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Contamination #0.5
St. Matthews
St. Matthews, Arizona
The infection starts with Frank, one of the locals at the town bar. In just a few hours, it has consumed the entire town.
Dan Lowery, one of only four police officers in St. Matthews, soon realizes he is no match for the impending destruction. Violence and bloodshed litter the streets, and the infected roam freely. No one is safe here—not even his family.
Somewhere, someone knows what is happening, and about the horrors to come…but is it too late?
The infection starts with Frank, one of the locals at the town bar. In just a few hours, it has consumed the entire town.
Dan Lowery, one of only four police officers in St. Matthews, soon realizes he is no match for the impending destruction. Violence and bloodshed litter the streets, and the infected roam freely. No one is safe here—not even his family.
Somewhere, someone knows what is happening, and about the horrors to come…but is it too late?
93 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 25, 2012
126 people are currently reading
775 people want to read
About the author
T.W. Piperbrook
110 books392 followersT.W. Piperbrook lives in Connecticut with his wife and son. He is the author of the CONTAMINATION series, the OUTAGE series, and co-author of THE LAST SURVIVORS, as well as the author of THE RUINS. In his former lives, he has worked as as a claims adjuster, a touring musician, and a business systems analyst for a Fortune 500 company.
Now he spends his days fighting zombies, battling werewolves, and roaming Ancient cities.
For NEW RELEASE ALERTS AND A FREE STORY, sign up for the author's mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/qy_SH
LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/twpiperbrook
Now he spends his days fighting zombies, battling werewolves, and roaming Ancient cities.
For NEW RELEASE ALERTS AND A FREE STORY, sign up for the author's mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/qy_SH
LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/twpiperbrook
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
September 11, 2016
-Creando un origen breve para la serie.-
Género. Novela corta.
Lo que nos cuenta. Dan Lowery es uno de los cuatro oficiales de policía de St. Matthews, una pequeña ciudad de Arizona, que acaba de detener a uno de los habituales de un bar de la población tras un pequeño altercado. De regreso a su casa para pasar el resto del día con su mujer Julie y su hija Quinn, recibe una llamada de la comisaría informándole de un grave suceso. Primer libro de la serie Contamination desde el punto de vista cronológico, pero el tercero publicado.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Novela corta.
Lo que nos cuenta. Dan Lowery es uno de los cuatro oficiales de policía de St. Matthews, una pequeña ciudad de Arizona, que acaba de detener a uno de los habituales de un bar de la población tras un pequeño altercado. De regreso a su casa para pasar el resto del día con su mujer Julie y su hija Quinn, recibe una llamada de la comisaría informándole de un grave suceso. Primer libro de la serie Contamination desde el punto de vista cronológico, pero el tercero publicado.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
November 8, 2015
This book is more of a short story and a prequel to the events that will happen in the next books. I prefer my books to be feature length, rather than the snippets that some Kindle books are broken into these days, but I accept that perhaps in the competitive world of self-publishing, these smaller portions are necessary, so I haven't allowed that to affect my rating. It is packaged into the boxset of books 0-3 (4 volumes), so I'll be picking that up now to get the full story.
It took me about 30 minutes to read Contamination Zero, but it was an enjoyable thirty minutes full of action, with a good hint at a conspiracy and mystery to come in the next books. It set up the scene well, with police officer Dan having to deal with a town that has fallen prey to a fast-spreading disease that turns the populace into mindless "shadows". It has it's own twist on things as these aren't typical zombies, and the book makes it obvious early on that there is a greater plot in play.
The writing is pretty simple and plain and it seemed a little stilted and confusing in the first few pages, but it flowed easier towards the end. The plot is compelling and the characters easy to empathise with so far - so I'm enjoying it a lot, and looking forward to the next volume.
It took me about 30 minutes to read Contamination Zero, but it was an enjoyable thirty minutes full of action, with a good hint at a conspiracy and mystery to come in the next books. It set up the scene well, with police officer Dan having to deal with a town that has fallen prey to a fast-spreading disease that turns the populace into mindless "shadows". It has it's own twist on things as these aren't typical zombies, and the book makes it obvious early on that there is a greater plot in play.
