On 23rd June 2010, in every country across the globe, the dead inexplicably awaken with murderous resolve. For the first days, Erin Locke – Lockey to her friends – survives alone as society collapses in England with shocking speed.
With her trademark snarky sense of humour, goofy insights, and can-do attitude, she chronicles her early adventures in a journal to keep her spirits high and sanity intact, until she befriends retired Royal Marine veteran Nate Carter, and the unlikely duo find themselves a place they can call home.
Her newfound security is threatened by an encounter with other survivors that ends in blood, and a vengeful hunt by the dead man’s brother begins. After skirmishes with the self-styled feudal lord of their new lawless existence, the pair learn they are the only chance of salvation for innocents enslaved by the aspiring warlord and are forced to act for more than their own survival.
There are no heroes left, so the captives’ only hope are one fast-talking, foul-mouthed woman, and one deadly, middle-aged ex-marine.
Set in the world of Chris Philbrook’s best-selling zombie apocalypse, Adrian’s Undead Diary, No More Heroes opens the world up, illuminating the nightmare of the United Kingdom, and bringing its heroes into the light.
The title pretty much says it all. Carl has introduced us to Lockey and the AUDverse will never be the same. Whether a long time reader or a first timer, No More Heroes will please and entertaine.
The book is fun and Lockey is endearing in her own way. Good luck putting this book down once you pick it up.
It is the end of the world. The zombie apocalypse has happened. Erin Locky, a young woman taken from her worthless, druggie, alcoholic parents at the age of 6, starts out alone. Follow the massively funny, scary, heartbreaking story of her adventures of survival. I just can’t get enough of this story. Can hardly wait for the next book!
This is a really great book. I absolutely love the main character. She is strong, compassionate and funny as hell. The story itself is well told and has plenty of excitement, scares, laughs, and tears. This isn't one you should pass up.
Just. Wow! I’ve just found my new favorite character! Awesome book with great dialogue (snarky, irreverent, off color, etc) and everything I didn’t know I was looking for in an end of the world as we know it book! Can not wait for the sequel! What a talented author.
It's hard to describe what this book is like in a short space so I'm going to use a long space and I figure if there's any site where visitors are happy reading a bit then it's this one.
Firstly this book is set in the world of Adrian's Undead Diary by Chris Philbrook (which is amazing if you haven't already consumed any of it) and while that series chronicles the adventures of Adrian Ring over in the US as he makes his stand, this series follows the journey of a survivor in the UK following the same timeline.
The lead character Erin is a wonderful blend of badassery and heart that'll have you rooting for her right from the outset; she's not military trained but she is pretty good at parkour and has some MMA in her toolkit from a troubled youth and she teams up with "Death's Grandad" Nate and together they try to stay alive and retain their humanity in a world that has (to quote Erin) "Well and truly shit the bed." This first volume details the events of "that day" as they unfolded for Erin, how she met Nate and then introduces what can only be described as the star of the show....Particles, the lucky yet infinitely judgemental Pug.
Like Adrian's Undead diary did this book had me laughing out loud, biting my lip and genuinely empathising with the horror of what an apocalypse could truly be like and the toll it would take on a human soul.
OK, so... I do not do overboard book reviews, like ever, not like this when for me it is over 5 Stars. But this was SO GOOD! From the slang, to local references to attitudes, it just hit the spot perfectly! I enjoyed it so much and hope this Series will continue, as being in this Universe but in the UK and with a female POV was just AWESOME! Truly a perfect book to finish of my reading year with... lovet it, loved it all!
I was expecting this to be good for Philbrook to select it, but I was not expecting it to be so absolutely brilliant! I fell in love with Lockey within the first few pages, Nate within a few chapters, and all of the other characters quite easily. They are so distinctly different and complex. This entry into Adrian’s World is perfect. I love the humor and wit, the intelligent banter and sarcasm, I love the setting (my husband is from the UK, and I did get to ask him a few things). Carl is a great writer, and this is definitely well worth the read! You don’t need to have read AUD to know what’s going on, and you won’t find any spoilers for the main storyline, so this can be a stand alone book (but why would you want to miss out on all the awesome?!). I ended the story last night a crying mess, so there’s that, too. So ready to start the next one and continue with the adventures of Flint and Locke!
If you are a big fan of AUD then you will love this new series.
I will try not to add any spoilers though it’s hard when you wanna talk about how great the book is. Lockey is cool and a bad ass lmao. Id say what Adrians Younger sister should have been imo, just in this case a sister from another mother lmao.
