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Exit Kingdom (Reapers #2)

3.64 of 5 stars 3.64 · rating details · 66 ratings · 28 reviews

In a world where the undead outnumber the living, Moses Todd roams the post-apocalyptic plains of America. His reprobate brother, Abraham — his only companion — has known little else. Together, they journey because they have to; because they have nowhere to go, and no one to answer to other than themselves.

Traveling the bloody wastelands of this ruined world, Moses is loo...more

Hardcover, 306 pages

Published September 13th 2012 by Tor (first published September 1st 2012)

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YA Dystopia\Post-Apocalyptic Novels of 2012

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Jan 29, 2013 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

my god, i loved this.
i loved every single moment of it.
ceridwen has written a great review for this, naturally, and she was amazing enough to send me her copy. i am sad she didn't love it as much as i did, but she's got zombie standards, and for me, i was just so grateful to get this book, I can only echo her plea:

America, why you no publish Exit Kingdom?

this book is another zombie-but-not-zombie book. this is more like a survival story, or a quest story in a world in which there happen to also...more

50 likes · like · see review

Nov 04, 2012 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: pan-macmillan, own-a-dtb, 2012-favorites, amazing-writing, arc-2012, all-the-right-choices, surprise-surprise, review-copy, favorites, zombies-zombies-everywhere, male-pov, highly-anticipating-2012, literary-fiction, reviewed-in-2012

Almost two years ago, when I picked up a book called The Reapers Are the Angels (mostly because I liked the title), I never dreamed reading it would be such a life-changing, earth-shattering experience. Not only did Alden Bell (pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, author of Hummingbirds) take everything I thought I knew about genre fiction and turn it upside down, but his main characters, Temple and Moses (and what an odd pair they are) became permanent residents in my thoughts and in my heart.

Exit Ki...more Almost two years ago, when I picked up a book called The Reapers Are the Angels (mostly because I liked the title), I never dreamed reading it would be such a life-changing, earth-shattering experience. Not only did Alden Bell (pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, author of Hummingbirds) take everything I thought I knew about genre fiction and turn it upside down, but his main characters, Temple and Moses (and what an odd pair they are) became permanent residents in my thoughts and in my heart.

Exit Kingdom is not a sequel, but a companion novel – a prequel in some ways – loosely connected through two characters: Moses and his paternal half-brother Abraham. The story begins after the events of The Reapers: Moses and Maury are sitting around a bonfire with some survivors and Moses is answering questions about their travels. When asked whether he believes in God, Moses offers to tell a story about his early adventures – one that explains why he knows with absolute certainty that God truly exists.

Like The Reapers, Exit Kingdom is very much a road novel, still influenced by Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner among others, but the philosophy hidden within is somewhat different. Temple was a ray of hope in an otherwise hopeless world, and Moses’ perspective seems rather bleak in comparison. Many factors caused this huge difference between them, but the most important one, the one that Bell himself keeps pointing out in the few interviews that can be found, is that Temple was born in a world infested with slugs, while Moses still remembers what life was like before.

Bell’s writing is unusual and breathtaking: he skillfully uses language to create the right atmosphere and to bring his readers closer to a world where education had to take the back seat to survival. It’s interesting that a language can deteriorate so badly and still be so beautiful. Add to that Moses’ unusual way of speaking – for even the most mundane sentences become noteworthy coming from his mouth – and you’ll get a prose piece that is distinctive and impossible to forget.

My brother and I, Moses says, we’re hard to offend, friar. You likely couldn’t stumble by accident upon the offence to us – you’d have to give it your full effort and strategy. So don’t fret yourself on that account. We’re happy to get whatever you feel like offerin. And we’re happy to offer services in exchange.

Exit Kingdom is a story about God, or the absence of God, but it is not a religious story. God, like beauty, is very much in the eye of the beholder. Where one sees chaos, another sees harmony. Where one sees apocalypse, another sees rebirth. I think the last sentence (it’s not a spoiler, not at all relevant to our story), will tell you more about this book than I have in this entire review:

Half the travelers are killed, but half survive.

(less)

27 likes · like · see review

Sep 22, 2012 Cas marked it as to-read

Shelves: zombies, need-you-with-me

Me, when the book releases:

14 likes · like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Trudi marked it as cant-wait-to-read

Shelves: zombies, apocalyptic-types

Awesome blossom!!! a sequel to The Reapers Are the Angels -- I must have been a VERY good girl this year :D :D :D

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 18, 2013 Isamlq rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

What some mysteries reveal are truths so mundane they blast wide our own ludicrous vanities.

