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Post by zombieflesheater on Feb 10, 2007 22:44:28 GMT -8
I did actually also receive my copy of Deathbreed, can't give you my full review yet, just started readin it. So far it kicks ass, I expected no less then the most putrid,vile, literature especially coming from a sick fuck like yourself and so far it delivers the gruesome goods!! Good Work! [ADMIN'S NOTE: There are SPOILERS in many of the reviews below. Proceed with caution!]
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infected
Priest of Todd
"Get Down With The Sickness!"
Posts: 36
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Post by infected on Feb 12, 2007 6:03:58 GMT -8
I got mine too!!! ZF is right, this is some sick shit! LOL I mean i saw your movie Necro Files (I'm a fan) and should have known what to expect (soime crazy shit) but I cant believe how messd up these people are in the story especially that narrator guy Jimmy. What a douchebag but he's pretty funny, ya know? The kinda guy you love to hate, altho i guess he has problems like we all do so you know how that goes, am i right? Dude is messed up! Ya almost feel bad for him and then he goes and pulls some new crazy shit that makes you wonder what the hell, why did I feel sorry for him? The guy talks a lotta trash aboiut the customers and his stupid redneck boss and how he's gonna make a zillion bucks selling voodoo spells through the mail to pepole just like em. I guess for revenge but to be fair his job IS real shitty. I worked a store just like this once and quit after a month because of crap just like this!!! If you havent worked in a convenience store you don't know what its like! My favorite character so far is Ace, he is really funny and cool. Pretends he's Jimmy's friend and then uses that to steal sodas and candy an shit from the store! My favorite scene so far is when this nasty retard lady barfs all over herself and is Ace is stealin quarters out of her coat pocket while she's practicaly passed out! Hahaha this is some funny funny shit, bro. Its totally like that movie Shaun of the Dead but in a conveniuence store. I made it up to the part where that Jimmy dude takes a crap (diarrea) and can't hear his boss fightin a zombie in the store cuz the ceiling fan is broken and makin too much noise and then he comes out and finds this dead dude on the floor with his brains fallin out! His racist boss flipping out with a baseball bat screamin it was self defense! Nobody knows it's a zombie, they think its just some crazy drunk homeless dude and the boss wants Jimmy to help him cover up the murder. Haha i never seen that in any zombie movie before. Wait till some more zombies show up, then they'll feel stupid but they don't know what's up right now so it makes sense. I can tell the zombies are comin from a plague. i bet the retarded lady is infected the way her barfin sickness was described and will come back later as a zombie!! Am i right? Anyway good job, Todd. I'm having a hard time puttin this down but i got shit to do. Damn work. I'll post more later I can't wait to see what happens next!
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Post by trashcanman on Feb 12, 2007 21:02:23 GMT -8
I dunno, I was expecting more zombie action. It took a while to get any. You did say in the front of the book that the novel begins a few days before the zombie plague hits, so I guess that makes sense. There are these little hints and flashes of the plague sneaking into the story that whet your appetite, but I think you could have condensed the first part of the book down to get to the zombies faster. Once the zombies do show up, you do a great job of detailing the gory action. I really felt like I was in the room with the characters when that first zombie busts into the cab company! I could feel the terror. After the narrow escape, the scene with the looters was pretty funny, the way they blocked the narrator's escape before more zombies showed uo and trapped him again. After the narrator finishes hiding out again, there was a cool scene with the National Guard trying to mop up the night's mess. Then we get stuck in the convenience store again with the narrator and his crazy racist boss again... I couldn't wait for that redneck to get eaten he was pissing me off so much and he just never shuts up! It does fit in with the whole Rodney King LA Riots time the book is set in, so I get what you were doing drawing attention to race relations (social commentary), I just think maybe you beat the reader over the head too much with it and it got kind of old. We get to hear about the world falling apart over the radio and that was well done. More social commentary here, the hypocrisy of the media. This was good, good, stuff and reminded me a lot of the TV show bits from the original Dawn of the Dead while putting forth some different explanations for the zombie virus that the reader can take or leave. What really made me smile was how the talk show host put on a guest he claimed was an medical expert on viruses and it turned out he was a Nutrition Director for some weight-loss clinic touting his new book on Fast Food and Obesity! There's a really heinous action set-piece where the racist boss shoots a black guy trying to get help for his injured son, which escalates into blowing up a gas station and a bunch of other innocent people! This was really an insane , heartbreaking scene. Then some more survivors show up, including a couple of teenage girls, and everything turns to trying to get laid and barricading the store. There's not much zombie action until another day goes by and then there's another really great action scene with hundreds of zombies that really freaked me out! I don't want to give too much away but it involves an escape attempt that goes very, very wrong. The survivors finish barricading the store (including a brilliant plan to slow down the zombies in case of a breach by building a maze out of the store shelves). Basically, the survivors just hope the zombies go away but, of course, they don't, and things go to hell in a handbasket! That climax is a really powerful image, with the zombies lurching through the darkened maze as the survivors try to escape. I think there were some problems with pacing and tone in this book which I've stated already but overall it has a lot of good bits that do you credit for a first-time novelist. Plus I couldn't find any typos--that's a big pet peeve of mine. Also, the cover and layout were superb. This is a very nice-looking book indeed. Looks good up on my shelf. I don't recommend this book to anyone who is easily offended. Those people will hate it. This is not "safe" horror by any means; it's ugly and mean-spirited with a playful sadism that will creep out or piss off a lot of people. I read in your interview at the end what you were trying to say in the book with your social commentary--about people making choices and you can't escape yourself. I'm not sure how many readers will pick up on these things, at least on the first read, but you are right that they are in there and are things that need to be said. All I can say is you have a lot of balls writing a story like this in today's PC age! The sequel should be interesting. I liked the preview and the main character seems more likable than the one in the first book. Is there a release date for Deathbreed 2 yet?