The writing is pretty simple and plain and it seemed a little stilted and confusing in the first few pages, but it flowed easier towards the end. The plot is compelling and the characters easy to empathise with so far - so I'm enjoying it a lot, and looking forward to the next volume.
May 30, 2013
Contamination: St. Matthews takes you right to the onset of a mysterious Zombielike virus being unleashed on a small town. The story starts in a rural sheriff's office somewhere in the middle of Arizona. The town drunk Frank has been locked up again and the sole cop on duty Dan is left to deal with him.
From the moment Frank is introduced I knew he was a dead man walking and I was fine with that. Every good Zombie story needs a patient zero. However it's what happens after Frank is killed that the book takes an odd turn. Enter cop #2 Howard. At first I assumed Dan and Howard would end up together with a town overrun by newly turned Zombies. Nope, Dan instead goes home where he finds his wife in a near catatonic state clutching a knife. When his wife "turns" and attacks him Dan calls on Howard to help. From that point on I felt like I was reading a completely separate book. Howard it turns out is a sleeper agent whose perfectly OK with murdering a town full of people. Dan seems to lose his backbone and spends way to long trying to reason with his wife. He's a cop, why he never busted out the cuffs to try and restrain her is beyond me. Then you have Dan's daughter running around and constantly finding herself in run ins with the turned townsfolk.
To be quite honest the book was a hot mess. Had it been established some conspiracy was brewing from the onset Howard's personality turn wouldn't have felt so jarring. The way it happened felt instead like a cheesy plot device to give the book a bad guy. I also had no emotional attachment to Dan's daughter. She seemed like a brat and by the end I was rooting for her demise. Sadly, that was not to be.
Overall, I can see the potential in Contamination but I'm not sure if potential is enough to make me want to continue with this series. That being said, I will be rating Contamination by T.W. Piperbrook ★★★.
From the moment Frank is introduced I knew he was a dead man walking and I was fine with that. Every good Zombie story needs a patient zero. However it's what happens after Frank is killed that the book takes an odd turn. Enter cop #2 Howard. At first I assumed Dan and Howard would end up together with a town overrun by newly turned Zombies. Nope, Dan instead goes home where he finds his wife in a near catatonic state clutching a knife. When his wife "turns" and attacks him Dan calls on Howard to help. From that point on I felt like I was reading a completely separate book. Howard it turns out is a sleeper agent whose perfectly OK with murdering a town full of people. Dan seems to lose his backbone and spends way to long trying to reason with his wife. He's a cop, why he never busted out the cuffs to try and restrain her is beyond me. Then you have Dan's daughter running around and constantly finding herself in run ins with the turned townsfolk.
To be quite honest the book was a hot mess. Had it been established some conspiracy was brewing from the onset Howard's personality turn wouldn't have felt so jarring. The way it happened felt instead like a cheesy plot device to give the book a bad guy. I also had no emotional attachment to Dan's daughter. She seemed like a brat and by the end I was rooting for her demise. Sadly, that was not to be.
Overall, I can see the potential in Contamination but I'm not sure if potential is enough to make me want to continue with this series. That being said, I will be rating Contamination by T.W. Piperbrook ★★★.
February 6, 2017
*actual rating - 3.5 stars*
This was a pretty good prequel to the contamination series. I really loved the mystery surrounding the virus and the cryptic messages that we had a little taste of.
Quinn seemed like a really fun character and I'm looking forward to reading more about her in the coming books.
I love post apocalyptic fiction, but I do feel like it's hard to be original because there's so many of these books out there. From what I've read in this prequel, I think this series is going to be fun, and hopefully it will continue to be different from all the rest.
This was a pretty good prequel to the contamination series. I really loved the mystery surrounding the virus and the cryptic messages that we had a little taste of.
Quinn seemed like a really fun character and I'm looking forward to reading more about her in the coming books.
I love post apocalyptic fiction, but I do feel like it's hard to be original because there's so many of these books out there. From what I've read in this prequel, I think this series is going to be fun, and hopefully it will continue to be different from all the rest.
July 1, 2013
The series is like a combination of the stand and zombie movies.