Moses Todd is many things. In Reapers I had him pegged as warrior with a code, seeking balance in a way he knew. Here he is that, but more too: from on-and-off violent man to accidental philosopher, a man of few words, deeper thoughts and rigid code. Then, him as brother watching out for brother, and watching as he did, was not at all blind to the younger’s faults (because there are many faults in that one, in both of the actually) He reads a lot like Tom Imura… only better as he’s less preachy instead more questioning… then resigned to what needs be doing.

It’s not so complicated if we look on things as he Moses does: people have roles. His just happens to watcher for his brother (Beyond being my brother, he says, I don’t give a damn what you are.) and while not blind to the faults of his brother, Moses tempers things somehow… and it’s this that a bit depressing, in a resigned way he’s just waiting for a reckoning. And seeing things as he does, he also recognizes the roles all have, both good and bad, (I don’t got the answers for everything, he says. Sometimes you do things just cause they need to be done by someone and there ain’t nobody else around.)

So were they all just waiting for a reckoning? Or was it as the whore felt, the reckoning had passed and now’s all a matter of surviving. And all the while I’m feeling, ‘Deep thoughts, these people, secreted philosophers disguised as prostitutes and crazy men.’ because the lot of them say the craziest, yet truest things:

Now everything’s backwards. You plant life in the earth – call it death if you like – but it gets spit back up. Maybe we’ve fed he earth too much. Maybe it’s lost a taste for us.

It’s harder to die than you think. The world, it conspires to keep you alive.

You see now? Moses Todd asks. You see? It ain’t about what you think it’s about. All the wandering, and the mad pursuit, all the spinnin cycles of life and death and death and life over and over until you ain’t but a dizzy headed creature roamin the plains. It ain’t about anything but one thing. Drollery. You fights and you create life and you fight and you destroy – and some times in the middle somewhere you happen to love. But it all comes down to ridiculousness.

(less)

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Jan 26, 2013 Jeff rated it 3 of 5 stars

Simultaneously a sequel and prequel (mostly prequel) to The Reapers are the Angels, but not as good. While overall I liked the book, I'm going to focus here on the things that kept me from loving it. The characters are vaguely ridiculous and Mr. Bell's writing seems more self-conscious this time around, like he's trying a bit too hard. And the zombies are merely incidental - reduced to pure metaphor. The way that Moses is fleshed out in this book and his opinions on his brother, justice and inev...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fictions, the-horror, westerns-and-cowboy-culture

Exit Kingdom is not The Reapers are the Angels. It is not even trying to be Reapers, and for good reason: there is no point in rehashing an almost perfect book (or any book for that matter). Alden Bell wants to tell a new story, to see "this ruined globe" from a new perspective and see what else can be discerned of the world and existence. Where Reapers uses Temple as the gateway to discovering the beautiful and miraculous amidst horror and chaos, Kingdom uses Moses Todd in order to examine dark...more Exit Kingdom is not The Reapers are the Angels. It is not even trying to be Reapers, and for good reason: there is no point in rehashing an almost perfect book (or any book for that matter). Alden Bell wants to tell a new story, to see "this ruined globe" from a new perspective and see what else can be discerned of the world and existence. Where Reapers uses Temple as the gateway to discovering the beautiful and miraculous amidst horror and chaos, Kingdom uses Moses Todd in order to examine darkness upon the new frontier. Todd's story is louder, more brutal, less refined and looser in its delivery. The language isn't as tight, the hyperbole heightened, and a sentimentality that seemed completely vacant from the first novel. But these are not necessarily weaknesses in the text.

Moses is a very different character than Temple, and this is his story, told by him, as a man still unable to completely come to terms with the post-apocalyptic world he is now part of. He might claim to feel more at home in this blighted landscape, but his sentimentality and appeals to American frontier mythology suggest that he is far from comfortable with either where he was or where he is. Where Temple is at home in the post-apocalyptic landscape, Moses is homeless, an outsider who has never fit. It makes some sense, then, that the novel itself seems a bit hard to place alongside Reapers. That difficulty only seems to add to the complex study of order and chaos going on in Bell's world. We shouldn't feel completely comfortable with these novels being in the same world, we should feel some rough edges, some disharmony and annoyance that these two stories don't perfectly gel with each other.

