Induction (Time of Death, #1) in Permuted Press Authors

May 04, 2014 Jason rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror

When I met Jen, my wife, about twelve or thirteen years ago, I tried to find common ground with her. We were both avid readers, but different kinds of readers. She liked romance while I liked horror. So she found herself reading John Irving (not horror, but nonetheless a favourite of mine), while I, with no particular interest in tackling the romance genre, suggested chick-lit. Back then, the term chick-lit was making its first marketing waves and books, like Bridget Jones’s Diary and the Shopah When I met Jen, my wife, about twelve or thirteen years ago, I tried to find common ground with her. We were both avid readers, but different kinds of readers. She liked romance while I liked horror. So she found herself reading John Irving (not horror, but nonetheless a favourite of mine), while I, with no particular interest in tackling the romance genre, suggested chick-lit. Back then, the term chick-lit was making its first marketing waves and books, like Bridget Jones’s Diary and the Shopaholic series, were transparent in their new marketing schemes.

What does this have to do with Shana Festa’s debut novel, Time of Death: Induction?

That’s a good question. Picture chick-lit written for a guy like me. You have a woman protagonist, Emma, written in a somewhat light, comedic way with these horrible things happening around her, her husband, and her dog. A zombie virus hits and knocks out civilization pretty quickly and our protagonists find themselves on the run for their lives. All they want is to find a safe place to hold up.

The more they travel and the more people they meet, however, the more they learn that safe is an old-world term, and that to sit in one spot for too long results in tragedy.

As Time of Death: Induction is the first in a series of novels by Jana, it will be really interesting to see where she takes Emma’s character, the dark places she will visit not only within this violent new world, but also within Emma herself as a person.

What I really enjoyed about Induction was recognizing and remembering that chick lit feel to some of those books I read way back when first trying to impress the woman who would become my wife. I guess my scheming worked. I’m not sure how, though. Jen became a John Irving fan where as I left chick lit behind. It’s not that I didn’t like the genre. It’s more like it didn’t really hold anything of value for me.

Jana, however, puts the type of value that gives me my kicks when reading horror novels and fused it well with that old marketing scheme. It’s also a heck of a lot of fun to read. The action almost never stops and is well-written. There are also some pretty awesome gory scenes in here as well.

Well done!
...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2014 Devan Sagliani rated it it was amazing

Shana provided me with an advanced copy for an honest review and I found myself tearing through it as fast as I could. I couldn’t put it down. The plot focuses on a nursing student, her ex-military husband, and her Yorkie Daphne, as they flee the zombie apocalypse in their crumbling hometown in Florida. Shana provides just enough backstory to assuage her audience then plunges into an action packed adventure readers can really sink their teeth into. By the time the dead start to rise the reader i ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 30, 2014 S.P. Durnin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: zombies

Let me say first that I'm an enthusiast of apocalyptic fiction, especially when it comes to the hungry, mobile dead.
I literally cannot get enough of the smelly, stupid-as-turnips, flesh-eating maggot-heads.(Yes, I know. Weird. But remember: Unlike most novels, psychological therapy is expensive.) That should tell you exactly how many zombie-themed books I've perused.

I'm happy to say Shana Festa's TIME OF DEATH: INDUCTION falls squarely into the "Must Own To Enjoy Again" category.

Why, you ask?
At Let me say first that I'm an enthusiast of apocalyptic fiction, especially when it comes to the hungry, mobile dead.
I literally cannot get enough of the smelly, stupid-as-turnips, flesh-eating maggot-heads.(Yes, I know. Weird. But remember: Unlike most novels, psychological therapy is expensive.) That should tell you exactly how many zombie-themed books I've perused.

I'm happy to say Shana Festa's TIME OF DEATH: INDUCTION falls squarely into the "Must Own To Enjoy Again" category.

Why, you ask?
At the beginning of ToD the reader is introduced to one Emma Rossi: nursing student and Cape Coral resident. She's married, owns a home, has a yipping, Beenie-Baby sized dog that believes it's a doberman. Now, don't be afraid. Emma's not an antisocial Doomsday prep fan, she doesn't collect shrunken heads, she doesn't use the term "What-ever!" overmuch, and she never worked for the CIA.
You know.
She's normal.
She could be any one of us. Her nursing classes (Code Brown!) stress her out, her husband is a bit of a Germaphobe, and her barking tribble is the one who actually rules the roost. I enjoyed learning all of this, because good character development is vital to a great novel.