March 4, 2019
I've tried to get into this book several times so far and I can't seem to get past so many issues. Some of this is just overly dramatic writing which I could excuse because this is, after all, a zombie story. Still, there are too many silly things that the author seems to harp on - like that his wife and kid might be asleep when he gets home. The author states that it's merely 9pm when he's on the way home. I get a 10 year old having a bedtime of maybe 9pm but the wife wouldn't be willing to stay up past 9 for her husband? Then we get into the stupid aspects of this where the cop debates whether or not to use the garage door opener at just past 9 in case people are sleeping. Seriously? Then we have the matter that it seems like the only way the sheriff can be described is has "massive' and that he's so large every time he's mentioned as walking he shakes the floor. C'mon, really? I was willing to let it go on the first reference but it makes a come back again not long after. Unless you're on pretty shoddy flooring or you're encountering someone truly massive you're not going to have a "floor shaking" moment... especially if we're talking about someone who needs to meet at least some basic requirements to stay on the force. While descriptions help a reader become immersed in a story the absolute extreme descriptiveness used here takes the reader out of the moment because it's mostly inane and useless. We know how car doors work and how to get into a car we don't need a minute breakdown of every single action of someone getting into the car. We don't need a complete breakdown of the guy's house... I get why he did it - so that we can follow the flow of action later as if goes from the house to the garage - but it's utterly wasteful. then we have inconsistent issues... (I'm going to put some spoiler space in as I get into plot-specifics)
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...like if the cop is in the house all by himself making no noise other than holding his dead wife how did 5 zombies know he was in there, open the door (apparently it's smart zombies), and attack him. What prompted them to go for the cop who was quietly morning his wife over anyone else? First we're given the (painfully repetitive) image that most of the houses are dark but then suddenly he states that the houses have been lit - no, they weren't. If he said "now the houses were becoming lit" or something like that it would have made more sense. Then we have the guy going out of his way to track down Quinn, the kid who ran away because her mom became a zombie, after she encountered another zombie, then runs into sheriff zombie... then on the walk back to the house he suddenly is like "meh, she'll probably run into a zombie sooner or later, let her die..." Hahaha - what? She's done nothing but encounter zombies and the guy wasted so much time and energy rescuing her only to be like "eh whatever?" And why is he suddenly "heartless" and unfeeling? Was he always like that and his emotions (which the author felt compelled to give us a glimpse into his background) were fake? Was it this "virus" or whatever that made him cold-hearted? Or..... was it just poor writing to create a villain-type character and someone went the lazy route here? I tried to get beyond the first hour but honestly, the writing is so poorly done it's not worth the torture.
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...like if the cop is in the house all by himself making no noise other than holding his dead wife how did 5 zombies know he was in there, open the door (apparently it's smart zombies), and attack him. What prompted them to go for the cop who was quietly morning his wife over anyone else? First we're given the (painfully repetitive) image that most of the houses are dark but then suddenly he states that the houses have been lit - no, they weren't. If he said "now the houses were becoming lit" or something like that it would have made more sense. Then we have the guy going out of his way to track down Quinn, the kid who ran away because her mom became a zombie, after she encountered another zombie, then runs into sheriff zombie... then on the walk back to the house he suddenly is like "meh, she'll probably run into a zombie sooner or later, let her die..." Hahaha - what? She's done nothing but encounter zombies and the guy wasted so much time and energy rescuing her only to be like "eh whatever?" And why is he suddenly "heartless" and unfeeling? Was he always like that and his emotions (which the author felt compelled to give us a glimpse into his background) were fake? Was it this "virus" or whatever that made him cold-hearted? Or..... was it just poor writing to create a villain-type character and someone went the lazy route here? I tried to get beyond the first hour but honestly, the writing is so poorly done it's not worth the torture.
August 13, 2017
Amazon Synopsis:
The infection starts with Frank, one of the locals at the town bar. In just a few hours, it has consumed the entire town.
Dan Lowery, one of only four police officers in St. Matthews, soon realizes he is no match for the impending destruction. Violence and bloodshed litter the streets, and the infected roam freely. No one here is safe—not even his family.
Somewhere, someone knows what is happening, and about the horrors to come...but is it too late?