At its heart, Exit Kingdom is a western/frontier story. Bell is probing the American myth of the Frontier and the West, to again challenge our own constructed history and narrative patterns. But he acknowledges the power of that Frontier mythology, for Moses is sentimental about the past and about mourning lost times and people. While the proverbial "Glory Days" were pretty awful in their reality, part of him wants some of those myths to be true. The book is an interesting project, particularly in a post-apocalyptic landscape which offers a new frontier that American mythology is always searching for. We get it in the form of undead devastation and the collapse of civilization as we know it. Now we get to see just how awesome it really is to live the Frontier myth. Just kidding, it's not awesome at all; it really sucks and horrific and we should actually jettison all those bull crap notions of heroic explorers and triumphant settlers and virgin lands tamed by rugged men with more brawn than brains. The Frontier is the Heart of Darkness, with Moses as another Marlow. He won't be the last Marlow either, which should give us some serious pause.

This is a conflicted novel. The whole objective of the project seems somewhat doomed from the start, which both works for and against it. Bell is juggling a lot of complicated components and I don't think he pulls it off as expertly as his debut. But this is a noble effort that holds some really marvelous moments that have me thinking enough to leave me pleased and willing to revisit this tale again in the future. (less)

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Dec 14, 2012 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: america-and-environs, daddy-drinks-because-you-cry, insomnia, reviewed, sexy-nihilists, the-west, zombies

Even though I knew full well that a sequel to The Reapers Are the Angels was bound and determined to disappoint a mite, I freaked out anyway and ordered a copy from England. America, why you no publish Exit Kingdom? I fairly loved Reapers, with its blurry genre lines and metaphysical America, a long toothpick poling the detritus in our bloody civic teeth. I can see why some readers wouldn't cotton to it: the heavy allusiveness and almost overt symbolism, the dialect, the stripped punctuation, th...more Even though I knew full well that a sequel to The Reapers Are the Angels was bound and determined to disappoint a mite, I freaked out anyway and ordered a copy from England. America, why you no publish Exit Kingdom? I fairly loved Reapers, with its blurry genre lines and metaphysical America, a long toothpick poling the detritus in our bloody civic teeth. I can see why some readers wouldn't cotton to it: the heavy allusiveness and almost overt symbolism, the dialect, the stripped punctuation, the zombies. But I loved Temple. I loved her fierce orphan pragmatism, a child of the apocalypse more easy with wastelands and the dead than nail-bitten civilization and the living. She was all squinting prairie hardness and kudzu tenacity.

Exit Kingdom is less sequel and more companion novel, a recounting by Moses Todd five years after the events in Reapers of five years before the same. Moses Todd may have been an anchor to the events of Reapers, but he was not the center, and his centrality here is uneasy and reactive. There's another girl, the Vestal Amata, whose central mystery did not resonate with me, whose femininity and changeability seemed the kind of thing a man would understand about a woman's nature, but no woman would ever feel inside herself, about herself. That's fine, on some level: this is a man's story of a woman, and not her own. People are told in many ways.

Moses and Abraham Todd are moving aimlessly through the American wasteland. Abraham isn't right, a predatory monster, and Moses with his unspoken code plays brother's keeper. They are given charge of a woman, the Vestal Amata, who has a strange thrall on the unquiet dead. They are blind to her and her movements. Though there is no section like the hillfolk sequence in Reapers that I actively disliked, the conflicts and personalities here felt more forced throughout, more schematic. The landscape, and especially the dead themselves, that I found even more strong than in the previous novel: Moses's hands on the bellies of airplanes in a rusting hangar; the eyes of a dead man slowly blinking under ice; the dry bones trying to stand in the desert aridity.

So, if you enjoyed The Reapers Are the Angels, you will likely enjoy this, but in a worn way, in a way that tries to recapture a dream slipped out like a fish. Now that I write that, I remember with a painful clarity the nightmares I had from this book last night - a nightmare far out of scale from the near placid and resigned tone of this book. There were children - a school room - and so much blood from biting as the infection spread from child to child. Today's events in Connecticut - I cannot stop crying. I dream nightmares that come true. Oh, America, I fear and grieve for you so much. Moses Todd does too, and that part we can agree on.

Cross-posted on Readerling (less)

30 likes · like · see review

Mar 24, 2013 Gerhard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

The Reapers Are The Angels was one of the best books I read last year, so I was both surprised and delighted to hear that Alden Bell had written a sort-of prequel, bringing a very dark-hearted character from the first novel to centre stage in the second. This, of course, is Moses Todd.

