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Welcome to the Nixon Healing and Research Center, playground for the maniacal Dr. Howard Nixon whose medical research has him dabbling in the undead and has the women of Strandville disappearing.
Desperate to find a cure for the lethal virus which turns its victims into zombies, Nixon kidnaps Miranda Penton, a security recruit with a past that won't let her go. He doesn't count on anyone coming looking for her, least of all her ex-husband, Scott.
A warning call brings Scott to Strandville where he bands together with a team of locals determined to bring their own loved ones home. Together, they infiltrate Nixon's staff, hatching a plan that releases not only the surviving women, but the virus on those left in the hospital.
Nixon locks down the center to contain the spread, turning patients, visitors, and staff into a dangerous horde that is almost impossible to escape. Miranda and the others fight for their lives. The town of Strandville is ground zero for the zombie apocalypse and Miranda must get free because the fate of humanity lies with her unborn child.
Desperate to find a cure for the lethal virus which turns its victims into zombies, Nixon kidnaps Miranda Penton, a security recruit with a past that won't let her go. He doesn't count on anyone coming looking for her, least of all her ex-husband, Scott.
A warning call brings Scott to Strandville where he bands together with a team of locals determined to bring their own loved ones home. Together, they infiltrate Nixon's staff, hatching a plan that releases not only the surviving women, but the virus on those left in the hospital.
Nixon locks down the center to contain the spread, turning patients, visitors, and staff into a dangerous horde that is almost impossible to escape. Miranda and the others fight for their lives. The town of Strandville is ground zero for the zombie apocalypse and Miranda must get free because the fate of humanity lies with her unborn child.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2012
74 people are currently reading
1178 people want to read
About the author
Belinda Frisch
14 books327 followersBelinda Frisch has worked as a cosmetologist, a medical records auditor, and a real estate broker, but her lifelong dream is of being a writer. While other kids were passing notes in class, Belinda was writing creatively. She was the only person she knew who asked for the Writer’s Market for Christmas or had any idea what a SASE was. Her journal, and usually an Anne Rice novel, were her constant companions.
She has written poetry, short stories, novels, a textbook, and co-authored a screenplay when her novel, Cure, was optioned for film that one time. When Belinda isn’t writing, she is probably reading one of the many books that she keeps on rotation. She grew up in the Capital District and identifies as a New Yorker, even though she’s spent the last decade living in South Carolina, where she now writes full-time.
She has written poetry, short stories, novels, a textbook, and co-authored a screenplay when her novel, Cure, was optioned for film that one time. When Belinda isn’t writing, she is probably reading one of the many books that she keeps on rotation. She grew up in the Capital District and identifies as a New Yorker, even though she’s spent the last decade living in South Carolina, where she now writes full-time.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
November 24, 2013
In short, I didn’t find the writing to be anything noteworthy, and from all the positive reviews I expected something a little more remarkable. With there being quite an astounding amount of characters to keep track of, I couldn’t connect with any of them. But, as far as zombie novels go, this is definitely one of the better ones, and as mediocre as the writing is, the plot itself is riveting and original. For readers with an aversion to gore and violence, I won’t recommend this book. As with any good zombie novel worth its salt, there’s a lot of brutality and detailed gruesome scenes of human depravity in this story. Cure ended up being a relatively enjoyable read which I finished in one sitting. I might in time read the rest of this series.
September 9, 2012
I felt like this book had too many characters for me to be able to remember them all (especially since the book is from everyone's POV). The writing was easy to follow--it's a very quick read. But (and I understand that this is a zombie book), I just didn't find it believable. What kind of human is okay with having a zombie child? Even if you believe you can never have a child of your own, are you really willing to give a zombie kid a go? I think not.
October 17, 2013
I loved this book..no really...I loved it. The realism Ms. Frisch adds to it without overwhelming the reader with "shop talk" makes it all the scarier!
I never give spoilers in a review because I think it's rude, so all I am going to say is if you like as close to reality zombie stories as you can get; READ THIS BOOK.
Book Two is quite remarkable from what I hear as well! I will definitely be reading it soon!!
I never give spoilers in a review because I think it's rude, so all I am going to say is if you like as close to reality zombie stories as you can get; READ THIS BOOK.
Book Two is quite remarkable from what I hear as well! I will definitely be reading it soon!!
September 11, 2014
Freaked me out and grossed me out more times than I can count. I loved it!! This was a fast paced story with a ton of twists and turns that your heart will race as you try and finish the story. Loved it very much!!!
January 10, 2013
I'm a girl who loves a good scare. Most of the books I read, I would say 80% of them, fall under the horror, paranormal, apocalyptic, and/or dystopian persuasion, and I am a SUCKER for zombies.
I purchased Cure on my iPhone app on a whim one day when I was looking specifically for a horror zombie thriller (that is totally its own awesome genre), and once I started reading it I couldn't stop. I know it's cliche, but it's true. I really enjoy books that keep the story moving at a quick, yet comfortable pace - and Cure had the added benefit of also being REALLY WELL WRITTEN. The dialog is sharp and the prose is clean, and what's more, the characters have real depth, which is important to me because when I read I like to put myself in the characters shoes - Belinda's writing made it really easy for me to do that.
