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The Remaining (2000)

by D.J. Molles(Favorite Author)

4.11 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Horror

series

The Remaining

review 1: I really only bought this book for one reason: the price. It was only 5 bucks (I guess it was some kind of introductory special being run by Orbit). I figured I couldn't really go wrong for that kind of money (and with a 25% off coupon to B&N, I was spending less than I would at lunch). Plus, I had heard of the series and seen its positive reviews. It felt like a bit of a win-win situation as far as I was concerned.Well, this book is actually pretty good. It's not worth the hundreds of 5 star ratings it seems to garner (I'll get to that in a second), but it's pretty damn entertaining and fun. Molles is a sightly better than average author who keeps the story moving along at a quick pace (I read this in only 2 days), and once it gets past the first 30 or so expository pages... more, it's non stop and hard to put down. There's not a lot of zombies (except for one pivotal moment that was a lot of fun to read), and thank God! Sure, it's billed as a "zombie" novel, but they take more of a backseat to real situations like survival and making the right (and wrong) choices in these kind of situations. Now, I say this because I think 2014 will go down as the year the zombie genre finally imploded on itself. Some of the great authors in this category (here's looking at you Joe McKinney) just totally lost their grasp on the shuffling dead, and the market just flat out sucks for these kind of stories. I used to really love the whole zombie apocalypse idea and read a TON of this stuff a few years ago, but after one too many of these sub-par books in a cliched genre, it's obvious to see that we've reached the end of what we can do with the walking dead. That's probably where this book stands above it's other printed brethren.However, it still lags behind some as well.Like I said, Molles is a decent enough author to keep the reader going, but he still lacks some of the skills others have. His writing isn't exactly up to snuff with more popular writers. He lacks a lot of creative sentence structure and is a bit repetitive in his word choice at times. Maybe it's because I have my degree in creative writing, but there were a lot of places I would have found (at least as an editor), better ways to word the action and/or descriptions of events. There were times where it felt he had to hammer in the fact that we were looking at certain things and not giving his readers enough credit to believe him or figure things out on our own.There's also the problem of continuity/believability here. Okay, yeah, it's zombies so there has to be some suspension of belief, but I just wish Molles would have tried to make things as realistic as possible. Take the whole bunker thing for example. Cool concept and I liked it, although I found it hard to grasp the idea that these army types wouldn't be able to have any real contact with the outside world, or even visuals for that matter. You'd think these guys who are supposed to rebuild the United States would be as informed as humanly possible on what they are facing when they come up. And what about Tango, Lee's canine companion? He's supposed to be this highly trained German Shepard, although he acts kind of silly and disobedient at times. It's almost as if Molles forgot the things he originally planned.For a debut novel, and one that has been so massively successful, one can't fault Molles too much. My complaints are fairly minor and not enough to really ruin things or keep me from getting the next one in the series. Also, the nice little novella at the back of the book was a sign that Molles has since developed as an author and will only get better. All in all, it's a pretty entertaining read and nice take on the genre.
review 2: “But a few – probably about a third – will keep fighting, even when their brain is in that state of denial. And if you’re still fighting then you are flexible. You have mental flex.”Lee Harden is a Special Forces operative trained for the day the unthinkable occurs – the day the government shuts down. At the moment Lee and his German shepherd Tango are in a steel-and-lead encased bunker, located in the central North Carolina countryside outside of Angier, awaiting orders from Colonel Frank Reid, the commander of Project Hometown. As a part of Project Hometown, Lee is one of the forty-eight “Coordinators” stationed in bunkers in each of the states across the Continental US. Whenever directed into their bunkers, the “Coordinators” hear from Colonel Frank at a designated time every day. If forty-eight hours pass without contact with command, then Lee is to open the box containing his mission brief – this is “…the predetermined contingency plan given to him directly from the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security.” The box contains information on what the situation will be like at the designated thirty day period of resurfacing. On July 5th, forty-eight hours have gone by and Lee must open the box.A recording of Colonel Frank comes on outlining the impossible: Lee can tell by the sound of Colonel Frank’s voice, that he didn’t even believe what he was saying would come to pass. What the coordinators are dealing with is what scientists are calling Febrile Urocanic Reactive Yersinia or FURY for short. FURY is a plague and, since it is bacteria rather than virus, scientists are unsure of how it is spread. However, FURY has already shown “an extreme propensity for contagion,” and avoidance of contact with any infected person is advised. Early symptoms of infection are as simple as fever and overt salivation, but can also be as telling as the loss of some fine motor skills, and difficulty speaking. Once the plague progresses into illness stage, hyper-aggression and an insatiable appetite are most likely to take over, resulting in the infected feeding on their own limbs or anyone close-by. There is no cure for the infection at this time. Lee’s mission is to find survivors, protect them and work to re-institute order to the chaos that will have taken over at the fall of the American government.Once Lee accepts the reality of the situation, he still retains unbelief in the extreme picture depicted by the recording and ventures out. Lee soon discovers that the reality is as bad as it was said to be. Quickly working past his denial, Lee fights for his life, for Tango’s, and for the lives of the survivors he encounters. Soon, Lee has gathered a small group and is on the way to join a larger collection of survivors. Along the way, he must fight to protect his group from the infected, and also from those who have taken advantage of the fall of the government and seek to establish their own rule.The Remaining is the first novel in the popular series of the same title. Follow Lee Harden as he works to complete his mission, and save what he can of the United States of America.My stars reflect the fact that this is not my kind of book. Thought it was a good read for a zombie book. less

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