Review: Vital Blood by Zack Scott

Their Dead Lives #2

Publisher: Shades of Grey Publishing

Publication Date: October 31st, 2014

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Review Copy From The Author

Pages: 510

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Over a year after the events of FOUR, factions have formed across southern California. The survivors of the Vault Tactical Force are now the Numark Knights, determined to end the zombie apocalypse and save this world. On the beaches, the ruthless Hunters of Cali are led by a demented teenager named the Heartthrob. Inland, the Arrows of America thrive in a secluded society and will stop at nothing to keep their home safe.

 

Meanwhile, Alec has vanished from Camp Numark. Jeff wants to find him and mend the rift in their friendship, while Scot just wants to hide out with Kelsey and fool around. 

 

When a dangerous mission sends the Numark Knights out into the world of the living dead, the values of Jeff and Scot will be tested. And as factions clash, betrayals surface, and zombies swarm the California lands, a deadly threat constantly lurks in the darkness, for anyone could be an Embracer of Death.

This book takes place a year after the events of the first book, Four. The group finally made it to Camp Numark, Alec has left the group, looking to exact revenge for the death of his girlfriend, Nicole. Jeff is still ever the good soldier. Scot is just existing and not taking anything seriously. Kale is thought to be dead. Things seem to be okay-ish, until a search party goes out to find Alec and bring him back.

I liked this book a lot more than the first one! I really enjoyed the first one, but this one felt like it went by a lot faster. While they are both equally action packed, I feel that the first one started to really drag, but this one was awesome!

I don't really feel like any of the characters changed too much, at least I didn't think they did. Despite Nicole being gone for a year, Alec is still completely like obsessed with her and now that she's gone from his life, he's just obsessed with getting revenge for her death. I felt bad for him at first, but then I started to find him obnoxious like I did in the first book. He's hideously unpleasant ALL THE TIME!

Jeff is still obsessed with saving the world. It's almost annoying how good of a guy he is. He has good intentions in everything he does, but he doesn't always go about things in the best way, betraying the trust of his friend's in order to do what he thinks is best to save the world. He's like that person you know that's really annoying, but you can't help but like them because they're so nice all the time.

Scot is still Scot. He's still all about screwing around and doing whatever it is Scot wants to do at that moment. I still think Scot is probably my favorite character.

There are also a lot of new characters and stories introduced in this book and several returning characters. Usually when new characters are introduced in a book series, I just don't care about them. I don't want to hear about them because I want to hear about the characters I care about, but there weren't any characters in this book that were introduced that made me go 'WHYYY should I care about you?!'. I enjoyed reading about all the new characters and their different clans and groups and how they are surviving this disaster. I don't really feel like I can talk about them without giving things away or making this review sound confusing. So READ IT because it's interesting!

I also generally really hate when a book is in multiple POV, but it really didn't bother me in this book which I found interesting. I found all of their voices to be easy to tell apart. And I also found all of their stories to be interesting!

As for things about this book that I didn't like, there isn't a lot. I HATED Sadie. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her. I. Hate. Her. She's crazy and hypocritical and stupid and AHHH! I was SO disappointed that she even lived long enough in this zombie apocalypse to even be in this book. I really didn't like her in the first book either, but I HATED her in this one. OMG! 

Also, I feel like some things in this book just sprung up out of thin air and I really had no idea where they came from? But at the same time, I also have a puppy running around my house right now that I have to keep one eye on. So that could just be a 'me' thing.

This book ends in a cliffhanger! I don't know, it doesn't really seem like things could get MUCH worse for these characters, but I mean, you never know. I don't know what else could go wrong. So things can only look up in the next book, right?

Overall, I recommend this series! I think it's a fun read. The first book is a bit slow, but this one is a lot better. I think that people who are really into post-apocalyptic books or fans of The Walking Dead would enjoy this series!