I could imagine what it was like to be Miranda Penton, to be leaving a complicated relationship after losing two very important things in her life, to be nervous about starting a new job - and then to find out that the new town you moved to has had this strange problem lately with women disappearing.. so many women.
Miranda goes to work at the Nixon Center, a medical facility with an evil director, Dr. Howard Nixon. Miranda thinks that Dr. Nixon is trying to cure cancer, but what she will soon find out is that he is, well, essentially inseminating women with zombie sperm. So yeah, THE HORROR.
Miranda gets caught in Nixon's trap along with other patients and employee's of the Nixon Center, who we get to know in pretty great detail, and I say that happily. Some of the writing reminded me of a less neurotic Stephen King, which is a compliment as I love the way he writes. The supporting characters in this book all have enough depth to understand their intentions in the story and the motivations for the choices they make, because in the end, I feel like this was a book about desperate choices.
How far would you go to save someone you barely knew? What if your ex-wife left you and broke your heart - would you do anything you could to save her life now, even sacrifice your own? But more than anything, the question becomes - What would you do for the greater good? What would you do to save the world from zombies?
By the middle of this book, the pace really starts to pick up and there are a ton of great action scenes. I've read a lot of thrillers lately, and I am finding as I read (and as I write) that action scenes are HARD to get right. Writers have the tendency to either explain too little so you are confused about how much of an impact the actions will affect the story, or things are explained in such minute detail that you roll your eyes with boredom. Belinda's writing falls right in the sweet spot, where there is exactly enough information for you to be able to picture the scene, but the description does not slow down the pace of the story. I think this will make a great movie, and I am happy to know that the Strandville Zombie Series has already been optioned for film.
This book really does have it all - a woman's quest to start a new life, a lingering romance, a man so terrified that he will lose his wife to cancer that he will allow hideous things be done to her in the effort to save her, blood and gore (just imagine yourself being pregnant with a zombie in utero), more blood and gore (because ZOMBIES), being chased by homicidal maniacs through a hospital filled with, yup, the zombies. And then the building sort of catches on fire.
If you want to read a fast paced, action packed medical thriller that also adds the fabulousness of horrifying zombies and zombie babies - CURE is the book for you.
Oh, and the next book in the series will be out in Spring of 2013. It will probably have more zombie babies in it. I say that's a win.
I purchased Cure on my iPhone app on a whim one day when I was looking specifically for a horror zombie thriller (that is totally its own awesome genre), and once I started reading it I couldn't stop. I know it's cliche, but it's true. I really enjoy books that keep the story moving at a quick, yet comfortable pace - and Cure had the added benefit of also being REALLY WELL WRITTEN. The dialog is sharp and the prose is clean, and what's more, the characters have real depth, which is important to me because when I read I like to put myself in the characters shoes - Belinda's writing made it really easy for me to do that.
I could imagine what it was like to be Miranda Penton, to be leaving a complicated relationship after losing two very important things in her life, to be nervous about starting a new job - and then to find out that the new town you moved to has had this strange problem lately with women disappearing.. so many women.
Miranda goes to work at the Nixon Center, a medical facility with an evil director, Dr. Howard Nixon. Miranda thinks that Dr. Nixon is trying to cure cancer, but what she will soon find out is that he is, well, essentially inseminating women with zombie sperm. So yeah, THE HORROR.
Miranda gets caught in Nixon's trap along with other patients and employee's of the Nixon Center, who we get to know in pretty great detail, and I say that happily. Some of the writing reminded me of a less neurotic Stephen King, which is a compliment as I love the way he writes. The supporting characters in this book all have enough depth to understand their intentions in the story and the motivations for the choices they make, because in the end, I feel like this was a book about desperate choices.
How far would you go to save someone you barely knew? What if your ex-wife left you and broke your heart - would you do anything you could to save her life now, even sacrifice your own? But more than anything, the question becomes - What would you do for the greater good? What would you do to save the world from zombies?
By the middle of this book, the pace really starts to pick up and there are a ton of great action scenes. I've read a lot of thrillers lately, and I am finding as I read (and as I write) that action scenes are HARD to get right. Writers have the tendency to either explain too little so you are confused about how much of an impact the actions will affect the story, or things are explained in such minute detail that you roll your eyes with boredom. Belinda's writing falls right in the sweet spot, where there is exactly enough information for you to be able to picture the scene, but the description does not slow down the pace of the story. I think this will make a great movie, and I am happy to know that the Strandville Zombie Series has already been optioned for film.
This book really does have it all - a woman's quest to start a new life, a lingering romance, a man so terrified that he will lose his wife to cancer that he will allow hideous things be done to her in the effort to save her, blood and gore (just imagine yourself being pregnant with a zombie in utero), more blood and gore (because ZOMBIES), being chased by homicidal maniacs through a hospital filled with, yup, the zombies. And then the building sort of catches on fire.
If you want to read a fast paced, action packed medical thriller that also adds the fabulousness of horrifying zombies and zombie babies - CURE is the book for you.
Oh, and the next book in the series will be out in Spring of 2013. It will probably have more zombie babies in it. I say that's a win.
December 22, 2014
CURE: A Strandville Zombie Novel # 1 by Belinda S. Frisch
The small town of Strandville was once a safe and quiet place to live. However, several young women have recently gone missing and the only similarities between the cases seems to be their link to the Nixon Medical Center.