If the book had focused exclusively on Moses, all and well, but Bell makes the fatal mistake of trying to replace Temple with another mysterious female character, known as the Vestal Amata, who seems to have the my...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, post-apocalypse

3.5 stars

Ok, first of all what the hell is up with that cover? In what world is Moses Todd supposed to look like a refugee from a paranormal romance series airing on the CW? Not in mine, that’s for sure.

Alright, now that that’s off my chest we can continue. What we have here is the sequel/prequel to Bell’s initial foray into the zombie apocalypse The Reapers Are the Angels. This time around we follow former secondary characters Moses Todd and his brother in their rambles across a ravaged America...more 3.5 stars

Ok, first of all what the hell is up with that cover? In what world is Moses Todd supposed to look like a refugee from a paranormal romance series airing on the CW? Not in mine, that’s for sure.

Alright, now that that’s off my chest we can continue. What we have here is the sequel/prequel to Bell’s initial foray into the zombie apocalypse The Reapers Are the Angels. This time around we follow former secondary characters Moses Todd and his brother in their rambles across a ravaged America prior to their meeting with Temple from the first book. As I implied in my review of Reapers Moses was really more of an antagonist to Temple than a villain, so seeing him fleshed out further here didn’t come across as either: a) a betrayal of the character’s nature or b) a picture of a completely unsympathetic anti-hero. Bell was even able to make Moses’ brother Abraham, not much more than a vile snake in the first book, at least have explanations for his character and behaviour that made sense and turned him into something more approximating a human being. In addition to these two characters, and a varied assortment of post-apocalyptic survivor misfits in supporting roles, we have the new character of ‘The Vestal’ something of a throw-back to Temple in that she is a strong female able to take care of herself, though different in that she is no warrior, but rather one who deploys the more traditional feminine charms in her defense along with a unique condition that makes her survival in zombie-world easier than it is for most.

Once again we have a road-trip/quest (I wonder whether other types of story are possible/interesting in the zombie apocalypse context?) with the delivery of a person somewhere as the end goal. This time it is up to the brothers Todd to deliver the Vestal to an enclave of civilization in Colorado in order for the powers that be to find out what makes her tick. Once again we have a detailed meditation on the character of the shattered landscape of America with a view to the kind of individuals that are able to thrive, or at least endure, as survivors in a blighted world. It’s interesting to see brought into even sharper focus that fact that the walking dead aren't even the biggest problem for this world. They are almost laughable in the ease with which they can be avoided (unless you're caught off-guard or cornered by sheer numbers), and as usual it is the humans who survive from whom there is the most to fear. Bell has an interesting way, yet again, of ruminating on the fact that the zombies aren’t really evil, perhaps they aren’t even an unholy plague, they’re just another set of obstacles in life that one either contends with or is consumed by (literally in this case). Once again we have the lilting Southern Gothic voice that tinges the text with biblical and oratorical significance and that is very pleasant to read.

There’s a lot of “once agains” there, and they’re not completely meant to be derogatory. The story is a good one and I enjoy Bell’s writing enough that I don’t mind “more of the same” in this world. I’m not sure if Moses is as successful a central character as Temple was though, and I think I preferred his much more ambiguous characterization in the first novel. It’s interesting to once again see someone who actually fits in better in this wasted world than he ever did before the fall, though unlike Temple he was not born into the apocalypse and thus can have moments of regret for what has been lost, at least on the personal if not the societal level. The search for purpose is a theme that looms large in both books, though even the attaining of purpose isn’t always enough to keep one sane. In Moses we see a man driven by two things: the need to protect his corrupt brother from the lawful retribution of the world at large, and the need to follow a personal code to the exclusion of all else, even good sense or happiness. Without the code Moses is just a drifter prey to illusions brought on by emotion and desire, though he doesn’t seem to appreciate that he may have built his purpose on illusions of his own.

