Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Audio Book Review of Red Hill by Jamie McGuire Narrated by Emma Galvin, January La Voy and Zachary Webber

Red Hill: A Novel | [Jamie McGuire]

Red Hill by Jamie McGuire
Narrated by Emma Galvin, January LaVoy, Zachary Webber

from the publisher Simon and Schuster Audio
When the world ends, can love survive?
For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone means fighting for tomorrow is an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can't remember what it's like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda's biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals.
When reports of a widespread, deadly "outbreak" begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can't outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in the face of a terrifying enemy - an enemy who no longer remembers what it's like to be human.
Set against the backdrop of a brilliantly realized apocalyptic world, love somehow finds a way to survive. But what happens when the one you'd die for becomes the one who could destroy you?
Red Hill grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go until its stunning conclusion. This is #1 New York Times best-selling author Jamie McGuire at her unforgettable best.

My Take:  This is a Zombie story told from a different angle.  It is not really about how the virus started but more about how three different people chose to survive.  The story is told from the point of view of three different people Scarlet a divorce mom of two who is separated from her daughters when the outbreak happens, Nathan a man who's wife leaves him and his daughter on the day of the outbreak and Miranda the daughter of a Dr. that Scarlet worked with at her hospital and did cleaning for him at his ranch called Red Hill.  After the outbreak these three people tell their story and how they all eventually end up at Red Hill ranch.  To be perfectly honest with I liked the first part of the book better than the last part.  The part about how they survived getting to the Ranch.  Once they got to the ranch it became more about how they were looking for relationships with each other and how relationships get messy.  I have never read anything by Jamie McGuire but from what I gather she is more known for her romance books and not for zombie books.  There is alot of cursing in this book as you can imagine there would be when people are being attacked and what not by the walking dead.  There is also one totally gratuitous sex scene which in my opinion could have been totally left out as it didn't do anything to move the story along and seemed like it was just thrown in to get the romance into the story.  Like I said before I liked the first part of the story which had you on the edge of your seat wondering how the survivors where going to continue to survive both the zombies and other people,  Once they got to the ranch much of the urgency was left out although they were far from being safe there. 

I thought the three narrators did an ok job with the book.  I have listened to January LaVoy before as she narrates the Women's Murder Club books by James Patterson.  I had not heard either of the other two narrators.  I thought that Zachary Webber did a very good job with the Nathan parts of the book.  Emma Galvin I was not really impressed with and I thought she gave a bit of a monotone performance of the parts for Miranda.

This is not a happily ever after book not all of the main characters make it to the end of the book which if you think about it would be the way it would play out if we were to really have a zombie apocalypse.

I would think if you like Zombie books more in line with The Walking Dead then this book would be up your alley. 

I received a review copy of this audio book from Simon and Schuster Audio in exchange for my honest opinion.

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