I have to say this new serious would definitely compete with AUD XD sad no LadyGaGa music but meh. I think it has its own cool way of drawing you in for well more. You get a bit of a jolt and a feel for suspense o.o right of bat as well duh the main char sets off.
So i suppose every survivor group starts off somewhere with the classic bad ass duo and eventually a group so…..i leave that to your imagination. Bad guys yep, Zombies? Definitely…lots of em.
Does this feel like an AUD sis series haha definitely so. Lots of comedy imo and action and just enough to make you feel that you are in this story with them.
Did i mention she is a real bad ass. But she definitely has a humanistic side to her and you can tell Lockey is strong.
Anyway i give it s solid 5. I have no beef or issue. I was kind of sorta wondering where it would lead to early first few pages but it clicked together. Idk. Usually its hard to want to go off on a side quest knowing the main campaign has the good stuff. And ive seen authors co write etc and its like Wtf why….just why? Well not this. You want to read this book, you need to read it.
Hell it leaves me asking wondering wanting to know is she one of the Trinity? And there i go feeling like Adrian should or rather will she meet him o.o Got to happen. Anyway not to confuse you. Adrian is main character aka char of Adrians undead diary series. Lockey vs the apoc is within that universe or like a side story.
Anyway i like it, i love it and i sure wish i could easily buy these books. 3rd world issues especially not having a credit card plus covid being a hassle. For those who are lucky and can buy them. I highly recommend. If you got a sense of humor you will have a few decent laughs.
Haven’t heard the audio soo i can’t say its great or not but i do hope whoever narrates this series justice ❤️
I've truly never given as much thought to a book review as i have this one. Most books i read get a 4-5 star as i sense a book that i won't like quickly, and abandon them. A good writer draws their reader into the story so as a man i've always found i only resonate with a male protagonist. If it wasn't for the calibre of Chris Philbrook's AUD universe i would have ceased this audiobook as soon as i heard Danielle Cohen's voice. I am so glad i didn't. Erin Locke (Lockey) is the female lead. And thats where the gender consideration ends. I can't pay a greater tribute to Danielle than this. Ray Porter will always be Jonathon Maberry's Joe Ledger. Christian Rummell will always be D. J. Molles Lee Harden Danielle Cohen should always be Erin Locke. The author has created in Lockey probably the best character i've ever read. She's brash, fearless, feisty, and sharp. But she is super flawed, because guess what, she's human, and she's lived a life. I can't emphasize enough just how brilliantly Danielle Cohen brings to life our scouse firebrand Lockey. The story, and dialogue is incredible, and the author did something that too few authors do. The author did not de-humanise the undead instantly. Lockey struggled constantly with this. Erin Locke is a born survivor from her tough childhood and the author was able to cleverly paint a picture in a few paragraphs. I've never encountered a character with such depth. She's not portrayed as a 'bad ass', but more as someone constantly learning from Nate the Royal Marine veteran. She has her own strengths, and weaknesses, and has a wonderful empathetic nature. This story has some incredible dark moments, some heart breaking moments, and also some hilarious moments. Incorporating all three in one book requires an incredibly talented creator. Carl Meadows absolutely nails it. I can find nothing negative to say about this book. Bring on book 2.
I'm shocked that Chris actually let this become part of a loved series.
I bought on audible, Chris's name on the cover and the length of the book convinced me to try it. I'm trying to waste my credits so I can take a break from audible so why not?
Right off the bat you get a ten minute narrative on Lockey needing to take a shit. It's not funny or cute or adding to the story. Whatever, I powered through.
Got about 3 1/2 hours in and Lockey is still so annoying that I simply can't stand it anymore. I had to return the book. She's supposed to be the main character and is so intolerable that it's destroyed any other redeeming qualities the book might have had.
The story is kind of interesting if Lockey isn't talking, but it does reek of copycat. She just so happens to take refuge in a school. With entitled parents. Car with entitled parent wrecks, chaos ensues. Sound familiar?
Even the basic tone of the diary writing is an over the top version of Adrian, and it doesn't work. Be original.
Narrator is pretty good. Author might be ok if he wasn't trying to copy the original and hadn't made the main character so annoying.
Overall, I'm disappointed that this was allowed to become a spinoff of an otherwise great series. I definitely won't be purchasing or trying any other spinoffs of the original story.
1 star goes to the narrator, 1 star goes to the mildly entertaining plot when Lockey wasn't involved.
What a truly great little zompoc story set in the UK! I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the others in the series.
I listened to the audio version of this book on my daily walks and sometimes walked an extra mile or two as I didn’t want to stop listening.