A miscarriage and diagnosis of a genetic condition causes the end of Miranda's marriage. Seeking escape, she accepts a job at The Nixon Center. Her ex-husband, Scott, still loves her and did not want the divorce, but Miranda is convinced that he will have a better life with someone who can give him biological children.
Zach Keller's young wife is dying from terminal cancer. He signs on as security guard at the Nixon Center in exchange for his wife's admittance into their experimental cancer treatment program.
Dr. Nixon runs the treatment center. Three patients were brought to him from Haiti who have a rare disease. This disease could be considered "zombieism." They eat raw flesh and though they are awake, they do not speak or seem to think. They are violent and unpredictable.
Convinced that he can cure cancer with their cells, Dr. Nixon will do anything, no matter how depraved or despicable, in search of his miracle cure.
Curing cancer would be an incredible boon to mankind, and all Zach can think about is saving his wife's life. However, he begins to question whether his wife's life is worth turning a blind eye to everything that is happening at The Nixon Center.
Miranda's new job turns out to be a hoax. She is valuable to Dr. Nixon because of the very genetic condition that ended her marriage. He needs her eggs for his experimental treatment.
How far is too far when searching for a cancer cure? Where do you draw the line? How many lives can be sacrificed for the greater good? What would you do to save the person you love most in the world?
Is it ever justifiable to hurt or imprison unwilling participants if there is a chance that it could save millions of lives?
Exactly when does obsession begin to overtake common sense and decency?
All these questions and more are delved into in this book.
This is NOT your typical zombie novel. However, it does contain enough gore and terror to satisfy those who love that aspect of zombie fiction.
This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to reading the next installment.
The ending did neatly wrap up this portion of the story, but readers are left wondering what is next for Miranda and Scott, as well as Zach and Allison.
My only criticism of this book lies with the editing. There are words missing in a few spots and some other minor errors. One glaring error that I did notice was that the author referred to the band Lynryd Skynyrd as "Leonard Skynard". This could have been avoided with a simple Google search.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama - YouTube
m.youtube.com/watch?v=5MhOZt5-Jl8
Were it not for the editing errors I would have given this 5 stars, however, I rate CURE as 4 out of 5 stars.
To learn more about this author, visit her online at: http://belindaf.blogspot.ca
To read more of my reviews, visit my blog at http://amiesbookreviews.wordpress.com
The small town of Strandville was once a safe and quiet place to live. However, several young women have recently gone missing and the only similarities between the cases seems to be their link to the Nixon Medical Center.
A miscarriage and diagnosis of a genetic condition causes the end of Miranda's marriage. Seeking escape, she accepts a job at The Nixon Center. Her ex-husband, Scott, still loves her and did not want the divorce, but Miranda is convinced that he will have a better life with someone who can give him biological children.
Zach Keller's young wife is dying from terminal cancer. He signs on as security guard at the Nixon Center in exchange for his wife's admittance into their experimental cancer treatment program.
Dr. Nixon runs the treatment center. Three patients were brought to him from Haiti who have a rare disease. This disease could be considered "zombieism." They eat raw flesh and though they are awake, they do not speak or seem to think. They are violent and unpredictable.
Convinced that he can cure cancer with their cells, Dr. Nixon will do anything, no matter how depraved or despicable, in search of his miracle cure.
Curing cancer would be an incredible boon to mankind, and all Zach can think about is saving his wife's life. However, he begins to question whether his wife's life is worth turning a blind eye to everything that is happening at The Nixon Center.
Miranda's new job turns out to be a hoax. She is valuable to Dr. Nixon because of the very genetic condition that ended her marriage. He needs her eggs for his experimental treatment.
How far is too far when searching for a cancer cure? Where do you draw the line? How many lives can be sacrificed for the greater good? What would you do to save the person you love most in the world?
Is it ever justifiable to hurt or imprison unwilling participants if there is a chance that it could save millions of lives?
Exactly when does obsession begin to overtake common sense and decency?
All these questions and more are delved into in this book.
This is NOT your typical zombie novel. However, it does contain enough gore and terror to satisfy those who love that aspect of zombie fiction.
This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to reading the next installment.
The ending did neatly wrap up this portion of the story, but readers are left wondering what is next for Miranda and Scott, as well as Zach and Allison.
My only criticism of this book lies with the editing. There are words missing in a few spots and some other minor errors. One glaring error that I did notice was that the author referred to the band Lynryd Skynyrd as "Leonard Skynard". This could have been avoided with a simple Google search.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama - YouTube
m.youtube.com/watch?v=5MhOZt5-Jl8
Were it not for the editing errors I would have given this 5 stars, however, I rate CURE as 4 out of 5 stars.
To learn more about this author, visit her online at: http://belindaf.blogspot.ca
To read more of my reviews, visit my blog at http://amiesbookreviews.wordpress.com
March 22, 2013
Zombies are a dime a dozen these days. It's the same old thing. People get sick, die, come back, eat others, they die, they come back, eat others. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. Cure is different. It taps into the corruption of the human heart as much as it does the impending zombie apocalypse.
