Loved this!

Thousands of Russian mail order brides were sent to the US with a deadly virus injected into them. It wasn't till the Russians pushed the kill button that the virus activated and the mail order brides died and became Zombies. Only thing is that the virus can be spread through sex and/or biting, so every man they had sex with got the virus, though it wasn't activated in them till they died. When the virus is unleashed, it's so fast and unexpected that the US is taken by surprise. Within a matter of days the country is overrun and all that's left to do is survive!

This was such a pleasant surprise! The name and cover are a bit off putting and made me think this was a cheesy Zombie book, but believe me when I say that it's not!!! It's a story of survival, it's a journey through the minds of people left amid chaos.

We have a cast of multiple characters so I'm not going to go through them all. I will say that they are all well written and developed. They are quite a colourful cast too!! We have Raven, a teen who is on holiday with her family when the outbreak happens. She is looking after her 9 yr old sister but she succumbs to the Zombies and poor Raven carries that guilt with her. We have Maura, who is crazy with a capital C!! She goes to her exes house intent on revenge because he left her for a Russian mail order bride. Of course she finds him in a bad way. This girl is seriously crazy but I'm not going to say what she does because that would spoil it!!!Lol. We also have Cruz, a Hollywood actor who hears voices in his head when he doesn't take his medicine! Throw in a fugitive and a girl with no remorse and you have the cast of this!!

The plot, while definitely fictional, is totally believable. I mean the idea of a dormant virus being injected into unsuspecting girls could happen! It just wouldn't reanimate them ;)

Anyway, this was a seriously excellent survival tale. It's not the blood and guts Zombie book but one of focusing on the characters and the aftermath of the virus! We get to see the outbreak happen, then we get to see different groups surviving and ultimately meeting up. I loved this and listened to it in a day, though that ending was killer, literally ;) Haha!! Definitely can highly recommend!

While Mark Westfield did a good job considering all the characters, I found his reading to be a little flat at times. I wanted more intenseness and energy when the Zombies were there. Also a few of the characters sounded the same. I still enjoyed it though!

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affects my thoughts.*

5 people found this helpful

Putin sent us zombies

If you are looking for a zombie book that isn’t the typical gory filled, prepper based, one man style go no further. I rarely dabble in zombie stories because they are the same story regurgitated by different authors with slightly different plots. What grabbed me for starters was the book cover, second was the premise, what hooked me on this story were the characters. The characters really make up this story and it is their development that this is about. While their story is about survival in a zombie invested world it almost seemed that the zombies are ancillary. I won’t say that this is a super unique zombie world but it is a different story in that it is very character driven and you could really substitute the zombies for lots of other creatures. With the whole idea of the zombies originating from mail order brides, off the bat you get some crazy characters. There are few characters who are clearly insane, and the author really did a great job delving into their psyche and caused me extreme reactions to them. Even the sane characters thoughts on the other characters make for an interesting story about how everyone handles their specific situation within their group of survivors in a world, possibly just the US, full of zombies. It is clear that the author is heavily influenced by TWD as he references the show quite a bit and I would say the story being more about the characters versus the end game is clearly influenced by the show. This is the first chapter in the series and there seems to be something going on in the overall series with a few of the characters. There are multiple story lines that converge and I’m excited to see where this goes and will definitely be in this series for the long haul. I hope this continues to focus on the characters and we get to see how they will continue to develop as their world crumbles. I have to say that I am glad that there isn’t a lot of misinformed gun discussion in this. So many times I read zombie books by someone who has never touched a real gun and then tries to tell me about the guns each person is using in detail and gets every aspect wrong. Sticking to blades is a safe bet. I liked the narrator. Again, since I felt this was more about the characters I didn’t mind that there wasn’t the usual excitement you expect to hear in narrator’s voices in zombie stories. I liked his portrayal of all the characters, his voices were excellent, and really hope he continues in the next chapter. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

4 people found this helpful

Mail Horror Bride

What did you like best about this story?

The ending is really a surprise. A good book with a different take on a zombie outbreak. I am interested in what the next book will be about. The ending was a good twist.

4 people found this helpful

Mail Horror Bride

Book 2 needs to come out, like yesterday! Overall, one of the better zombies books out there. I can't wait to see where the author takes us in the next book. It took a bit to get used to the narrator's style. Once I did, I thought he performed well. I received this audiobook for free thru Audiobook Boom for my unbiased review.

1 person found this helpful

THIS WAS A GREAT STORY! I NEED #2 ASAP!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Mail Horror Bride to be better than the print version?

Always is, But I only listened!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mail Horror Bride?

The Baby!

What does Mark Westfield bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was good...and sounds familiar..but I checked I havent listened to any of his other work....YET!! :)

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did laugh a little...and I felt very sad for Raven near the end!

Any additional comments?

** I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

From start to finish this was a great story! I lied the concept of the mail order bride virus delivery method, and how all of our survivor groups ended up in each others lives by sure luck! This was a great Post Apocalyptic Zombie story in a sea of many..and I highly recommend you buy it now! I am going to be tortured waiting for book 2!

WELL WORTH YOUR TIME AND A CREDIT!!!!

3 people found this helpful

Character Based Zombie Apoc

If you're a fan of zombie novels that focus on the characters rather than the action, like me - you'll love this book.
The zombie outbreak is caused by the Russian government implanting a dormant virus into the women who will then go to the US as mail order brides. The virus remains dormant until activated but is still passed to others through sexual contact and through their genes to any children they have, so when the Russian government activates the virus.... all hell breaks loose.
I adored this concept of a zombie virus being used as a sleeper agent form of biological warfare, it also cracked the story wide open to examine the prejudices of the characters in this new situation.

The book was a bit of a slow starter, I thought that it would follow the journey of only two characters but it opens up to follow a wide range of different characters and their gradual journey to a central point at the end. Once it got going, I was hooked and listened to it in one sitting while baking a hideously misshapen cake (on a side note -the cake was DELICIOUS despite looking like a disaster, I blame it on the audio distracting me).

This book had plenty of action to keep the pace moving and the characters were wonderful, it didn't focus too heavily on their backstory but provided just enough to explain their actions in the present. It also raised some excellent practical points: what happens when prescription medications run out?  Is it better to go it alone or group up? Are children actually evil eejits?

This book includes a range of characters of different ages, genders and nationalities and Mark Westfield (the narrator) manages them all like a pro. He even manages a convincing Thai mail order bride voice, complete with accent, that didn't make me cringe so I was impressed!

The quality of the audio was excellent and definitely added to the overall atmosphere of the story, having a talented narrator in charge of the pace of this novel.

I would definitely listen to more of his work in future, especially if he's teamed up with the work of Raymond Lee again. Thumbs up for this winning combination!

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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7 people found this helpful

Zombies

If you love the walking dead, you’ll love this book. Characters to love and hate with an ending that makes you want more.

Mail Horror Bride

This was a better than average zombie book.I enjoyed most of it.I found it to be repetitious at times.The characters are fairly well developed,you either love or hate them. Mail order brides from Russia were implanted with a virus that goes off and creates zombies..Every faction of life has to work together at some point,or die. Mark Westfield was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

freaking awesome

this is going to my top 10 favorite zombie books! now to go see if this author has other zombie books. I love the method of introducing the virus. and the action and suspense was nonstop I received a free copy if this audiobook I. exchange for my fair and honest review.

Fun

Book was fun a good start for new series starting book 2soon thanks hope this helps