My first impressions weren’t great. There was a lot of lavatorial humour in the first few chapters and just too many faecal references and metaphors for my taste. I thought crass Liverpudlian Lockey was going to quickly get on my nerves. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I loved the book. The humour and the pathos. The characters. Their back stories. Some of the hilarious situations they found themselves as well as all the tense and exiting ones. I really cared about Lockey, Nate and Particles (the Pug) and loved the way their characters were revealed and how they developed. As an AUD fan, I enjoyed the fact that it was set in the same zompoc and there were some subtle connections and similarities to these books.
Utterly brilliant, can’t wait to get stuck in to the next one!
As post apocalyptic zombie fiction goes this book stands out for its humor and lack of graphic, gory zombie scenes.
The protagonist is a young woman named Erin who refers to herself as Lackey and is a par core enthusiast. The fact that she can scale walls and is in amazing shape is probably the reason she survived the initial series of zombie events and makes her survival believable.
The events that follow bring in other characters and explore how different types of people would likely respond to an apocalypse.
My four star rating is based on the male author writing a female character who talks and acts more like a ten year old boy than any girl I’ve ever met in my long and storied life! And the nearly zombie free zombie apocalypse! Still, it was good enough that I’m already deep into the second book of the series.
I have read/listened to and loved all of the books in the Adrian's Undead Series. But the narration in this one was so annoying and distracted from the story -- the voice was loud, crass and predictable, in this one was very difficult -- for me, kind of like finger-nails on a chalkboard (my reaction that extreme....) With the understanding that the main character is a confident, intelligent in a street-wise sense, young woman -- the dialogue was quite immature. Maybe I need to give it another try at some point in the future, or obtain a written copy.
The stories have been consistently fantastic throughout the series, just wish the narrator had toned it down a couple of notches.
I'm not the kind of person to not finish books, but I really struggled with this and almost gave up more times than I'd like to admit.
After the extremely well written Adrian's Undead Diary, this feels like a 12 year old child has written this.
A dreadfully annoying main character, who ruins every scene with references to shitting. Whether that is herself, her dog, her companions, or even zombies, shitting is the only subject the main character talks about, as she jokes and acts like an imbecile while the zombies do what zombies do, and any sense of tension, horror, or drama is lost with the main character making yet another poor joke about shitting.
I liked the side character. He seemed capable and serious, and I'd have much preferred the books be about him, alas, we are stuck with Lockey, and although she does mellow slightly, the damage has already been done, and she remains an unlikeable character, watering down the drama because you're always waiting for her dumb inappropriately timed jokes and claims of "It's hard being this funny"
A woeful mistep, and a sad day for zombie fiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Okay okay so I was going to pass this by as it wasn’t Chris or Adrian. I’m so flipping glad I didn’t!! Like Woot woot i made a good decision for once!! What a great story and now that Particles is a part of the story I’m even more invested. Seriously, if you are a fan of Chris and AUD, you HAVE to read all about Lockey and her four legged side kick. Loved loved loved it! Now I need to hurry through the next AUD and see what Lockey and crew are up to! I’m invested Meadows. Don’t pull a Philbrook. I’m still upset about book 10.
I like the main protagonist and her psychic. The book is fast paced and full of action, good character development. I did not like the fact that a certain character spoilers was eliminated from the story. The book is a definite Page turner just like the original series. Read it, you’ll enjoy it.
Would it be heretical of me to say this is the best of the AUD works that I've read? I'm afraid I have to say it, with apologies to Mr. Philbrook. Carl Meadows wields analogies, metaphors, and other literary devices like an expert. Well plotted with two engaging main characters (three if you count Particles, and you pretty much have to, don't you?).
Fantastic book. Witty, horrific (only in a few places). We see the journey of Lockey. She is amazing. After kicking zombie arse by herself for a bit, she meets up with a retired military guy. What a team! This is her diary of the time. Highly recommended. I can hardly wait for book 2!
Carl Meadows has hit just the right chord with his character development. While I have never been in the North Of England, I felt as if I was there as I read this book. Locket and Hate have become family. Can the family survive?
I really did love this story. I might have given 5 stars but I was just turned off about how much time we spent on the poop. Once that was over I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I am looking for the next one right now.
A solid addition to the AUD Universe. Love the characters and setting and Particles. Is it bad that I pronounce Particles like Hercules? Just for my own in-brain entertainment.
I just love the characters. You just can't help but root for these people. When they feel good, we feel good, sad, happy, all of their emotion we are with them. Excellent writing Carl'