Rise and Fall

Legion of the Undead, Book 2

By: Michael Whitehead

Narrated by: Terry F. Self

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Caught between the undead horde and civil war, the Roman Empire is on the verge of destruction.

Italy is in flames, and Rome is under siege by the Risen, while Titus and Otho both lay claim to the title of Emperor.

Centurion Vitus Protus, Praetor Domitius, and their allies face a desperate choice. They must either stay and fight for the City of Rome or leave and survive in the wilderness left behind by the Risen.

©2017 Michael Whitehead (P)2018 Michael Whitehead

A good follow up to Book 1

Note: Even though this is Book 2 in the series, it works mostly well as a stand alone.

I have returned to the land of Roman legions and zombies! I really loved the first book in the series and this is a decent follow up. My new favorite character is Garrick, a butcher who lives in Rome. He’s basically conscripted to guard the wall but he soon earns the respect of his centurion and fellow guards.

Vitus, the archer from Book 1, is still around but he’s not the sole main focus of the story. He does a great job of being the counterpoint to Garrick. Two Roman emperors are fighting for superiority. Titus is the rightful emperor but he doesn’t hold Rome. Indeed, he’s quite a distance away and there’s all those pesky zombies in the way. Meanwhile Otho holds Rome. However, he’s got these crazy secret zombie plans that could bring him to ruin.

This tale does have a weakness and that is the lack of ladies. Book 1 had some impressive female characters getting stuff done but this book totally sidelined Lucia and Flavia. We only get glimpses of them and when we do, they are there for comfort or romance. There is one woman who gets to smash some zombies but her role is brief and part of it is spent being rescued. Another woman gets her chance at Otho, but once again, she has a small, fleeting appearance.

The zombies themselves come in a few flavors. The newer, more robust ones can leap! Yikes! There also appears to be some evil paranormal force that drives them, having some hidden motive. I hope we learn more about that in Book 3. The pacing is really good, keeping me engaged the entire time but also avoiding zombie battle fatigue. 4/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Terry Self gave us yet another amazing performance. He had distinct voices for all the characters and his lady voices are feminine. I like his spooky voice for the evil paranormal entity. I also like his voice for Otho, who sounds like he’s talking with a mouth full of marbles. There were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.

a pleasant return to zombie infested ancient Rome

I think the added character depth created by the previous books story sucked me in quicker. Quite a few unexpected turns this time round kept me guessing and meant the story steered clear of formulaic zombie fiction. I'll of course need to get the next on to see where it all ends up.

I found the performer a little hard to follow again. may very well be the Roman names just being too much for my brain to juggle. These are the first books I've ever slowed down, 90% was perfect, just means entertainment for longer ")

Fantastic Read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this second book. I'm a huge Zompoc fan, so it's refreshing to see an Author create something new and refreshing. looking forward to book 3 on Audible.

Book 2 continues this great story

This author draws me in from the beginning and keeps me engaged throughout the whole story.

Amazingly done!

This second installment in the series is even more thrilling than the first! Read this series, you won't be disappointed!

Book 2 was amazing!

Book 2 was amazing! Loved everything about it. Story keeps expanding and improving. New characters to love and some characters to loose. Narrator did a fantastic job again! Starting on book 3 now. I received this for free for an honest review.