Think for a second: if someone you loved was dying of Cancer, wouldn't you try and save them any way you could? Or, what if you were a scientist and you think you may have discovered that Cure for Cancer. How would you go forward with your experiments? What if mice weren't good test subjects and the only thing that would work were women who were capable of having babies? What if you were trying to escape past pains of a crumbled marriage and a child lost at birth? Any of these things would affect a person, more than likely, in a negative manner. It affects the heart as well as the soul. That's what Cure is. It's not just another zombie story. It's deeper than that. The quick pace will keep you turning the pages, and before you realize it, you have reached the end. That's a good thing.
Think for a second: if someone you loved was dying of Cancer, wouldn't you try and save them any way you could? Or, what if you were a scientist and you think you may have discovered that Cure for Cancer. How would you go forward with your experiments? What if mice weren't good test subjects and the only thing that would work were women who were capable of having babies? What if you were trying to escape past pains of a crumbled marriage and a child lost at birth? Any of these things would affect a person, more than likely, in a negative manner. It affects the heart as well as the soul. That's what Cure is. It's not just another zombie story. It's deeper than that. The quick pace will keep you turning the pages, and before you realize it, you have reached the end. That's a good thing.
July 25, 2013
Miranda and Scott are divorced they couldnt live together after they lost their daughter. Miranda decided to get a fresh start in a new town and a new job at the Nixon center as a security gaurd.
Zach worked for Nixon also as a security gaurd his wife was there as a paitent dying of cancer. He had a lot on his plate and when things were getting kind of weird at Nixon he started worrying about his wifes care.
At Nixon they had zombies in the basement, and were injecting zombie sperm into healthy woman who they kidnapped. They wanted to make zombie babies so they could cure them. Mirandas first day didnt end up to goodand she ended up one of the woman impregnated with zombie sperm.when Scott finds out shes missing he comes to find her.
Zach now knows whats going on and is scared if he does something his wife will be at risk.
In this book read to find out if Maranda exscapes and does Scott find her?Does Zach save his wife..... the author wrote an AWESOME book and im looking foward to read the next book Afterbirth!
Zach worked for Nixon also as a security gaurd his wife was there as a paitent dying of cancer. He had a lot on his plate and when things were getting kind of weird at Nixon he started worrying about his wifes care.
At Nixon they had zombies in the basement, and were injecting zombie sperm into healthy woman who they kidnapped. They wanted to make zombie babies so they could cure them. Mirandas first day didnt end up to goodand she ended up one of the woman impregnated with zombie sperm.when Scott finds out shes missing he comes to find her.
Zach now knows whats going on and is scared if he does something his wife will be at risk.
In this book read to find out if Maranda exscapes and does Scott find her?Does Zach save his wife..... the author wrote an AWESOME book and im looking foward to read the next book Afterbirth!
February 19, 2013
Strandville... a place I would never want to visit as a single female! Women, of child bearing age, in a small town start disappearing. Weird zombie experiments take place in a big medical facility.
I started this book on Tuesday and finished on Wednesday, I could not put it down. It was one of those books where you wish you possessed super reading capabilities so you could zip through it. I could not wait to see how it would end.... only to find out this is not the end!
Belinda does a great job with creating an intense thriller; blood, undead, and snarky characters. I fell in love with each character, even the psycho doctor! Each character brought a new element to the book, which the author did a great job of marrying them in their crazy dance.
Thank you, Belinda, for the review copy of this book. It is definitely one that is going on my shelves. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a kick ass, fast paced, zombie thriller!!
I started this book on Tuesday and finished on Wednesday, I could not put it down. It was one of those books where you wish you possessed super reading capabilities so you could zip through it. I could not wait to see how it would end.... only to find out this is not the end!
Belinda does a great job with creating an intense thriller; blood, undead, and snarky characters. I fell in love with each character, even the psycho doctor! Each character brought a new element to the book, which the author did a great job of marrying them in their crazy dance.
Thank you, Belinda, for the review copy of this book. It is definitely one that is going on my shelves. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a kick ass, fast paced, zombie thriller!!
July 25, 2016
I won this book in a giveaway, and would not have bought this for myself, as I'm not a horror (or zombie) fan. But, I put on my big girl panties and sucked it up, because I believe if you win a book, you need to do your best to read and review it. This book contains all the reasons I'm not a fan of the genre: blood, guts, angst, diabolical evil scientists, mutant viruses, backstabbing coworkers, and more plot layers than a bloomin onion. That being said, any fan of the horror genre will suck this one up like mother's milk. The book was very well paced and well written. I cringed, scowled, rooted and booed in all the appropriate places (and a few that were not appropriate "No, no, don't go in There!" - Yep, they went there *shakes head sadly*). The plot was complex, yet not overdone, with plenty of heroes, anti-heroes, and villains. Not my cup of tea, but a great example of the horror genre.
December 27, 2014
I'm quite baffled by all the glowing reviews for this. I thought it was pretty awful. Sure, the concept behind it is a passingly interesting (zombie virus as possible cure for cancer), but that's about it. The characters are so stock and one-dimensional that I got confused as to who was whom several times. The plot reads like a B zombie movie script, complete with trite dialogue and overdone zombie kill shots. It was also a little heavy on the God angle for me. I suppose there isn't as much as that statement makes it sound, but there was enough that I was bracing for the whole thing to turn into a religious parable or something, which is not what I'm looking for in a zombie book. The author does get medical terminology correct, though, so I suppose that's something?
June 9, 2012
I have been looking forward to the release of this novel for some time. Having read the other works by Belinda I couldn't wait to see if this full length novel could compare to her previous work Dead Spell.
