Mountain Man series

Summary

A man must survive the zombie apocalypse armed with only a shotgun, a Samurai bat, and the will to live among the unliving in this horror series debut.

Pre-review

I remember the first time I used Audible preview feature. I had listened to many audiobooks before, but the ability to sample a narrator’s voice changed everything. Some books just grab you, that first taste demands more. Like “Neo” downloading Jiu-jitsu on the Nebuchadnezzar in The Matrix: Apoc - “I think he likey. Do you want more?”. Neo - “Hell Yes”. That’s how I felt about this book. I had instant connections with the story’s character and narrator. I wasn’t even a zombie genre fan… until Gus was brought to life by Bray.

Review

I hit the preview button in the audible app one day. The description of the van with this narrator’s voice made me hit the “add to wish list”. I listened to that “preview” several times over a few weeks. I just couldn’t see how a zombie apocalypse story could be any good. One evening, it all changed. 

The opening scene set the tone for what was to come. Scavenging to survive with a depth of paranoia gave me a feeling of danger at any moment. I was waiting for that first encounter. He found a corpse in that first house. His guard shot up. Was it reanimated or actually dead? Let’s just say it was dead, but not dead.

The story is a slow burn in a good way. Character building and learning about Halifax city was a suction cup to my ears. 

Gus was a serious alcoholic and, understandably, why. I was fighting my own demons with the bottle, so it hit home. He was fighting the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, I drank not to forget zombies, but to forget life. In a way, this book started the path of my sobriety. 

This isn’t a polite book for the faint of heart. It’s a gritty story of survival being alone with but one friend, Captain Morgan. The Captain was to Gus, as Wilson was to Chuck Noland.

This book hooked me in a way I didn’t expect. It was raw, real, and intoxicating. It made me a zombie fan, an R.C. Bray fan, and in some ways, it pulled toward a better path. That’s a hell of a lot more than I expected from a random Audible preview.

Narration

I’ve listened to most of all R.C. Bray’s work. My Audible list alone has 89 of his narrations. He doesn’t disappoint and changes from voices effortlessly, like Picasso switching strokes on the canvas. I believe this series set the bar for narrators across all Sci-Fi genres. When I see a new Bray release, you can bet it will be in my library. 

Judgement

The writing and narration create a story that your ears can't stop listening.

Judged Worthy.