Resurrection (Eden Book 3) [Paperback]

It pains me to write a negative review for this book because I believe that "Eden" was one of the best zombie novels I ever read. I do not believe that "Crusade" was anywhere near as good, but it was still an enjoyable read. "Resurrection" is just a misfire. Taking place some 20 years after the zombie outbreak this book has little to do with zombies and they are nothing more then background characters that have no real relevance to the story.

The story follows four friends who leave their home of New Harmony with some poorly-conceived notion to find the mythical Bear and learn about one of the friend's father and background. The friends run into radiation-mutated sadists and a strange group that captures and hunts people. On top of all that the book has an inconclusive and disappointing ending. A few sad characters from "Eden" make it into the story in a very depressing way. It is really a shame because the author is a talented writer but this book is just not really that good.

First let me say that I read the first two Eden books and very much enjoyed them which is why I bought the 3rd installment as soon as it was released. As the description tells, this book occurs many years after the outbreak and is not about the zombie apocolypse but rather about living in a world 30 years after it. The book is titled "a zombie novel" but to be honest, zombies are a fairly small part of this book.

The book is 233 pages long and NOTHING happens for the first 120 pages or so. I mean... NOTHING! that is why I say it is almost half of a good book These are virtually all new characters (there are some minor plot lines linked to old characters which seem to have little to do with the overall story). The story is essentially about living in a world after the zombie collapse. Four young people decide to find Bear's legendary army (Bear, from the previous two books) and decides to go into the outlands where mutants and not very nice people live.

The second half of the book has a pretty interesting story, but since I was half way through the book before it even really gets started it just doesn't get developed enough.... this would lead to the other BIG problem; the ending. I won't ruin it but I really can't imagine anyone being happy with it. Terrible. There will be a fourth book and that is why it ends as it does.

On a positive note; again the story is told from several different angles that end up intersecting. Good character development and again, good story but just not enough of it. I almost threw this book away when the author went on and on about a discussion in one of the main character's classes.... I couldn't believe how much time was wasted on this unrelated, uninteresting segment of the book. I read in akcnowledgements that it was based on a conversation the author had in one of his own real life classes, but that doesn't make it interesting reading.

So, will I buy book number 4? I don't know. I loved number 1, enjoyed number 2, and was disappointed by number 3. I think I'll have to wait and see. It is no longer a zombie novel in the typical sense. I think the author is still on to something with his story, but he wasted so many pages of this book that I'm not sure it can be recovered.

I just finished Eden Resurrection. From the beginning this story line caught my fancy. Ive loved each installment for the same yet different reasons. The characters I loved so much in the first book carried over to the next, and yet in this installment new characters were introduced and I cant help but have grown to care about and respect them and what they were (are) trying to do. Book three starts fresh but in the not so distant future. A whole new world has developed. Frankly in this genre you dont often read about the future world after much/most of the zombie outbreak has subsided. Tony does a wonderful job and showing us a possible/probable future existence some years after the outbreak has worn down. I wont give any spoilers, but that said bring on book four please!

Thanks again Tony, another wonderful piece of work for all of us to enjoy.