My Review:
Dan the police officer's main focus in his life is his wife and daughter, Julie and Quinn. His usually quiet small ton police work has little to no crime, no more than hauling drunks into the drunk tank, until one night on his way home after a shift, his fellow police officer calls to tell him the usual town drunk has died in his cell. Once he gets there he realized that not only is Frank dead, but Howard, the other cop, has a chunk missing out of his arm, from the prisoner. That's when things start really going south. The book changes viewpoints frequently, and although I don't usually like that, it really helped move the story along. Super short, only about 140 pages, it kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for hat was going to happen next. I'm glad I read this and I definitely want to know what happens next. Check out this book if you like action packed zombie books.
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
The infection starts with Frank, one of the locals at the town bar. In just a few hours, it has consumed the entire town.
Dan Lowery, one of only four police officers in St. Matthews, soon realizes he is no match for the impending destruction. Violence and bloodshed litter the streets, and the infected roam freely. No one here is safe—not even his family.
Somewhere, someone knows what is happening, and about the horrors to come...but is it too late?
My Review:
Dan the police officer's main focus in his life is his wife and daughter, Julie and Quinn. His usually quiet small ton police work has little to no crime, no more than hauling drunks into the drunk tank, until one night on his way home after a shift, his fellow police officer calls to tell him the usual town drunk has died in his cell. Once he gets there he realized that not only is Frank dead, but Howard, the other cop, has a chunk missing out of his arm, from the prisoner. That's when things start really going south. The book changes viewpoints frequently, and although I don't usually like that, it really helped move the story along. Super short, only about 140 pages, it kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for hat was going to happen next. I'm glad I read this and I definitely want to know what happens next. Check out this book if you like action packed zombie books.
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
September 3, 2017
Contamination Zero is yet another Zombie like end of the world type book. No matter how many of these I read, I can’t get enough of them. I love them.
T.W. Piperbrook appears to be an adept author at weaving a interesting story and keeping things lively and moving at a decent pace. I didn’t notice any spelling or grammar issues throughout the short 90 pages (10 of them are a preview of Book 1 in the series).
Only one thing stuck out to me that didn’t make sense and that was at the very end of the novella. I won’t spoil it here, but you may catch it yourself when you get to that point.
Anyway, overall it was a very enjoyable quick read.
T.W. Piperbrook appears to be an adept author at weaving a interesting story and keeping things lively and moving at a decent pace. I didn’t notice any spelling or grammar issues throughout the short 90 pages (10 of them are a preview of Book 1 in the series).
Only one thing stuck out to me that didn’t make sense and that was at the very end of the novella. I won’t spoil it here, but you may catch it yourself when you get to that point.
Anyway, overall it was a very enjoyable quick read.
October 16, 2017
This is a short prequel to a series so The author has a limited amount if oagex with which to work here. Even so, this is like a shoot-em-up action movie that has lots of gunfire and explosions but not much else. You watch it, then never think abiut it again. Good characters make good movies and good books, and so far, this is just a boring action movie. I hope it gets better. I have read a gew zompoc/post-apoc series like this where the character development is just lacking. The opposite of that is Sarah Lyons Geling, who writes awesome characters that just happen to be caught up i. A zombie apocalypse. Hopefully this author will find his voice in the next book.
June 12, 2018
Found Book 0 for free and read this 90-ish page novella* to see if investing in the Book 0-3 box set was going to be worth it (not that it's that expensive either). Nice little novella to get the interest peaked. Standard zombie fare, kind of reminds me of the style you might find if 'Welcome to Zombieland' were a book but with less Woody Harrelson so far. Will be interesting to see who the bad guys are. So yeah, let's do this!
*trying to keep this off my Reading Challenge list, let's see if skipping the date finished (12.06.18) does the trick (otherwise I'll just add a book to my total, no worries).
*trying to keep this off my Reading Challenge list, let's see if skipping the date finished (12.06.18) does the trick (otherwise I'll just add a book to my total, no worries).
May 25, 2022
Finally, finally, I finished a book. This was read before I started re-reading the Carpathian series by Christine Feehan and I realized that I hadn’t actually put the reviews up on my blog. I have to play catch up with a couple of books, but that’s okay! Gives me something to do while I’m reading books I’ve already read and reviewed.
I do wish that it was more detailed in some places. I know, I know, it’s a short story. It’s under 100 pages and there’s only so much an author can put into it. While I do wish that, I am actually pretty okay with what I got.