All in all I liked the tale and if you’re a fan of the zombie apocalypse you should like this one. Bell mixes some philosophical musings and lyrical prose in with his blood-spattered gore and harsh violence so there’s more than just an edge of your seat adventure to be gotten from the book. I don’t think it’s quite as successful as the first volume, though I’m not quite sure why. Still, a truly enjoyable read when all is said and done.(less)

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Mar 05, 2013 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013

4.5 Stars

Exit Kingdoms was a complete surprise for me. For one, I had no idea that Alden Bell was going to write a sequel to one of my very favorite post-apocalyptic novels. Additionally, I did not think that it would be possible to come up with a story that not only holds up to the original, but it makes a place for it to be relevant. The Reapers are the Angels, the first book in this world, is simply a magical masterpiece about one of the coolest protagonists ever, a young girl named Temple. I...more

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Apr 04, 2013 JoJo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies-apocalypse-virus

What!!! I didn't know this was being released. What?? Must get my hands on it NOW!!!!

I got my hands on it!! Yay I really enjoyed it. A perfect zombie read. I love the way it is written. It makes me want to re read the first one again.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 14, 2013 Keith In Ky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Two things really bug me right off the bat. First. The main character is 50ish, the outbreak happened when he was 20 years old and the story is 5 years before the "present day", so he is 45ish in the flashback. So, why did the manner of speaking change so much in 30 years for everyone? People sound like the author is saying they would revert back to 1800's wild west speak for some unknown reason. They would not. That is annoying. Second. The story is set in America, the author is American. Why s...more Two things really bug me right off the bat. First. The main character is 50ish, the outbreak happened when he was 20 years old and the story is 5 years before the "present day", so he is 45ish in the flashback. So, why did the manner of speaking change so much in 30 years for everyone? People sound like the author is saying they would revert back to 1800's wild west speak for some unknown reason. They would not. That is annoying. Second. The story is set in America, the author is American. Why spell certain words like he is British? (ie: colour, flavour, etc., I still think that the author is going to say that the characters were chased up the apple and pears at any minute, or ride the double decker into Colorado Springs). Pretentious? Seems like it. Also it is annoying and unneeded.

Update: That being said, the story is a good one so far. I am a little less than 2/3 of the way through the book and even though I cannot get over the above mentioned mistakes (and I am indeed calling them mistakes), I am enjoying the book. Yeah, I cringe when I see an American spell a word wrong on purpose for some unknown reason (also, a spelling mistake, not the author's fault). And so far, this book is pale in comparison to Bell's The Reapers Are The Angels, but it is standing on it's own. Even though the author needs to get over himself. (So far, 3.5 out of 5 stars)

Update: I seem to only have a half hour at a time to read anymore, it ticks me off. Good things is that this book is only 280 pages, the words are big and the spacing between lines are huge. Someone needed to get a book out quickly. That may explain the shortcuts often taken in the novel. Anyway, the book has settled into a typical premise with a few slightly different slants to make it sort of original. The zombies are useless in this book. They seemingly can be held off with a stiff arm. And we get it, like half of the other zombie books, people are worse than zombies. Strangely though, I am still enjoying the book, just not as much as I should be knowing the author can do better than this. (So far, 3 out of 5 stars)

Last update: I finished this book last night and my opinion stays the same. Not a waste of time by any means, but not nearly as good as Reapers. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I sorry I read it? Never. On it's own, without comparing it to Reapers, it is an okay book. Not alot happening, useless zombies, overdone premise, annoying quirks I mentioned at the top. But, I liked the main character and felt for him. I liked that almost every person in the book was flawed, badly. I even liked how things were left unanswered. The filler at the end of the book to try to make the book thicker wasn't needed. The q and a was definately not needed.

So when all is said and done, it was worth what little time ot took to read. (less)

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May 09, 2013 David Gallagher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, read-in-2013

I'm not a fan of comparing an author's books to one another, or comparing books from a series to one another - yet sometimes, it's necessary.

Exit Kingdom is not The Reapers Are the Angels. Not just because there's no Temple, but because it lacks the lyrical flow of language and the horrid, hopeless misery of it. That's not to say that the language of Exit Kingdom is any less beautiful, or that it's a work full of optimism (God forbid), or that its characters are not multi-layered and three-dimen...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Silver Thistle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, apocalyptic, end-of-the-world, zombie

I loved 'The Reaper's are the Angels' so much, I thought it was wonderful. Great book! I was sad at the end though as it seemed to indicate that it was destined to be a stand-alone novel. It didn't seem to leave any openings for further books.

When I saw that there was to be a sequel I jumped on the order button and could not wait to get my hands on it!

