Zone One: A Novel Audiobook

" This book was slow, it was tedious, and I don't know why I was reading a zombie book anyway. The continual shifting to long flashbacks from the present made it difficult to follow, and the story really didn't develop, it had little plot. It was more about the main character's thoughts and reflections, I guess on his experiences and his view of culture. It was also very New Yorkish in its setting. Overall, it was not fun to read, though it had a lot of good writing, the story was almost non-existent and it was not a satisfying read. "

" Actually could have given this book more stars but thought the ending was lame. Warning - it has little dialogue most of it is internal observations of the main character. Not a big fan of this type of writing but it works in this book. For a "zombie" book it is depressing more than gory or scary. "

" Loved the beginning and end of this book, but the middle dragged, mainly because this book doesn't really include a plot, just a compelling main character and a fascinating universe. Unlike other entries in the zombie genre, in Whitehead's world, zombies are not a homogeneous bunch. Yes, most are the brain eating variety, but for a minority who are "turned," they become "stragglers," or brainless people stuck in time, doing whatever they were most comfortable doing in life-- be it working the cash register at the grocery store, washing the dishes, whatever. This inclusion of the stragglers is what made this book most interesting to me, though I do wish that Whitehead had done something more with this clever innovation (like, actually put a plot around it). The story picks up well into the zombie epidemic, but the flashbacks throughout the novel convince me that I'd have enjoyed this more if it the story had been about the beginning. Whitehead does have a great way with words (there's a scene with Mark Spitz's parents that I can't get out of my head), but all in all, not a book I'd recommend (unless you're really in the mood for something slow). "

" Yaaaaawn. Is it possible to write a boring zombie story. Yes, indeed it is. Trying to go all literary on an apocalyptic subject just didn't work for me. I'd rather turn to Stephen King. He does it much better than Whitehead. "

" This is honestly one of the worst, most terribe books I have EVER read. I want a refund! "

" 3 1/2 stars. A little confusing and a few words did seem out of place. But overall, a good satire. "

" The use of words was nice but to me it was, overall, dull. "

" You know, Colson Whitehead writes really well and this kind of amounts to a metaphor for modern society but zombies really creep me out. I finished this last night and I didn't sleep well at all, kept seeing zombies. Just shows you that Whitehead's writing is very evocative. "

" couldn't get past page 50. "

" Ok tale of 3 days of post-zombie world post immediate survival. Not terrifically interesting if you've read other zombie things or watched zombie stuff. "

" Having heard the hype about this & being a zombie fan I had to check it out. The author does a nice job of throwing some surprises in and his use of language was top notch. Now, having said that, I am not sure that I would read anything else by him as this sort of thing is not his regular beat. "

" The concept is interesting-- recovering and rebuilding after a zombie apocalypse. But the writing itself seemed over-wrought, like it was written for an MFA program. "

" Billed as a thinking mans zombie book. Too introspective for me. I read this genre for fun, not for morose analysis. "

" As you know, I like me some good ol' fashion collapse of society, post-plague tales. This was no exception. I removed a star for lack of plot, because really, sometimes good prose about the human condition can only take you so far. Still, pretty good! "

" Boring. Blah blah blah. I am so disappointed. Ultimately I can never get those hours back that I spent trying to find some redemption from this work. What a shame "

" Thanks for that dose of crushing despair, Whitehead. "

" Kind of disappointed. The pacing was too slow. "

" Very well written, but where was the plot? I liked Ashes by Ilsa Bick much better. "

" Very disappointing. I was hoping for an exciting post-apocalyptic tale and instead got this meandering, unfocused and kinda dull reflection of modern day life. "

" This novel was just an excuse for CW to write a sentence like: "Give me your poor, your hungry, your suppurating masses yearning to eat." Just kidding. "

" very disappointed in this book.....it sounded like there would be lots of action and suspense.....unfortunately none of either......won't recommend this book to anyone "

" Not what I expected. Lots of world-building that went a little too slow, but some of it just blew me away. Good stuff. "

" A smart and sophisticated step beyond the male melodrama of The Walking Dead. "

" Very disappointing combination of evocative language with poor characters and a story that never quite takes off or sucks you in. "

" Not what I would call a zombie story. The zombies are background noise to the stream-of-consciousness style of writing. The timeline is vague at best, wandering from past to present with little notice of the change. I ended up skimming a lot of pages due to them being excessively descriptive. "