As I started reading this novel I found myself drawn into the characters and the little town of Strandville. What started as a few minutes of reading quickly turned into a few hours. The writing style is fast and filled with emotion and action. This was a tough book to put down as I wanted to see what would happen next.
This is a very interesting story with a whole new twist on the Zombie experience. I look forward to the next installment in the series.
As I started reading this novel I found myself drawn into the characters and the little town of Strandville. What started as a few minutes of reading quickly turned into a few hours. The writing style is fast and filled with emotion and action. This was a tough book to put down as I wanted to see what would happen next.
This is a very interesting story with a whole new twist on the Zombie experience. I look forward to the next installment in the series.
October 23, 2012
The book jumped right into the main story with no real character background so it felt like reading about strangers for 40% of the book. Once it finally panned out and who was who became evident, the story was within the throws of medical center mutiny, undead attack and uninfected, injured rescuers trying to find and bring home captive but uninfected women that had gone missing from the surrounding area. The first half had me contemplating whether to continue reading or not. In the last half of the book, I was captured by the events that unfolded and the action taking place.
July 16, 2013
meh. it's just paced oddly. i guess it might be a genre thing, the really rushed and confusing action scenes, with minimal character development. but a good horror novel isn't the same thing as a novel that is good, and happens to be horror. a book that is good is going to be good from all angles. Cure is good for a horror novel, but i would not GENERALLY call it a good novel. probably won't continue reading thebseries.
September 23, 2014
Do you love reading or watching medical dramas? Are you a fan of the undead genre? If you want to see how it would be to combine the two, read this post apocalyptic thriller by Belinda S. Frisch.
Follow Miranda along with some of Strandville citizens as they try to escape from the unhinged Dr. Nixon, his lackey Reid, and a swarm of Ids.
As a zombie fan myself, I could not put this book down. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, “Afterbirth
Follow Miranda along with some of Strandville citizens as they try to escape from the unhinged Dr. Nixon, his lackey Reid, and a swarm of Ids.
As a zombie fan myself, I could not put this book down. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, “Afterbirth
August 25, 2014
This was a pretty exciting book and I enjoyed reading it. I didn't realize how violent it would be before I started reading it but it was still good.
Now I want to read the second book right away.
3.5 stars
Now I want to read the second book right away.
3.5 stars
August 26, 2014
Awesome!!!
Awesome!!!
I have never read a zombie book before, and this blew me away!!! I was hooked and the writing style allowed me to actually picture it as I was reading. can't wait for the second book.
Awesome!!!
I have never read a zombie book before, and this blew me away!!! I was hooked and the writing style allowed me to actually picture it as I was reading. can't wait for the second book.
October 16, 2012
Great zombie book; review to come at The Crow's Caw soon.
April 29, 2013
I highly enjoyed reading Cure # 1 of the Strandville Zombie series, and had no problem giving it five stars, now look forward to reading part 2 Afterbirth.
November 5, 2013
Review coming soon, but I can tell you this book is awesome.
July 20, 2014
Review to come....short, quick read...but good!
August 10, 2014
Very good
Very good
I'm a zombie fan and it takes a lot to get this many stars from me for one. it deserves them and I hope there is a sequel!
Very good
I'm a zombie fan and it takes a lot to get this many stars from me for one. it deserves them and I hope there is a sequel!
April 24, 2020
DNFed this at 60%.
I don't expect much from a zombie book, but I at least expect you know... zombies eating people in gruesome ways. Well, I was 50% into the book and the zombies were still in cages and not eating anybody. Instead we had a Mengele wannabe doctor doing horrible things to women that he kidnaps out of the SMALL town where his clinic is... and nobody bats an eyelash? Seriously? Why would you shit where you eat? Oh and his head guard doing horrible things to everybody because he is a horrible human being, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and zombie babies because reasons.
Characters are cardboard cutouts with names taped to them. Honestly, by the time I stopped reading, I gave up trying to figure out who was who. They all sounded the same apart from the different names they were given.
By 60% the zombies were finally set loose... and I realized that I was so bored with this book that I didn't even care to follow them even though "braaaaaains". Good thing this book was free on Amazon when I bought it because otherwise it would have been a waste of money.
I don't expect much from a zombie book, but I at least expect you know... zombies eating people in gruesome ways. Well, I was 50% into the book and the zombies were still in cages and not eating anybody. Instead we had a Mengele wannabe doctor doing horrible things to women that he kidnaps out of the SMALL town where his clinic is... and nobody bats an eyelash? Seriously? Why would you shit where you eat? Oh and his head guard doing horrible things to everybody because he is a horrible human being, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and zombie babies because reasons.
Characters are cardboard cutouts with names taped to them. Honestly, by the time I stopped reading, I gave up trying to figure out who was who. They all sounded the same apart from the different names they were given.
By 60% the zombies were finally set loose... and I realized that I was so bored with this book that I didn't even care to follow them even though "braaaaaains". Good thing this book was free on Amazon when I bought it because otherwise it would have been a waste of money.