This story is told by Moses Todd (from the first book) and he is now traveling with his adopted charge Maury who he inherited by default from Temp...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Phil rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a brilliant follow-up/sequel/prequel call it what you wish. Alden Bell certainly knows how to write post apocalyptic, and certainly knows how to right conflicted characters. Once again we have another brilliant protagonist in Moses Todd, OK we may have had him in The Reapers Are The Angels, but this time we get to see inside his head, see what makes him tick, and see just why he stands beside his morally corrupt brother Abraham.

Yes this is a zombie story, but its not a story about zombi...more

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May 14, 2013 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Crap! I forgot to put I am finished! Oh well, I am not sure anyone reads these anyway, but they are good for looking back in history to see what I thought of the book at the time. Meh. That is what I thought. Soso. Nowhere NEAR as good as the Angels are the Reapers. It was, um, a little boring and predictable.

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Apr 08, 2013 Lucy Harris rated it 5 of 5 stars

A brilliant book very evocative and very dark, superbly well written. The characters are very engaging and the story involving. Excellent book!

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Jul 13, 2012 Kelly Leigh marked it as to-read

Shelves: zombies, post-apocalyptic, 2012-releases

Is this a sequel to The Reapers Are Angels? A companion novel? Either way, I can't wait to rip into this baby! How did I not hear of this until now?

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Sep 04, 2012 Sierra marked it as to-read

Shelves: inheritors-of-the-earth

Pre-read Are you serious? How could I have not known about this until just now? I'm not gonna fangirl, but... I want to.

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 25, 2012 Liz rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, books-i-own, bought-2012, dystopia, fantasy, zombies, usa

What happened?! The Reapers are the Angels was great and this one sucked.

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Apr 30, 2012 Sarah ~Slow reader, or slowly reading? ;) marked it as to-read

Shelves: curious-very-curious, i-need-you-now, this-better-be-good, z0mbies, dystopian

WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK? WHY?!

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Aug 10, 2012 Erica marked it as to-read

Calendar cleared for 9/13/12

1 like · like · see review

Apr 05, 2013 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Post-apocalyptic tale about 2 brothers, Moses and Abraham. They traverse the former United States, trying to survive against the zombies (known here as slugs) and occasionally joining bands of people. Along the way they end up promising to take the Vestal Amata to Colorado. It's not an action packed ride but seems more fitting and 'real' to show moments of inactivity and simple conversation. The language is languid and apt for a tale when the characters are in no rush to get anywhere.

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Mar 18, 2013 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-have

I loved it. The delivery was very poetic. At times it got a little wordy, with broken speech which made it difficult to pin down what was being said. But eventually it all came together to make sense. I just love all the philosophy embedded in the read.

"Your life ain't a target for the world to shoot at. The world is a target for your life to shoot at."

Nothing sounds more like annihilation than deafening quiet.

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Feb 22, 2013 Anne-sophie Olsen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: epidemic, post-apo, tue, want, zombie

Very vivid and gory, although gore is not the focus. Gore is just there as a natural thing of the world described.
It's very gripping in a way and it's good to get to know Moses a bit more and understanding a bit more about why he acts as he does in the previous book.

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Jan 16, 2013 Julie Davis rated it 2 of 5 stars

I feel disappointed and confused. Possibly discussing this with someone would help me see why it was necessary to tell this story. Because at this point I don't see it ...

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Apr 19, 2012 Ang marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2012-release, dystopia, next-in-series

I just read that this book will be released November 9th in the UK.

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May 18, 2013 Heath marked it as to-read

May 18, 2013 Christine marked it as to-read

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About Alden Bell

Alden Bell is a pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord, whose first novel, Hummingbirds, was released in Fall '09. He teaches at a New York City prep school and is an adjunct professor at The New School. He lives in New York City with his wife, the Edgar Award-winning mystery writer, Megan Abbott.

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Books by Alden Bell

The Reapers Are the Angels (Reapers, #1)

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Quotes from Exit Kingdom

“Your life ain't a target for the world to shoot at. The world is a target for your life to shoot at.” — 1 person liked it

“Stories that pander to your every readerly desire and whim are like overly loyal dogs that live for the simple glow of your approval. I'm a cat person. I like a little aloofness in my pets and my writing.” — 1 person liked it

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title link	preview: Exit Kingdom
avg rating	preview: Exit Kingdom Goodreads rating: 3.64 (66 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13604637-exit-kingdom?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334595734l/13604637.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13604637-exit-kingdom?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Exit Kingdom by Alden Bell[/url]

Exit Kingdom (Reapers #2)

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