Monster Island (Monster Zombie Series #1)

This book is different!

This book is different from the very beginning - the only countries to avoid the zombie apocalypse are the Third World. One UN worker and a bunch of teenage Somali army girls have to travel to the US in order to gather medicine from the UN building. What happens in New York is horrific, but amusing at the same time. I would've rated this book a five; however, there is an ironic twist that just isn't very believable, even for a zombie book! All in all a good read that kept me turning pages!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

eh.

This book was just ok. I read it in a few days, and I was a little disapointed with how it all went. The actual ending was pretty good. It left it where there could be another book, but I'm not sure if I'd read it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Read at your own risk

If you are a true Zombie fan this book is very irritating. I love Zombie movies and all that, but this book left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It started out good then just became a chore to read. It was a little over the top.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Zombie Lovers

I have read all of David Wellington's trilogy. Awesome !!!!
For all zombie lovers , this is a must read set. It starts in New York City and spans 12 years. I loved that all of the characters connected in the stories. When I finished the last book I felt like I really had closure. Don't get me wrong I would of LOVED for there to be more books. But , I really felt that he ended the story and answered all the readers questions. This is definately a book that will keep you wanting more.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Horrendous, and not in a good way

I'm an avid reader and absolutely love apocalyptic novels, but this was so terrible that I didn't even finish it rarely have I ever refused to finish even some of the more dull books out there. Very unrealistic. A guy leaves from Africa to go to Staten Island to get AIDs medication so an African war lord will help him and his daughter out. The only thing interesting was that someone who turned was trying to preserve their body and keep from turning full zombie, which was a bit original, but reminiscent of Blade. Stick with Keene, The Rising and City of the Dead is probably the best in the genre out there.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

exhilarating dark humor zombie thriller

The world as we knew it is gone due to the epidemic. Geneva is wiped out and its famous Convention, an inconvenience at times to America sitting as the key to the global economy, obviously meaningless. Manhattan Island known for its eccentric populace from Wall St to the Village to Harlem is now the abode of zombies though the rotting flesh has not changed the average odor of the place. Perhaps the last human on Manhattan, still human with some newly acquired psychic powers, Gary Fleck observes the walking dead who own what is now Monster Island. --- Those still human around the world believe ground zero is on Monster Island. A troop of armed female teenagers arrive from Africa to seek needed medicine while their leader, a former U.N. weapons inspector whose reputation was bushwhacked by lying Americans, seeks WMDs to fight against the zombie masters especially the plague ¿creator¿, who probably is the last human on Manhattan Gary or his female mate. --- MONSTER ISLAND is an exhilarating dark humor zombie thriller that George Romero would enjoy though the director would have preferred Pittsburgh. The battles between the girly militia and the zombies are terrific scenes as Manhattan serves as the perfect milieu with so many recognizable places to host skirmishes. Though at times the impulse to go repulsive overwhelms the story line, the Night of the Living Dead crowd will appreciate David Wellington¿s guided tour of Manhattan Island. --- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Quite dull and dissapointing

For a zombie novel (and series) this first of three books is pretty boring. I picked it up in paperback when it first came out and only made it two chapters in before i put it down out of boredom. A couple years later i purchased it on my nook to try it again and got the same results. I wouldnt waste my time with this series or author if i were you. Stick to the masters like max brooks or brian keene.

Amazing

After reading this on the internet I just had to grab a copy for my zombie collection.I will have to tell you a smart zombie that could talk did not seem like a book I would want to read, but it is an easy book to get hooked on and I was looking for something a little different. It might just be me, but I had to re-read parts to understand where exactly I was in the story, especially, when I started the next book, Monster Nation.I fell in love with the characters and that next day I went to get Monster Nation, but they only had Planet. With many delicious suspenseful scenes this book is a must for any zombie lover!

Worth the Time

Not the most original, but definately worth the read. Has a couple of good twists to the zombie story. Fun, flows well and a quick read.

Great read

Great book and fun to read. Zombie fans will like it. It has a nice twist on the genre!

good story

zombies. got to love them

Slow paced

Snoozefest. Read something actually good like day by day armageddon or tooth and nail.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

We'll be fighting for the same thing.