November 27, 2012
Strandville: a quiet, rural town where everyone knows each other. A town where the people are friendly if not a little leery of strangers. At its heart lies the Nixon Clinic, the sole provider of the town's healthcare needs. But the clinic is not all it seems to be. Like the town itself, what seems to be calm and inviting on the outside is anything but on the inside. Women have been going missing for some time and the locals think the Nixon Clinic is at the heart of it. The remnants of shattered families scream for answers but none can be found. That is until Miranda Penton accepts a job in the Clinic's security department. Ex Army and recently divorced after finding herself unable to hold her marriage to her husband Scott together due to a soul shattering miscarriage, Miranda takes the job as a fresh start where she meets Zach--also a recent security hire--her first day on the job. But Zach is there for altogether different reasons. While Miranda is there to start her life anew, Zach made a deal with the devil to keep from losing the most important thing in his life from slipping away. One thing they do have in common though: neither knows of the twisted research Dr. Nixon is performing behind the scenes. His cancer research turns into a play for godhood when he starts dealing with the undead. Welcome to the Nixon Clinic, where dying isn't the worst thing that can happen.
Zombies. They're seemingly everywhere these days. On TV, in video games, in children's movies, in books. They're nothing new but their popularity soars. They're the 'new vampires'. There's just something primal and disturbing about them. Creatures that have one purpose in mind: feeding on live flesh. That's a staple of the myth and the genre. The key to making a novel featuring the brain craving undead different is to make them your own...
And that's what Belinda Frisch does in this fast paced, frenetic, gory survival horror novel. She takes the mechanics of the walking dead and makes their origins even more depraved via Dr. Nixon's twisted experiments and psychotic machinations. As if fighting hordes of the undead wasn't bad enough, her crazed villain actually INSEMINATES women with undead hybrids. It's clever in its simplicity. Take something as horrible as zombies and add to it the awful prospect of tampering with the reproductive systems of victims against their will and what you get is a truly chilling cocktail of nastiness. It's a disgusting notion and I mean that as a compliment because it adds an element of psychological horror to the more visceral gory elements. The setting, a hospital in the middle of nowhere (and let's face it...not many of us enjoy hospitals in the first place) adds a nice element of claustrophobia to the whole experience.
One of the things that sucked me in most quickly, though, were the characters. In the early goings, with very little page time, Frisch develops a core group of main characters that I was quickly interested in. She does expand on back stories as time passes, but right from the get go, she crafts a cast that are nicely fleshed out. Some books are a slow burn, and while the heart of the town's darkness and what's really going on isn't just laid out in the early chapters (which is good, as that would kill the suspense) it's easy to tell what motivates these characters and what their back stories are. The pain that Miranda, Scott and Zach are dealing with is rolled out early so it's easy to get into them and understand what makes each tick. The same with Dr. Nixon. He's easily marked as the man you'll love to hate and over time he just gets more so. If you can grab a reader's attention with your characters that early on, yet still leave room to develop them further, then you're doing your job and Frisch does that well.
The story is told in her fluid, quick style (if you've read Dead Spell, you'll know what I'm talking about and if you haven't you should go read it as soon as you're done reading this review). There aren't periods of ridiculous verbosity that will take you out of the story. And this really benefits the story as there is MUCH action. And, along with the action, comes a very good side dish of gore. Actually it's more than just a side dish, it's more like a second main course. Cure is filled with vivid images of gore, blood, viscera, body parts, pain, and suffering. There are some portions towards the middle where the 'rescue posse' comes in to play and between the mains, some throwaways, and the zombie horde, it can get a little muddled keeping certain minor characters straight, but that's a minor issue. Somebody's gotta be meat for the grinder after all ;) Also, not everything in the book comes as a surprise but there are a few nice twists of the screws on the characters in there that up the conflict angle.
Cure takes a genre that's becoming played out and adds a humanizing (maybe DE-humanizing would be a better word?) element to it that makes it just that much different. It doesn't surprise me that it's been optioned for a movie because with the action, gore, violence, and character back stories, that's how it played out in my head.
Fun, fast paced, and well written. It didn't take me long to whip through this one because it's a vicious page turner. Frisch is a compelling voice in the dark fiction/horror genre.
Zombies. They're seemingly everywhere these days. On TV, in video games, in children's movies, in books. They're nothing new but their popularity soars. They're the 'new vampires'. There's just something primal and disturbing about them. Creatures that have one purpose in mind: feeding on live flesh. That's a staple of the myth and the genre. The key to making a novel featuring the brain craving undead different is to make them your own...
And that's what Belinda Frisch does in this fast paced, frenetic, gory survival horror novel. She takes the mechanics of the walking dead and makes their origins even more depraved via Dr. Nixon's twisted experiments and psychotic machinations. As if fighting hordes of the undead wasn't bad enough, her crazed villain actually INSEMINATES women with undead hybrids. It's clever in its simplicity. Take something as horrible as zombies and add to it the awful prospect of tampering with the reproductive systems of victims against their will and what you get is a truly chilling cocktail of nastiness. It's a disgusting notion and I mean that as a compliment because it adds an element of psychological horror to the more visceral gory elements. The setting, a hospital in the middle of nowhere (and let's face it...not many of us enjoy hospitals in the first place) adds a nice element of claustrophobia to the whole experience.
