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Product Description
Product Description
Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes. Vigilantes. Crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilites to make Los Angeles a better place. Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Despite the best efforts of the superheroes, the police, and the military, the hungry corpses rose up and overwhelmed the country. The population was decimated, heroes fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland like so many others. Now, a year later, the Mighty Dragon and his companions must overcome their differences and recover from their own scars to protect the thousands of survivors sheltered in their film studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. The heroes lead teams out to scavenge supplies, keep the peace within the walls of their home, and try to be the symbols the survivors so desperately need. For while the ex-humans walk the streets night and day, they are not the only threat left in the world, and the people of the Mount are not the only survivors left in Los Angeles. Across the city, another group has grown and gained power. And they are not heroes.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worthy of a Series,
By
This review is from: Ex-Heroes (Paperback)
Even though I bought this book after seeing a few favorable customer reviews, I was concerned that it would disappoint (as the vast majority of zombie or post-apocalyptic fiction does). But I was overwhelmingly surprised at the entertainment it provided. Clines places his imagined super heroes in a world disintegrating by a zombie plague. The flashback style throughout the book was enjoyable and provided the back stories on how the virus began and how a precious few had gained certain powers. It is a fun romp that would lend itself to the graphic novel format seamlessly. The nobility of the heroes is explored which gives the book character and avoids making it a one dimensional effort. A surprising find and worthy of a series.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (187 customer reviews) 95 of 100 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely fantastic genre-crossing novel,
By Justin Gaines - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ex-Heroes (Paperback)
Ex-Heroes, the debut novel from Peter Clines, offers a new spin on the typical zombie story. Set in modern times, a zombie outbreak has ravaged the earth and only a handful of superheroes have kept the situation in Los Angeles from deteriorating into total chaos. Reeling from losses in their own community, a band of heroes has established a fortified safe zone in Hollywood to help whatever survivors they find. Unfortunately so has a much larger group of gang members, who have some deadly tricks up their sleeves.Now, mixing superheroes and zombies isn't an entirely new concept, but unlike Marvel Zombies, Ex-Heroes takes the idea seriously and is a story you can actually believe. Ex-Heroes reads like a mix of Watchmen (or maybe Heroes) and Land of the Dead. It's more of a big screen movie type story than the typical tale of survival horror, but I mean that in the best possible way. Clines's story of very human, very flawed heroes trying to maintain order in a post-apocalyptic situation seems very realistic and would make a terrific movie. I love how the book is split between "then" and "now" chapters, with the "then" chapters told from the perspective of a different hero and chronicling the developing crisis. Clines has come up with a fascinating cast of characters who, despite being superheroes, all seem like real people. I also loved the pace of the book, the believable dialogue, the black humor (a running contest to see who bagged the most famous zombie, for example), and the unexpected plot twists that never seemed forced or clichéd. I'm already anxious for a sequel. Ex-Heroes is a fantastic superhero novel, a fantastic zombie novel, and just a great story altogether. You know those books where you're only a few pages in and you realize "oh yeah, this author knows what s/he's doing"? They're few and far between, but Ex-Heroes is definitely one of them. If you're a fan of superheroes or zombies (or better yet, both), Ex-Heroes is a must-read. 32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
It had me at "superheroes vs zombies," but this also has...a plot and great characters.,
By Schmuck w. Underwood - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ex-Heroes (Paperback)
I love zombies, and I love superheroes...when they're done right. Ex-Heroes definitely nails the best of both worlds. Unlike some of the lame derivative books that have been cranked out to take advantage of the zombie craze...many of which are just paper thin plots and flat interchangeable characters...Ex-Heroes has memorable characters that you can actually believe are real, and a plot that kept me up reading long after I should have gone to bed.You know a book is good when you keep saying "I'll just read one more chapter and then go to bed...okay, maybe just one more...damn, it's four in the morning and I'm going to be crap for work, but every time I try to put the book down there's another awesome fight or holy crap! plot twist...." It's THAT kind of addictive read. 27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genre Cross-Over that works extremely well,
By Patrick S. Dorazio "Author of The Dark Trilogy" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ex-Heroes (Paperback)
It's always potential fun when someone tries to tie two popular genres together, but often time the fun ends once you get to see the end result and realize that what you have is a mishmash of ideas that never really mixed well. Not so here, with Ex-Heros. Peter Clines has created a very plausible set of superheros facing the zombie apocalypse and doing what they do best: saving the world. Its certainly a struggle for them, as there is no way to stop the zombie menace, but they've focused on creating a safe haven in Los Angeles at Paramount studios, aka The Mount, which is the most easily defensible place where they could bring hundreds to thousands of survivors. Opposed to them are the Seventeens, an old LA Gang that essentially controls the rest of LA, with their mysterious leader.The story is told by switching back and forth from the present to the past, with each flashback done in first person and told from the perspective of a particular superhero. The story is given the opportunity to slowly reveal itself this way and had a flavor of Watchmen to it that really worked in this setting. Our superheros aren't perfect-often they are sullen and none too happy with the people they are protecting, who don't necessarily trust them. In addition to this, some of the superheros have fallen to the Ex virus, which started the zombie apocalypse in this story, and while they are not quite as powerful as they once were, they still present a sizable threat to both the human and superhero population in the story. Clines does an excellent job of creating unique and believable hero's for this tale, with The Great Dragon leading the pack. They may be studs physically, but there are plenty of warts that are revealed during the story, giving us some surprises along the way that impact the story dramatically. I think this is one of the best genre cross-over stories I have read in some time and Clines, who indicated that many of the superheros created here came from his and friends childhood visions, clearly has a passion for both genres, and has created a very unique genesis to the zombie in this story that makes perfect sense and lands like a sledgehammer on the reader towards the end of the story. There is no doubt that Clines could make this into a series, or just pull off a sequel, if he chooses. The characters are rich and involving and there is certainly much more to be revealed about all of them. Definitely recommended for the zombie and superhero fan alike. |
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