P. Mark DeBryan

Loved It!

This book kept me swiping pages. I was absolutely invested in the characters. I still am. They are like family to me. I need to know what happened to them. Most of the time I can guess who survives but this author isn't afraid to kill anyone. You really are left worrying about who is making it. You worry about those who are going back to find family. Will they make it? What will they find? What happens next? Dang it! I need to know! I just missed the authors deadline on getting the next book and it kills me. I want to already be reading it, not waiting on my book budget.
The author knows his firepower and you will too. He also knows a lot about the transportation the characters use. I suspect he thoroughly researched at least two modes of transportation. He gives an amazingly detailed description of the Marathon Coach, (that I now want more than anything). I don't even care if he made up stuff in that baby. I want one because of him. The author had me drooling on some of the weapons, too. He was just as thorough with them.
One thing I love and found super helpful, (though it is at the back of the book), is the author gives us a characters bio. I suspect I will be using this with future books. There are also diagrams of the Marathon Coach, (apparently I wasn't drooling enough), and the Tokitae which will help you picture things. In the story, where they are first mentioned, there is a link that will take you back and forth so you can have a picture in your head for the author's descriptions.
There is a lot of action and gore in the book. If you aren't expecting that and don't want it, I'm not sure why you are here, (though you need not worry about sexual activity. The author doesn't have anyone graphically doing the deed while a horde is attacking). I am expecting even more action as the series goes on, (for those wanting the deed while the horde gathers, I am suspecting that might pop up. Even the Walking Dead went there.), and more gore.
I would definitely recommend this book to zombie fans. Though I will caution you that these are the authors view of zombies, (and an interesting view it is), not Romero's. Check it out and see for yourself.… (més)

I was so excited to see this book pop up on my Kindle! I read Family Reunion, (I highly recommend it..especially if you are considering this book), and wondered how things were going for Ryan's family. Now I am eager for the next book to find out if Ryan will make it back home.
This is the second book of the series. In the first Ryan is on the west coast when the apocalypse happens. His family, J and their children are on the east coast. That is my nightmare. I have family in several states and being far away from them is something I can relate to. The first book is about Ryan and other family members of his. This book is about J and her search for her children. It also is the story of the Dr whose vaccine started it all. There is more to that but you need to read it.
I feel that the author does an excellent job making his characters real people. I really liked J and understood her need to gather up her children. Another character I really liked is Auddy. She is the daughter of Ryan and J. The family is very loving and a strong unit, even though they are separated. Both J and Auddy demonstrated this. It would be easy to hate the Dr who was responsible for the outbreak, if this were another book. In this book, though, he is made human. His relationship with his son Simon is beautiful. I held my breath and my heart raced with things that happened to them. I think that is a big draw for me...the family love in this series. My family means everything to me. I would fight for them too. I finished this book hoping they were all okay and that I will see them again in the next book.
There is the typical stuff you find in zombie books. There are a few references to sex scenes but they are not really explicit and brief. If you are looking for something with no violence, language or adult situations then you might want to keep shopping. If you are looking for something with mega gory violence, lots of colorful language and explicit sex scenes you may also want to check out other books. But if you are looking for a good story that has realistic people, some violence and gore, that makes your heart pound and your stomach clench click the buy button. I would recommend that you also buy Family Reunion. Both books can be read alone but you will enjoy it more if you read them both.… (més)

My original Family Reunion J audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

This is the story of a family separated by a disease which turns people into flesh eating monsters. Though not zombies in the sense they are still alive, but dangerous none-the-less. It mainly follows Jay, the mother of the besieged family trying to make their way back to each other, but also many other families and their travails.

It is a typical zombie novel in the sense that everyone is constantly on guard, society has fallen into violence and chaos. Gangs form and break apart, sex slaves and brutality, but also decent groups of people trying to hold the best of mankind together.

Jay is a likable character as she is a mom faced with the worst mankind can offer, intent on finding and protecting her family – if she can find them. She is resourceful, capable and discovers a badass quality she didn’t know she possessed. Why drive a car when a Harley is just more cool.

Family Reunion is suspenseful and full of zombie killing action. You just don’t know when you’ll get your next meal or even a decent night’s sleep. Without the hope of finding her family, Jay would lose her will to survive.

The story is performed by Eric A. Shelman who does a good job. He adds to the action and voices the many female characters well with plenty of differentiation to make it easy to know who is speaking.

Though this is book two in a series of unknown length, it can be read as a stand alone novel. It clearly leaves the door open for the sequel, but ends well enough to stand by itself.

If you enjoy zombie action novels, you should give this one a try. What sets this one apart from the many, many out there, is that the characters are human, flawed and sometimes just lucky enough to stay alive. A badass mom who is going to get her family back together in the face of impossible odds makes for a fun ride.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.… (més)

My original Family Reunion: When The Apocalypse Happens Only One Thing Matters audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

A zombie-like virus that was the result of overzealous pharmaceutical companies is ripping through the United States. All of this is happening while the Bryant family are traveling from all over to get to the greater Seattle area to meet up for a family reunion. They are thrown into the mix of these “diseased/zombies” while they attempt to find each other, hoping that everyone makes it. Thankfully this family is incredibly adept at surviving.

Narration was done by Joseph C. Wilson who does a wonderful job with this story. Yes, I wish that there were more voices, but that’s nearly impossible to do with just how many characters there are within this story. The quality was perfect and his voice is wonderful to listen to.

So, I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of characters. There are so many characters that the author has a disclaimer at the intro of this book with a link to his website where you can read all of the character bios to hopefully help you keep up with all of them throughout the story.

Now, normally having this many people to follow and understand would take away from the story, but I think that DeBryan did a wonderful job pulling all of their stories together into this mosaic explaining what was going on with the outbreak throughout the United States. You get to see the outbreak from many different viewpoints and see how it affects different people differently.

Normally, with an apocalyptic tale like this, you get one (or maybe one small family) outlook on what is happening in the world around them. With Family Reunion, you get a ton! Which leads to an incredibly unique story.

Overall, once you wrap your brain around the different family members and each one of their stories, this is a well-written telling of an apocalyptic situation. The interweaving of the stories made this book for me.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.… (més)