though a lot of bad reads before I finally discovered this one. Let me just say it was more than worth it.

26 people found this helpful

fourth book, maybe the best of all.

SPOILER ALERT. If you have not read “Mountain Man book 1” and “Safari (Mountain Man Book 2)“and “Hellifax (Mountain Man Book 3)” best read them before this one. They are all well worth the time and give you a base for what happens in the following books.

Gus is still at the farm. It has been a year and 8 months sense he burned Annapolis. The burns he suffered have healed but left terrible scars. Now he is content to keep watch over the farm for any zombies or rats. They don’t see very many anymore. That doesn’t mean they don’t have to search for necessary things, like toilet paper. Four men go out to see about a mansion that might yield some goods. They don’t come back. Gus is asked to check up on them. So begins the fourth book. Maybe the best of all.

This was a long one but well worth the time. I had the audio version and was hard put to stop for the night. The characters in this series are so well developed you just have to cheer for them. Gus a lonely man doing his best to survive in a deadly new world. He drinks too much and maybe if he were sober he would not get into so much trouble. He had survived for two years on his lonely mountain. Savaging from empty houses in the nearby towns. He fought zombies, his favorite weapon is a silver bat. During one foray he saves a man, Scott, from the zombies and nurses him back to health. He meets a woman, falls for her, and ends up killing her. This was after she betrayed him and beat the S____ out of him. He killed a mob of zombies and then an invasion of zombie rats, big ones. He blew up his home and was severely burned. Why is this man not dead?

During the telling of this tale we get a vivid, graphic, bloody look at what very well might happen if we suddenly lost all technology and survival was a matter of kill or be killed. Blackmore delves into the basic downfall of humanity and how some of the worst make it to the top. Only to fall, hard. He follows the dregs as they happily bring more death to the few survivors. Serial killers flourish, megalomaniacs rise and fall, and some just like to torture for the fun of it.

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. Audio production was without fault. I sure hope there is another book coming but the ending of this one was excellent.

Audiobook purchased for review by ABR.

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

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17 people found this helpful

Best f*** series of books ever

What a great conclusion. Keith is a brilliant writer and makes you love and hate and cry all the way.

17 people found this helpful

absolute MASTERPIECE of audio excellence! !

This story is an excellent, believable and extremely well written and narrated finish to the Mountain Man Series. I was dissapointed with the rats in an earlier story line, no dissapointment in book four, NONE at all. Very creative and believable cast of characters, each easily identified via OUTSTANDING narration.

15 people found this helpful

Best of the Series!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

You bet but you have to start from the beginning.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way the undead progressed in this series. I also liked the addition of the " undead plague" that follows the zombies.

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

R.C. Bray one of my favorites. He is so good.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Loved Ollie, his thoughts on his situation and how he handled himself.

Any additional comments?

I will miss Gus. I wish there were more. Well Done!

14 people found this helpful

Best book of series

Excellent way to finish a series. Rc Bray does a terrific job narrating this very well written book. This is much more than just a zombie book. There's like 3 stories that all blend together throughout the story and Keith Blackmore wrote it all flawlessly. I didn't hear a dull minute. BRAVO!!!

11 people found this helpful

Stupendous

I don't recall the last time I gave 5 stars for everything and if I could give more for this book, I would. 16 hours of incredible, can't-put-down, gripping and brutal story telling.

There was nothing predictable in this book. Many times I thought of a plot event that would be a very satisfying sense of justice and revenge, but nope, not too many things work out for Gus. You thought he took a beating in the other stories? This book is just gruesome.

I was a bit worried in the beginning because the zombies and rats were dying out and being hunted in a zombie filled house wasn't really what I was interested in reading about. But that was just the warm up.

This book is more about human raiders than zombies, which I usually don't like, but the story is just incredible, as is the narration, absolutely perfect.

9 people found this helpful

Never have I loved Zombies so much

What did you love best about Well Fed?

I have to say I don't like Zombie novels. I only read the mountain man books because I happened to download The Hospital for free out of boredom waiting for my next credit to kick in on Audible. WOW.....after that I had to read\listen to mountain man book one, I was addicted! How can such a simple concept keep me so entertained. I felt I was with Gus during his adventures, and I was terrified! When the next two books were released to audible I nearly jumped for joy. When the fourth book was released I felt like it was Christmas and I was four years old getting that one gift I truly wanted. Thank you Brad for becoming one of my absolute favorites and surprising me by making me fall in love with Zombies. Love every book of the mountain man series, just can't get enough. Wish you would write 100 of them! I love GUS!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gus of course, he is so simple yet heroic. Gus reminds me of an every day Joe that somehow becomes a hero of sorts.

What about R.C. Bray’s performance did you like?

Great distinct voice of all the different characters, great reading. just love this guy, he is the voice of GUS!

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

YES!

Any additional comments?

Love them, keep them coming please!

8 people found this helpful

Gus!

I love this entire series and none of the books have been a disappointment, they have all been a wild ride. Gus returns in book 4 but a much different Gus than we have come to know. This is the first time we get to see how Gus interacts with lots of other people and it was a shock to see how vulnerable the character could be. No spoilers, you won't be disappointed. Check it out.

7 people found this helpful