Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth

Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth


Jonah Caine, a lone survivor in a zombie-infested world, struggles to understand the apocalypse in which he lives. Unable to find a moral or sane reason for the horror that surrounds him, he is overwhelmed by violence and insignificance. After wandering for months, Jonah's lonely existence dramatically changes when he discovers a group of survivors. Living in a museum-turned-compound, they are led jointly by Jack, an ever-practical and efficient military man, and Milton, a mysterious, quizzical prophet who holds a strange power over the dead. Both leaders share Jonah's anguish over the brutality of their world, as well as his hope for its beauty. Together with others, they build a community that reestablishes an island of order and humanity surrounded by relentless ghouls. But this newfound peace is short-lived, as Jonah and his band of refugees clash with another group of survivors who remind them that the undead are not the only-nor the most grotesque-horrors they must face.

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent zombie read for Horror month!



I was curious when I ran across a review for this book that stated that it was Christian Fiction but I now see where that comes from. While this book takes us on a very scary journey into a world overrun with undead zombies, there is a lot of theological references. It creates a very thought provoking read that I totally enjoyed.



This really is one of the scariest Apocalypse/Zombie books that I have read, because I found myself imagining exactly what a world overrun by the undead would be like. This book really makes it more real than others that I have read, thus making it very scary.



The comparison of human evil versus undead evil that we encounter at the end of the book is very insightful and thought provoking. We hear about horrors everyday that are often worse that what this author has created with his undead, but we are so accustomed to hearing about it that we have almost lost our ability to be horrified by them.



All in all this was an excellent read and I am very much looking forward to the sequel -- Dying to Live: Life Sentence -- as soon as I can get my hands on it!


View all my reviews.