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  • Zournal

  • Book 1, It All Started
  • By: R.S. Merritt
  • Narrated by: Nicholas Cain
  • Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)
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Zournal cover art

Zournal

By: R.S. Merritt
Narrated by: Nicholas Cain
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Summary

Steve wakes up one morning after a horrible couple of weeks in which he's lost his girlfriend, his job, his savings, and the majority of his self-respect. Dragging himself out of bed, he sleepily wanders over to the window with a warm bottled water and a handful of Advil. Looking out of his apartment window, he sees people running around crazily and a bunch of burning shrubbery. He decides to go back to sleep and see if it all goes away. When he wakes up the next time, it turns out the view from his fourth floor apartment wasn't a nightmare. Armed with a blunt samurai sword and some stolen steak knives, he ventures out into the fray. 

These aren't your standard zombies, but Steve isn't your standard zombie fighter, either. Join him in book one as he heads out to check on his parents and tries to survive in a world that's gone crazy....

©2017 Randall Scott Merritt (P)2021 Randall Scott Merritt

What listeners say about Zournal

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

"This end of the world scenario thing."

So many zombie books out there and most just meld into one long, similar sfory. Not this one so much, at least not in the ear!y stages as it is written in the form of a diary. Steve Hankle, a 22 years old unemployed college graduate was having a bad week (or several). his girlfriend of three years had left him and he was about to be evicted: no money for rent. When he woke on the floor of his room the day that the virus hit, he was aware only of some sort of disturbance outside before taking himse!f to his bed to sleep off his massive hangover. So he missed the beginning of the end of the world. Once realization dawns the next day, he starts to make preparations for survival, with lovely 'handy hints' given following his own mistakes, as, for instance, when filling the bath with water to provide for future drinking needs, first clean the bath - and it is through such little personal asides that the reader gets to know the keeper of the journal, a geeky guy, no macho hero here. And when hunger and desperation force him out into the world armed only with some cutlery and an old Samurai sword, he is one terrified bunny. I loved Steve the incompetant bumbler. But I guess to stay alive in a time of blood crazed, blue people eaters, he had to grow up. Fast. And the book slides into a more standard zombie apocalypse (although not truly zombies as the dead do not rise)..

Narration is by Nicholas Cain who admirably takes on the persona of Steve the diarist. His voice is pleasant to the ear, his timing and speech pattern melodius, his modulation good. A nice performance for one pursued by super strength cannibals! I did enjoy this book though probably not enough to continue the series. My thanks to the rights holder of It All Started, Zournal I, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. Disconcerting and bloody, readers who enjoy the zombie experience will surely love this.
But, dreadful cover art.

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A good listen

Good story I enjoyed the performance. easy to listen to. looking forward to the next one.

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Listener received this title free

Not your usual zombie story

This is a story about a clueless underdog's rise to almost hero status during a zombie apocalypse. With self-preservation the name of the game, it's not a journey he had planned for. The book is written in a lighthearted, humorous way with the first part of the book expressed as journal writing entries. Thereafter its a normal storyline with reference to Steve's diary used as a way to introduce himself, explain his experiences and survival strategies to the other people he meets, by just handing over his diary for them to read. I find this rather unrealistic and a bit weird because after awhile there's too much narration for someone to read quickly, and it includes a lot of embarrassing moments one would reframe from exposing to total strangers.

The book is basically Steve stumbling his way through one scenario to the next. It's a different take on a zombie story and is a bit like watching a lovable puppy learning how to mature before becoming a vicious guard dog. There is a shocking retaliation at the end which I wasn't expecting especially from Steve. I guess he was pushed to the edge. The book also ends quite suddenly.

I would say if you are into zombie books it's worth giving this a try, but it is quite a tame book for this genre. The narrator did an excellent job with this book, he really got into character and was very believable. It's also worth noting that there were some editing issues where the narrator repeated a few sentences. Hopefully the author can get this corrected.

I was given a copy of this book for free of my own choosing and have voluntarily left this review.

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