Yep, we get a peek into Emma's everyday life and shortly thereafter, the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse occurs. Then the real fun starts. Right off the bat, Emma an her husband's initial survival is achieved by the liberal use of one of my favorite zombie slaying weapons.
I am, of course, speaking of a crowbar.
Long have I bellowed myself hoarse, shouting the benefits of said simple tool from the rooftops, which is noted by the go-to reference of any zombie fan (The Zombie Survival Guide!), and I can not express how happy I am to see another author give the nigh-forgotten Weapon of Butt-Kickery its proper props.

Now I will admit, halfway through ToD, I found myself grinding my teeth at Emma's fixation with the safety of her canine companion, but then I realized something: I cared enough about what happened to Emma to become irate with her! I had become EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THE STORY!!!
To me, that is the highest form of literature.
When the actions of a character make you laugh, sigh, fume, cry... that my friends is a novel worth reading. Big guns, heavily armored vehicles, and atomic bombs used against the shambling dead are nice (and quite entertaining!), but every so often you run across a Humans vs. Zombies story that gives you hope for humanity as a whole.

Because of all this, TIME OF DEATH: INDUCTION gets a solid 4.5 stars.
Buy it, read it, get sucked into Emma's world for a while as I did, and keep one eye open for the next installment.
I know I will.
...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2014 Warren Fielding rated it it was amazing

I tried desperately to find a flaw in this book. Really, I did. Not so I could be nit-picky in my review, but so I could turn around and give a reason, any reason, for me to not say "I wish I'd written it".

This is the book many post-apoc authors wish they'd written.
Keep in mind, folks, this is a debut novel.

Author Shana Festa is well known in the horror circuit for her excellent work on the Bookie Monster, as well as blogging and being a good egg in general. Given the amount she reads, it's perh I tried desperately to find a flaw in this book. Really, I did. Not so I could be nit-picky in my review, but so I could turn around and give a reason, any reason, for me to not say "I wish I'd written it".

This is the book many post-apoc authors wish they'd written.
Keep in mind, folks, this is a debut novel.

Author Shana Festa is well known in the horror circuit for her excellent work on the Bookie Monster, as well as blogging and being a good egg in general. Given the amount she reads, it's perhaps not surprising that she'd be able to turn her hand to the written word, and to zombie fiction in particular.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of strong female lead characters. Forgive me, then, for being predisposed towards Emma, Time of Death's protagonist and all-round buttock-thwacker.

She is a refreshing lead in a genre where the trope is for women to be weak, mere bit-part players in an alpha male hip-thrusting competition to zombie glory. Don't get me wrong; Emma has her weak moments. This makes her more real to the imagination, and makes her eminently more readable than a battle-hardened post-Middle East war veteran that just happens to be on home soil when the world explodes. Emma cries (a lot) and relies heavily on her husband Jake for mental and physical stability. But where a man is lacking, her pet dog Daphne steps up to the mark (and God help anyone that tries to hurt the dog).

The story in ToD flows well. We're straight in to the action (well, right after a Code Brown, which made me want to bring up a little bit of dinner). Festa's prose is second to none. There is a lot less dialogue in this book than I see in many books of zombie fiction. This is perhaps accurate; who's going to want to gossip when the world ends. She also avoids needless filler; where there needs to be a passage of time, it is there. We don't get a fortnight of laundry and horizon-spotting.

The gore is there - in spades. It's close to the bone, and more than once I had to close my eyes to shake off the pictures being put in to my brain. There is skill in the action crafted in ToD and I didn't want to put this book down. It has a neat balance between civilian and military conflict, and I wasn't overloaded with military jargon, which I feel happens in some similar books. I read it in two swift sittings, though the book perhaps deserves more time and effort - so I got it on Audible, too.

Well worth the buy and read - consider me a fan. Can't wait for the next instalment which, thankfully for me, will be out before Christmas!

I can't wait to see where Emma and her group head to next. ...more

1 like · Like · see review