Dekalb is a weapons inspector for the UN. He and his young daughter have been captured by a Somalian warlord. He's been offered refuge for his family and a possible new life for his daughter under certain circumstances.
His mission is to sail to America to find drugs to treat AIDS, since this is what the warlord is infected with, while most of the world has been infected with the zombie virus. It sounds impossible.it sounds like a suicide mission. Who else is going to be able to take care of him and his daughter when firearms are what you need to survive in this new and devastating world?
Gary used to be a doctor. Now he's the smartest dead guy in the world. Or at least that is what he'll tell you when you talk to him. He knew there were two options when New York was swallowed alive by the zombie plague: be eaten or join them.
Using his medical theory - that the dead stop breathing, depleting oxygen to the brain, and causing them to be mindless when they reanimate - he hooked himself to the right medical equipment, and then took his own life. He woke up dead.
When the dead are able to think, a zombie infested world will become more terrifying. Gary and Dekalb aren't as different as you might think at first glance; the both have the same goal - survival.
I first ran into David Wellington's books in a used book store. I picked up his 13 Bullets series, which is about vampires. He does extremely well with the darker side of monsters, and I fell in love with his writing style. A fifth book of his vampire series is coming out soon, and I felt that I need to explore the rest of his work. Monster Island is the first of a zombie trilogy, and I must say, the first book had me captivated again. I look forward to reading the rest of this series, the continuation of his vampire series, and recently, he has started a werewolf series.
If you are ready to step away from the cuddly monsters that have been creeping up on us, and get back to the basics of horror, read some of David Wellington's books.

EPIC!!!!!!!!

Mmk first if all this is one of the best books ever! Its fun,gross,entergetic,and a great book for zombo lovers all around.

Inconsistent. SPOILERS!!!

Started out pretty interesting- liked the premise of barbarian nations being the only ones to survive.The Gary character had a lot more potential, before they made him "bad" and unredeemable. I think, overall, there just wasn't enough time or detail spent on character development. The whole druid storyline was too vague and the motivations not strong enough. Parts were really exciting, but most of the book was just okay. Disappointing.

This book freaked me out!

I've read David Wellington's vampire books, starting with "13 Bullets" and they were fabulous. I finally found books that both me and my husband wanted to read. I wanted to wait till I got my NOOK to read the zombie series and I just finished "Monster Island". I kid you not (and am a bit ashamed to confess), this book gave me nightmares like I haven't has since grade school. It was very well written and is very original. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is because I found myself very confused (in a navigational sense) while trying to follow the characters' progress thru the city but there were some fun plot twists, plety of gory detail and a new approach to zombie lore. I would DEFINATELY reckomend this book, but for a mature audience.

Pretty Decent Contribution to Zombie Lit.

If nothing else, you have to credit Wellington with trying to bring something fresh to the zombie trope. I agree with some of the other reviewers that aspects of the plot are a bit over-the-top (sailing to Manhattan from Africa) or under-done (Gary's decision and methods used for self-zombification) or just off-kilter (the zombie apocalypse started by angry gods . . . ?). However, there are some wonderful moments in this novel, and Wellington displays occassional flashes of writing prowess. Wellington effectively describes and uses the abandoned and decaying spaces---which is so important in any piece of zombie fiction---of Manhattan to build real visceral tension (such as in the department store and subway) and to underscore the magnitude of the zombie apocalypse (waterways clogged with the dead; tens of thousands of ravenous zombies clamboring over each other to sink their rotting teeth into grenade-chucking, Kalashnikov-weilding child-soldiers). Yes, there are a number of holes in the plotline, some of the characters are underdeveloped so that their motives are not clearly understood, and the writing could be a little better in places. But this is a fun read and I plan on reading Monster Nation and Monster Planet. Shoot, if nothing else, I have to find out what happens to Dekalb . . .

Fantastic Book

I wasn't sure when I first started reading it, but the story quickly picked up, and I found myself unable to put the book down. I am desperate to read the next two and cannot wait to see what surprises they hold. It was wonderfully fast paced with incredible descriptions that made it impossible to read while eating. You fall in love with the characters and their many flaws and portrays the zombie apocalypse in a way that makes you realize how precious our humanity is. I plan on buying a copy for myself as well as another to make a Christmas present out of for another family member who also enjoys the zombie genre. I highly recommend as long as you have a strong stomach.

Full of Plot Holes

I read this because i am a zombie fan and this does not do the genre justice. It was entertaining and I couldn't put it down but it was full of plot holes. Read World War Z instead

Original Zombie story

I just finished reading this book and I have to say Wow! I think this is one of the most original Zombie stories in a long time. You feel for the characters and see both sides of the Zombie War. It does not follow the typical zombie formula and I can see how that could be little off putting for hard core Zombie fans. But none the less you should give it a chance. Monster Island is a good read.