One of the things that sucked me in most quickly, though, were the characters. In the early goings, with very little page time, Frisch develops a core group of main characters that I was quickly interested in. She does expand on back stories as time passes, but right from the get go, she crafts a cast that are nicely fleshed out. Some books are a slow burn, and while the heart of the town's darkness and what's really going on isn't just laid out in the early chapters (which is good, as that would kill the suspense) it's easy to tell what motivates these characters and what their back stories are. The pain that Miranda, Scott and Zach are dealing with is rolled out early so it's easy to get into them and understand what makes each tick. The same with Dr. Nixon. He's easily marked as the man you'll love to hate and over time he just gets more so. If you can grab a reader's attention with your characters that early on, yet still leave room to develop them further, then you're doing your job and Frisch does that well.
The story is told in her fluid, quick style (if you've read Dead Spell, you'll know what I'm talking about and if you haven't you should go read it as soon as you're done reading this review). There aren't periods of ridiculous verbosity that will take you out of the story. And this really benefits the story as there is MUCH action. And, along with the action, comes a very good side dish of gore. Actually it's more than just a side dish, it's more like a second main course. Cure is filled with vivid images of gore, blood, viscera, body parts, pain, and suffering. There are some portions towards the middle where the 'rescue posse' comes in to play and between the mains, some throwaways, and the zombie horde, it can get a little muddled keeping certain minor characters straight, but that's a minor issue. Somebody's gotta be meat for the grinder after all ;) Also, not everything in the book comes as a surprise but there are a few nice twists of the screws on the characters in there that up the conflict angle.
Cure takes a genre that's becoming played out and adds a humanizing (maybe DE-humanizing would be a better word?) element to it that makes it just that much different. It doesn't surprise me that it's been optioned for a movie because with the action, gore, violence, and character back stories, that's how it played out in my head.
Fun, fast paced, and well written. It didn't take me long to whip through this one because it's a vicious page turner. Frisch is a compelling voice in the dark fiction/horror genre.
May 22, 2019
Great, tense story!
A little slow to get started, but once you get in the plots grip, it doesn't let go! Ended before I was ready for it to. Will be reading the entire series. Thriller mixed with my fave zombies, mixed with action and an accurate medical component.
A little slow to get started, but once you get in the plots grip, it doesn't let go! Ended before I was ready for it to. Will be reading the entire series. Thriller mixed with my fave zombies, mixed with action and an accurate medical component.
August 13, 2020
I was not too impressed with this one, for one reason or another. I guess that might have been because there was really nothing new offered. Most of it has already been told over and over again in too much the same way.
July 9, 2017
Loved it!!
September 16, 2017
Bad
Bad story, poorly written, wimpy characters, lots of unanswered questions. I did like that the virus was contained. The storyline was new.
Bad story, poorly written, wimpy characters, lots of unanswered questions. I did like that the virus was contained. The storyline was new.
April 21, 2017
An alright book that has to be 3.5-4 stars. I liked the idea behind it and the descriptions were done well enough that you have to cringe and feel nauseated as the characters do. I would have rated it higher if there was more character building. Because there was so little I felt little when someone died. Now I understand they want to save the women and all that, but is there really no other way to get Nixon's attention instead of releasing a horde of zombies? Oh sure, nothing could possibly go wrong by doing that.......
by the end their situation is so effed up that you are rooting more for the alleged bad guys than the heroes. At least Nixon and that other guy were at least trying to keep the infection from spreading outside the facility. Don't get me wrong. Nixon is cruel and what he did is wrong, but nothing is pure black or white (except zombies). He was trying to find a cure, terrible as his methods might be. Because if he got the zombies from somewhere, who is to say they wouldn't pop up somewhere else? And in the resulting outbreak, people would be looking for someone with a cure. As Nixon said, what were a few people compared to millions. Yes, he should have treated the women better at least, but fear makes people do crazy things, sometimes cruel things, and despite Nixon's seemingly calm countenance, I do believe he was afraid. In between the lines, you can sense his fear as Miranda gets closer to escaping. She is, after all, the closest thing they will get to a cure, and without her, millions, are sure to die from an infection that could only be a living hell.
So I will say again, it was a good book, and I wish I could rate it higher, but I felt little for the characters and although things turn out in the end seemingly for the better, I felt nothing for the reunions. I knew too little about the people and maybe if the reader got to see more of them, and know them more as people, one would be more inclined to feel like what they were doing was at least worth signing a death warrant and opening up hells door to the entire world, for truly, what is the dim cruelty of rape of a spare few compared to people getting their flesh ripped off, explosive dierria, the agony of a slow painful death of coughing up blood, and every other terrible pain associated with becoming a zombie. As terrible as the former is, it is nothing compared to the latter, which the heroes were willing to release upon the world.
But I digress. In the blind fear of self preservation and the heat of love which tells us to protect that which we hold dear, human nature is to make mistakes, some far more disastrous than others. I applaud the heroes willing to risk so much danger despite of it all. Lord knows that some passions can blind us and shake the world. And some cruelty can open our eyes and freeze us to the core.
"The world ends not with a bang but a whimper."
by the end their situation is so effed up that you are rooting more for the alleged bad guys than the heroes. At least Nixon and that other guy were at least trying to keep the infection from spreading outside the facility. Don't get me wrong. Nixon is cruel and what he did is wrong, but nothing is pure black or white (except zombies). He was trying to find a cure, terrible as his methods might be. Because if he got the zombies from somewhere, who is to say they wouldn't pop up somewhere else? And in the resulting outbreak, people would be looking for someone with a cure. As Nixon said, what were a few people compared to millions. Yes, he should have treated the women better at least, but fear makes people do crazy things, sometimes cruel things, and despite Nixon's seemingly calm countenance, I do believe he was afraid. In between the lines, you can sense his fear as Miranda gets closer to escaping. She is, after all, the closest thing they will get to a cure, and without her, millions, are sure to die from an infection that could only be a living hell.
So I will say again, it was a good book, and I wish I could rate it higher, but I felt little for the characters and although things turn out in the end seemingly for the better, I felt nothing for the reunions. I knew too little about the people and maybe if the reader got to see more of them, and know them more as people, one would be more inclined to feel like what they were doing was at least worth signing a death warrant and opening up hells door to the entire world, for truly, what is the dim cruelty of rape of a spare few compared to people getting their flesh ripped off, explosive dierria, the agony of a slow painful death of coughing up blood, and every other terrible pain associated with becoming a zombie. As terrible as the former is, it is nothing compared to the latter, which the heroes were willing to release upon the world.
But I digress. In the blind fear of self preservation and the heat of love which tells us to protect that which we hold dear, human nature is to make mistakes, some far more disastrous than others. I applaud the heroes willing to risk so much danger despite of it all. Lord knows that some passions can blind us and shake the world. And some cruelty can open our eyes and freeze us to the core.
"The world ends not with a bang but a whimper."
July 15, 2016
Hospitals, Research, and Zombies
I want to say up front that zombie books are not my preferred genre to read or listen too, however the story was engaging and the audiobook narration was done very well.
This book is not young adult or teen safe due to the amount of vulgar language and adult topics/subject matter. I will say that the use of language was less then I would have suspected and the author could have gotten the same points across using non-vulgar words. Although there is some romance in the book, the author does not turn the book into something that is strictly adult in nature. Along with language there are topics involving abortion, divorce, and heavy subject matter along with gore (expected in a zombie book) that may not be suitable for younger audiences.
I have to say that I very much enjoyed the author's ability to describe the story without going into too much or too little detail. The characters stared off feeling a bit flat, however as I got more into the book I began to feel for the characters and wanted them all to get out of this situation, except for the "bad" people doing the research. The narration also helped me to enjoy the book. It was well done and voices of the many characters in the book were handled well and distinguishable. The reason I rate it a three-star for the story is more that it is not my style and I did not enjoy it as much as I would a book in my preferred genre.
Had the story not been as well written and descriptive as it was, I would not have continued to the end of the book. I will say that it is quite a ride the author took me on, again even though it is not the type of book I enjoy reading or listening too. For a zombie book that had character development and not focused only on the zombie attacking was a breath of fresh air. Some of standard zombie stereo-types are also found in this book if that is your thing.
For an ending, overall I think the author was able to close up the ending quite well and if a person did not want to read the others in the series you could stop here. There are a few items left unresolved, so for these I suspect one would need to read the others in the series.
It is had to say if there was one scene in the book I can say was my favorite. There were a few nail-biting scenes nearer the end of the book where one is unsure how the characters will resolve them. So I liked the amount of tension and also the authors ability to release that rather quickly.
If the book were made into a movie I do not think it would be able to do the story justice. I think for most Zombie tropes it is all about the blood and gore where this book actually had a story and some deep characters that would be more flat is made into a movie.
Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge to the reviewer in exchange for a non-bias review.
I want to say up front that zombie books are not my preferred genre to read or listen too, however the story was engaging and the audiobook narration was done very well.
This book is not young adult or teen safe due to the amount of vulgar language and adult topics/subject matter. I will say that the use of language was less then I would have suspected and the author could have gotten the same points across using non-vulgar words. Although there is some romance in the book, the author does not turn the book into something that is strictly adult in nature. Along with language there are topics involving abortion, divorce, and heavy subject matter along with gore (expected in a zombie book) that may not be suitable for younger audiences.
I have to say that I very much enjoyed the author's ability to describe the story without going into too much or too little detail. The characters stared off feeling a bit flat, however as I got more into the book I began to feel for the characters and wanted them all to get out of this situation, except for the "bad" people doing the research. The narration also helped me to enjoy the book. It was well done and voices of the many characters in the book were handled well and distinguishable. The reason I rate it a three-star for the story is more that it is not my style and I did not enjoy it as much as I would a book in my preferred genre.
Had the story not been as well written and descriptive as it was, I would not have continued to the end of the book. I will say that it is quite a ride the author took me on, again even though it is not the type of book I enjoy reading or listening too. For a zombie book that had character development and not focused only on the zombie attacking was a breath of fresh air. Some of standard zombie stereo-types are also found in this book if that is your thing.
For an ending, overall I think the author was able to close up the ending quite well and if a person did not want to read the others in the series you could stop here. There are a few items left unresolved, so for these I suspect one would need to read the others in the series.
It is had to say if there was one scene in the book I can say was my favorite. There were a few nail-biting scenes nearer the end of the book where one is unsure how the characters will resolve them. So I liked the amount of tension and also the authors ability to release that rather quickly.
If the book were made into a movie I do not think it would be able to do the story justice. I think for most Zombie tropes it is all about the blood and gore where this book actually had a story and some deep characters that would be more flat is made into a movie.
Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge to the reviewer in exchange for a non-bias review.
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