If you'd like to read the rest of my review, please visit my blog
I do wish that it was more detailed in some places. I know, I know, it’s a short story. It’s under 100 pages and there’s only so much an author can put into it. While I do wish that, I am actually pretty okay with what I got.
If you'd like to read the rest of my review, please visit my blog
September 28, 2018
I thought this quite a good read. I felt sorry for Dan. I thought Howard was a good character until the further I read on to find out who he really was.
I felt sorry for Dan's daughter, Quinn. She went through so much, but I thought she felt vunderable to say she was only ten years old.
What Howard did was inexcusable and it made me want to join Dan to help him and his daughter.
Overall, I thought this was a really good read and I can't wait to find out what happens to Dan and Quinn next. I will definitely be reading the other books in the series.
I felt sorry for Dan's daughter, Quinn. She went through so much, but I thought she felt vunderable to say she was only ten years old.
What Howard did was inexcusable and it made me want to join Dan to help him and his daughter.
Overall, I thought this was a really good read and I can't wait to find out what happens to Dan and Quinn next. I will definitely be reading the other books in the series.
March 23, 2018
This prequel to the Contamination series might have more impact if you'd read some of the other books first, but as a first introduction it doesn't really work all that well. The characters are thin, and the plot's basically just "the first night of the zombie outbreak" routine that should be very familiar by now. Nothing distinctive or innovative, no hook that made me say "oh, that's interesting".
Not enough meat here to tempt me to take another bite at the series.
Not enough meat here to tempt me to take another bite at the series.
May 5, 2022
Not bad for a first book.
It gave me a lot of background for the series and I liked the main characters.
I feel like the author is finding his feet and will hit his stride in the following books. (In fact, I know he will because I bought the boxed set and read them all). :) (See my reviews).
It gave me a lot of background for the series and I liked the main characters.
I feel like the author is finding his feet and will hit his stride in the following books. (In fact, I know he will because I bought the boxed set and read them all). :) (See my reviews).
January 12, 2024
loved this set
this is not your average run of the mill end of the world type of novels. this is very well written, and it could actually become a real life type of scenario (shudders). it hooked me right from the start, and i read all of the books in the series in a span of a couple days, i wish there were more, i hate to see them end.
this is not your average run of the mill end of the world type of novels. this is very well written, and it could actually become a real life type of scenario (shudders). it hooked me right from the start, and i read all of the books in the series in a span of a couple days, i wish there were more, i hate to see them end.
February 8, 2021
Origins
This is a prequel to the rest of the series.
We meet Dan and His daughter Quinn who are trying to survive.
The world setting is described well. The creatures are described well and you get a taste of what's to come.
Can't wait to read the next book.
This is a prequel to the rest of the series.
We meet Dan and His daughter Quinn who are trying to survive.
The world setting is described well. The creatures are described well and you get a taste of what's to come.
Can't wait to read the next book.
July 3, 2017
Great intro to the series. Love the characters.
July 18, 2017
Not bad so far. Not the greatest writing at times, and there's an excessive use of exclamation marks, but overall not bad and intriguing. Interested in seeing what happens next.
October 24, 2017
Its an interesting beginning to a zombie-esque setting.
April 8, 2018
I liked it.
Good writing, heroes to root for, and nameless villains besides a zombie apocalypse. What else could you wish for? The next book.....
Good writing, heroes to root for, and nameless villains besides a zombie apocalypse. What else could you wish for? The next book.....
July 30, 2018
It took me a small little bit to get into it, but now I'm hooked. The story is great and the characters are easy to cling to. Great start to a series.
October 6, 2018
not very good, the 4 box set was free so i'll continue reading periodically
February 24, 2020
Wow! Fast paced page turner! Looking forward to the rest of the series
April 27, 2020
Absolutely brilliant
October 30, 2020
Started a new series.
July 21, 2021
Not my favorite author but so far I am enjoying the series. Fast paced, but not too fast. Wish there had been more realism (doesn't anyone have tv/radios) but, like I said, a fun and enjoyable read.
January 21, 2022
This book is a great start to the series! There's a lot of action and it doesn't follow the zombie cliché exactly. I'm interested to see how everything progresses.
February 18, 2022
Great start the series , looking forward to seeing how this develops
September 9, 2025
3.5/5⭐️ rounded up to 4 for goodreads
September 15, 2025
It begins!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews