3.5 stars ( )

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I was severely underwhelmed by this take on the zombie apocalypse. And it was not even due to the zombies, or Zapheads as they are called, either. (But seriously, what is wrong with calling a zombie a zombie?)

Solar flares have destroyed all technology and also most of mankind. The surviving few notice that some of them are human no more, instead they are killing everything in their path. For fun, apparently as they don't seem to eat them.

In this mess we find several group of survivors, all trying to adjust to this new world, called After. And here is my biggest problem with the book: the characters are all so terribly clichéd that it almost physically hurt me. I can't even begin to describe all of them but it caused a lot of eye rolls. Also, the ending is very, very abrupt, or even close to there no being an ending at all. The book just ends, with nothing resolved and no questions answered, and you'll have to continue with the second book.

I think I'll pass... ( )

I was so caught up in The Shock…An apocalypse brings out the best and worst in some people and Scott can make his characters shine as they step up and grow up after being thrown into turbulent and dangerous times…and I was pissed when it came to an end, leaving me needing the next book, and the next, to find out how it will end. ( )

I seem to be on a run of post-apocalyptic novels in my queue of late. Most of them have been of the zombie variety. In this novel, the culprit that leads to the demise of the human race is a series of solar flares, which wipes out most of humanity. Of the survivors, there are those who remain normal –although of seriously questionable character—and the zapheads, who have little humanity left and are basically mindless, violent people, whose sole purpose seems to be to injure and kill. The story follows several different groups of survivors, who are interlinked in various ways. These are the early days of the apocalypse and the people are still trying to figure things out and seek out safety.

Because there is so much post-apocalyptic fiction, movies, and television shows out there, one of the biggest challenges for an author is to distinguish their series from all of the other ones out there. On the plus side, the idea behind the apocalypse is pretty good. Although solar flares ending humanity is not that uncommon, I like what the author did in terms of having zapheads along with regular humans. The other interesting thing happening is that the zapheads seem to be evolving, getting some level of communication and coordination among them, while at times, it seems like the humans are devolving. The writing is professional and has a good flow to it. The only trouble spot is that there are too many unlikeable characters in the mix. Pete and Campbell are two college kids who are more into drinking and drugs than surviving. In addition, the characters of Arnoff and Donnie are idiots. Fortunately, there were good characters in this novel to balance those ones out. All in all, this was a good start to a series and I will look forward to reading more.

Carl Alves – author of Reconquest: Mother Earth ( )

My original After audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

This time we were not responsible, well, not really. The zapheads, as they are referred to, were the result of a massive, world-wide solar storm that wreaked havoc on the world’s technology killing and changing billions of people into zapheads. The world is different now, everyone is different somehow.

The zapheads don’t eat people but they do seek to kill in a most bloody fashion and they are learning to plot, strategize and attack.

There are three groups of survivors the story follows as well as the legendary survivalist grandfather. The survivors include a group of military like goons who are not very nice, two beer drinking surfer dudes, Rachel and then the group who treat the zapheads as deities.

Unlike most zombie books, Nicholson states what caused the zaphead affect – the solar storm; but not why some were affected and some were not.

Nicholson is an awesome story teller. He manages to find what the scariest part of life is and twists it into a horrifying tale that strikes close to home. We are all afraid of what technology will do to the human race if it goes away or takes over, we are all afraid of being alone, and we are all afraid of what happens when we stop living … and lastly, what makes each of us different. Who would survive a catastrophic event such as this and who would become a zaphead?

Well written, Nicholson develops the characters as he moves the story along giving insight into the main characters. He draws the listeners into the story making them feel the same excitement and fear as the characters. He has a lot going on but not too much; it is still very easy to follow the plot and characters. There are slow moments where the action is building; but he is providing enough backstory to make the plot move forward.

If you enjoy zombies, action and a good story then Nicholson’s books are perfect for you! This is a good solid, interesting, captivating book but then again Nicholson never disappoints!

Kevin Clay, narrator, did a good job of narration. I enjoyed hearing him read the book.

There were no issues with production.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. ( )