Morbid Hearts

by Susanne L. Lambdin

Cadence Sinclair was a seventeen year old girl from America’s heartland who loved horseback riding, a comfortable pair of jeans, and hanging out with her friends.

That was before the Scourge.

It’s been eleven months since a deadly virus wiped out billions. For the few who remain, life as they knew it is over. Nations fell, governments were rendered obsolete, and resources became scarce. The human race had to start over, facing even greater odds . . .

Zombies.

Now, Cadence leads safety patrols and supply missions for a survivor’s camp at Pike’s Peak. When a routine mission goes south, Cadence gets more than she bargained for. She must lead a ragtag group of teens against an onslaught of scavengers, zombies, power-hungry military leaders . . . and a mutating virus.

Her team, the Fighting Tigers, face increasing dangers threatening the stability of the camp. An uprising in their fragile, new home may bring further devastation, but what they discover lurking beyond their security fences could be the end of the human race.

Genres: Zombies

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 2012

About the author

Susanne Lambdin received a 'based in part' screen credit for writing a portion of ST:TNG Eps. 76 entitled FAMILY. Her series, Dead Hearts, is a fantasy/supernatural/horror for young adults. The series of 5 books revolves around a group of teenagers on Pike's Peak fighting zombies, vampires, and demons.

Morbid Hearts
Forsaken Hearts
Vengeful Hearts
Defiant Hearts
Immortal Hearts - now for sale!

Her new high fantasy series involves Taliesin, a strong female character, set in a war torn world where magic is outlawed. It is intended for MYA, however, adults will enjoy this new trilogy as well.

Realm of Magic Trilogy:
Seeker of Magic - now for sale
Mistress of Magic (due out soon)
Queen of Magic (due out soon)

Reviews

[Lori Spier · Rating 1 out of 5]

First, the author published and sold the book in order to get feedback and needed edits. She does the same with all her books, with zero updates for those who had previously purchased the book. What I reviewed sucked. It was rated YA, yet had a rape scene in the middle. The little kids became vampires, and an entire, fully formed vampire culture was born with them. (As in, the boy immediately started calling the girl "my queen"). They were very polite zombies who damaged or destroyed nothing. You could walk into a store and clothing and other items were still neatly on the shelves. Frankly, the entire book read as if the author thought "What would I do if I was in a zombie apocalypse?" The answer showed in the immaturity of Cadence and other team members who were more fixated on berets than on not being killed.

The audio version....horrible reading. The reader is dead flat and each character sounds the same. Just.....ugh. The story was improved some as the author managed to take some critiques and apply them. At least by now, every tiny detail is not laid out for the reader (just on case you were wondering what clothes the characters wore or which side their hair was parted on).

I expect to be slammed by detractors. The author has amassed a small cult of followers who abuse and harass anyone who has the temerity to say their favorite author just isn't that good.


One word of warning: this author. Tends to use reviews as beta feedback, correct errors, and then sell a new copy of the book without allowing previous purchasers to get an update. Basically, to get an error free book, you'll need to purchase it 3 or 4 times.

[Madison Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the concept of the book but I wish it was more cohesive and flowed better I randomly jumped around at parts that confused me.

[Layla Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this was one of my favorite books. I loved how the author was able to describe things without going into a huge info dump. I loved the characters, especially Cadence. I loved the relationships and friendships between characters such as Highbrow and Savannah, or Dodger and Smack.

Spoilers Section-

The Good-
I loved the relationships and friendships between characters such as Highbrow and Savannah, or Dodger and Smack. It was interesting to me to see when Highbrow was falling for Savannah, how he was comparing Cadence and Savannah. He was saying that he cared for Cadence, but in a friend way. Also, I don’t usually like love triangles, but I feel like the author did a great job on the one in the book. I like how no character is completely logical, even though they try to be. Even Cadence, the most logical one, has a breaking point when Luna gets bitten.

Questions-
It kind of confused me as to how the little kids and Savannah’s personality turned downright rotten, but Rafe turned to be a good character, and even one of my favorites. I’m guessing that when these characters turn into vampires, their personality becomes the opposite of what it was when they were humans

The Bad-
I don’t have many bad things to say about this book, but I will say this. I feel like Cadence was just too important. She was the leader of the Fighting Tigers, everyone looks up to her, even the bad characters like Cindy or the boy vampire, Rafe and Highbrow both hate each other because of their love for Cadence, and on top of all of that, when Cadence becomes a vampire, she is somehow immune to it, and returns to a normal human. How she turns back isn’t well explained either, but I’m sure that it’s somewhere in the other books.

[Lady Shaylala · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dont know how to review this without giving spoilers. I wanted to like this book as the author was from my hometown so our bookshops were pushing the series and rating it highly, but there came a point in this book where the twist was so out of left field I couldnt continue. Its been sitting at partially read on my kindle for almost a year so I honestly cant remember most of my thoughts besides this:

1) the characters were just ok. They constantly made pretty dumb decisions considering their situation that didnt make sense to me.

And 2) the big plot twist where one of the guys in the compound turns into a "zombie" is where my interest shut down. He turns into a vampire for some reason? Its not called that, but thats 100% what his description is. Also theres weird demon vampire children?

It very well may be explained later, however as I said I cant bring myself to finish it.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the twist in this book

[Lanetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time starting this series. Still just as good as the first time.

[Georgina Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read in a while. If my schedule had been more accommodating, I probably would have finished this book in 24-48 hours.

[Lori Spier · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've noticed that, both here and on Amazon, this book consistently garners 4 and 5 stars, with this being the only book the reader has ever reviewed. Take from that what you will, or, buyer beware. Ok?

My issues with this novel?

Characters that don't *stay* in character, as well as being two-dimensional. You can never develop any empathy or caring for any of the characters over the course of the novel, because they tend to be very two-dimensional. You know that Cadence is supposed to be the leader, however she rarely *behaves* like the leader. Yes, she's a teen, but she's presented as the leader of a tough band of teens - not a silly schoolgirl, so her actions at times make no sense. The adult characters so flat that, a page later, you can't recall their names.

More "telling" than "showing". Lots more.

Incorrect word usage and terminology.

The addition of every other sort of supernatural creature in the middle of the story for no apparent reason other than to make the novel different from all the other zombie novels out there. That wouldn't be a problem if it was done well, but it's not.

It's marketed for young adults, yet is geared more for adults due to language and sex scenes.

Several very repetitious scenes. IE, there are complete descriptions of a town twice, separated by only a few pages.

A plot(?) that doesn't exist.

Inconsistencies that make no sense. At the beginning, the world is destroyed. Yet a month later, someone can flip a switch apparently and electricity is returned to a major city. Phone service? Boom! Back on. Apparently when the zombies rampaged, they were careful to first shut down the power stations carefully, then later make sure that no transformers, power relays or lines were damaged.

The good?
There are nice bits of writing, but they're few and far between.

Good basic idea, just poorly executed.

ps - I'm amused by the number of people who have rated this book 4-5 stars, yet can't be bothered to write a review. A sure sign of friends/family trying to stir up interest in a dull Mary-Sue rip-off of the Twilight series, The Hunger Games and every other generic zombie novel around. And based on the author's description of upcoming books in the series, it gets worse with ancient gods, werewolves and steampunk added willy-nilly to the mix.


ETA: because it's "show, don't tell" rather than the other way around. And because I can't spell.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great concept and plot, I really liked the twists and turns of the book. It pulled me in and now I’m continuing with the rest of the series.