World Famous Comics: Down the Road: On the Last Day
Down the Road: On the Last Day
By: Bowie Ibarra Publisher: Permuted Press Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Permuted Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 252 Publication Date: February 01, 2006
Product Description: The walking dead. A global crisis. The remnants of America. Around the globe, the dead are rising to devour the living. Hospitals are overrun, and martial law has been declared. The streets are in chaos. Society is disintegrating. In a small south Texas town, the mayor has rallied his citizens against the living dead and secured their borders. Isolated in the countryside, the community holds their own. But when two strangers from San Antonio stumble into town, they bring news of a global peacekeeping force sweeping toward the city. Led by a ruthless commander, the force is determined to secure the republic of Texas on its own terms, and establish a new, harsh government for the plague-ravaged nation. Will the independently fortified Texas town hold out against the flesh-eating zombies and the tyrannical foreign army traveling down the road?
A standout from the rest of the pack... Obviously by my username you can tell that I am a fan of all things zombie related. I own a sizeable collection of zombie/post apocalyptic literature, and my favorites tend to get reread several times over. Bowie Ibarra's Down The Road, and Down The Road: On The Last Day are two of the books that I have returned to recently. The stories are fast paced and action packed. The characters are people that you can relate to, not overly heroic and impossibly endowed with the abilities to fight off the undead. In actuality, his characters are very real and he portrays their weaknesses and fallability with skill.
Mr. Ibarra's descriptive writing helps you to envision the work like a movie being played in your mind. Yes, there are some sexual situations that seemed to take place at bizarre times, but then again many people do strange things while under extreme pressure. To me, the sex scenes only added to the story and helped to flesh out the relationships between key characters. I wasn't so keen on them in the first book, Down The Road. But in his second installment, Mr. Ibarra uses the sex scenes to their fullest potential, which helped to give you a sense of a character's psychology, and a deeper understanding of their motivation.
The gore was well written and vividly depicted. You could see the splashes of blood, you could feel the bones crunch, and you could smell the death within the story! The dialogue was very real. The author chose to have his characters speak like "Joe America", in other words, they were normal people using average everyday language. No eloquent speeches are made just before someone kicks it! (Like you often find in death scenes in the movies or other books!)
And of course, you find that conspiracy theories abound in this one! I am a fan of them, although I do not swallow everything, hook, line, and sinker. Mr. Ibarra gives you some food for thought, and it is written in a way that does not disrespect differing opinions. It is completely plausible that government as well as society might do things drastically different than policy might dictate under those conditions. Rules can and will get broken. People will take charge of their own destiny. And people in power will do whatever it takes to maintain their power, regardless of the cost. Look at what we've just been through in our own real world experience politically. I fully believe that corruption exists and that Big Brother considers us expendable. How many lives lost does it take before we realise that the Iraq war was completely unjustifiable? Well, the rest of the world realises, but our previous leader seemed to have his own agenda. I am thankful that he is finally out of office. But back to the review!
I personally do not care to read zombie books that aspire to be compared to Cormack McCarthy or another literary great. Not that Mr. Ibarra doesn't have the chops, no! I just prefer the horror stylings of his predecessors, like King, Koontz, Straub, and Barker. It is not necessary to think too hard while reading them, but to let the story wash over you and take you away for a little while. This is what Bowie Ibarra's books do for you. And it is why I keep coming back to them.
I own many, many horror books. Some are quite good, and some are real stinkers. By looking at them you can tell which are my favorites, not that you could see a picture of them here, but trust me when I say that I've bought a set of replacement copies of Mr. Ibarra's work because I have read them so many times they had become well worn. I look forward to reading his third installment, and any other title he may release. I'm pretty sure I'll have to purchase double the copies this time around as well! One for reading, and then one for reading again later on "down the road", HA! Pardon the pun!
Down The Road, and Down The Road: On The Last Day belong in everyone's zombie book collection. I cannot recommend them enough! Thanks for reading my review, I hope it was helpful.
Robin Eduardo aka "The Zombie Diva"
another good one! With the exception that this writer is very paranoid of the government, I enjoyed this book. If i could be so bold as to say one small critical thing? There were so many characters I found it hard to keep track. Everytime I got to know someone the chapter would end and I would meet someone knew. This could only be me perhaps, as I have always liked the more tightknit groups like in a Romero movie. Three or four main characters works for me better than a slew of characters. A fun book,and if you liked the author's first one, this one won't disapoint. J.H.
Another good zombie read Much like the first Down the Road book, I really enjoyed The Last Day. It sticks to the simple, but effective zombie format, with a little bit of Tin Foil Hat paranoia thrown in to help move the story along.
The book is a fast read and the action is good. The gore is described well, and it turns out to be a very fun read.
The sex scenes, like in the first book, seem a little awkward and uneccessary, as if they were thrown in mostly for the author's enjoyment, but it's not enough of a negative to impact the story. Also, the story could've done with a few less characters, but that's just me nitpicking.
Both books are heavy on the NWO\Illuminati\Global Elite conspiracy theory, with the U.N. attempting to take control of the country. I don't neccessarily subscribe to those consipiracy theories, (I do know people who do), but I do find them wildly entertaining, so it only added to the story for me.
All in all, it's a fun read. If you enjoy Zombie fiction, than by all means, buy not just this book, but the first Down the Road book as well. You'll be glad you did.
Excellent read, true to the genre This is one of the best zombie books I have ever read, and I have read a few. Take a moment, order and read the thing, you will be glad you did. I cannot wait for more.
Does the author hate America? The book was good in all aspects of zombiedom. I have only one question. Does the author hate America?
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