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Post by creepbot on Feb 12, 2007 21:16:24 GMT -8
Thanks big time for the reviews! Guess I'll be ordering a copy. As long as it doesn't have stupid zombie squirrels or talking zombies in it like the Rising did I'm sure it will be good!
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Post by grabboid on Feb 14, 2007 1:18:24 GMT -8
I ordered mine today!
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Post by Todd Tjersland on Feb 15, 2007 22:54:39 GMT -8
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts. Here are some more fan reviews from emails I've received (reprinted here by kind permission of the fans in question) and quotes from fan reviews on other sites... ______________________________________
"I just finished reading “Deathbreed.” All I can say is WOW! Intense storyline with great character development. This book is by far the best zombie novel I have read – and believe me I have read them all. I was expecting the usual “shoot ‘um up” zombie plot, but was surprised by your approach to the classic zombie thriller. I also liked your idea of zombies having superhuman abilities when freshly turned. I’m really looking forward to “Deathbreed 2.” --JR, Alabama ______________________________________
"The zombies were modeled after those in Romero's universe, fast moving... zombies shortly after infection, then shamblers later in the game. The explanation for the resurrection was hinted at, but wisely, the author didn't give a reason for the zombie surge, letting the reader form his or her own opinion. The descriptions of the zombies were dead on, the author nailing the tiny details that made the zombies scary. Throughout the book are props to Romero, a nice touch. The zombie attacks were fantastically orchestrated; I could almost feel what the main character was feeling, his hopelessness, his absolute terror. Fantastic writing here.
...The book was weak in some areas and excelled in others. It's strength came from the fact that the author doesn't really care if you like the characters or not. If they offend, then they did their job... And I do recommend reading it. It's a great story, one I loved to hate." --Eric S. ______________________________________
"As someone who... vastly enjoyed reading the third draft of Todd's novel, I gotta say, anyone looking at this one for the first time is in for a treat." --Doug Wojtowicz, author of Agent of Peril
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Post by zomburger on Feb 15, 2007 23:12:46 GMT -8
Thanks for the reviews they help me a lot.
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Post by zombieflesheater on Feb 16, 2007 1:32:57 GMT -8
Okay Todd, I just finally finished Deathbreed and this is the sickest book I ever read. And the funniest. But mostly, the sickest! LOL. I loved it!!! I can't believe half the crazy shit you got in here. Todd, you are one sick fuck! Don't ever change and don't listen to those numbnutz that don't like it. This blows away anything by Brian Keene or any of those guys everybody else is talking about. They try to make their zombies different but that ruins it. What you did was tweak the zombies just a tiny bit (nothing out of line with what fans want) but then make your human characters different. Because zombies are mindless (or should be). So you got to make the humans the memorable ones not cookie cutters or boring "must save my son" robots like The Rising. You have more character development in one book than Keene put in both his zombie books... "Fo' real!" in the words of Ace. Which reminds me, I can't wait to read the sequel with Ace as the main character! I don't know how you do it but don't change a thing. This book was so badass I nearly had a heart attack reading it! Please please please hurry up and write the damn sequel Todd!!! Us sick horror fans are counting on you!
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Post by Todd Tjersland on Feb 17, 2007 2:56:34 GMT -8
Keep those reviews coming! BTW, I've updated the Official Deathbreed FAQ based on fan feedback, as I keep getting asked, "How is your book different?" Hopefully, the new FAQ explains it enough without tossing out too much in the way of spoilers. Check it out...
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Post by creepbot on Feb 18, 2007 2:05:56 GMT -8
I ordered a copy today. I figure if I don't like it I can always sell it on ebay!
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Post by hellzyeah on Feb 18, 2007 19:00:26 GMT -8
I ordered a copy today. I figure if I don't like it I can always sell it on ebay! Haha! Word.
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Post by cannibalhoney on Feb 22, 2007 19:25:14 GMT -8
Todd, your book put a smile on my face. you are one deliciously evil man to write such amazing filth. I could just eat you up! **smoochies**
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Post by Todd Tjersland on Feb 23, 2007 17:03:04 GMT -8
Thanks for the kind words, gang! I found this fan review today over at Rue Morgue's forum...
"Just finished it - it was a good read and by confining itself to (mostly) a single locale and a relatively small scale it stayed pretty focused - far better than lot of the zombie stuff out there.
For those of you who haven't read it, the idea of temporarily fast moving zombies worked rather well - and it gets around one of the principal flaws in zombie tales - how these slow moving creatures can propagate fast enough to become a threat due to numbers (more than anything else if you think about it)." --Sysyphus
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Post by grabboid on Feb 23, 2007 23:25:36 GMT -8
I read it and loved it. Sick twisted stuff! This is far and away the best zombie book I've read. Better than World War Z or any of them. It was a fast read, can't wait for your next book. Thanks!
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infected
Priest of Todd
"Get Down With The Sickness!"
Posts: 36
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Post by infected on Feb 25, 2007 2:33:52 GMT -8
Hey, I finished the book and it kicked azz! I cant believe what those bitches did at the end haha (that was awesome). I don't know what else to say but great job Todd! Hurry up with the sequel (us horror fans need more cool zombie books).
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