Review: Still Alive: Series Box Set Books 5 & 6

Still Alive: Series Box Set Books 5 & 6 by Javan Bonds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The best low-brow humor and zombie-slaying gore!

The Still Alive series continues to be one of my favorite go-to books for gratuitous violence, lowbrow humor, and descriptions of unspeakable things I wish I could unread. I can't be sure, as I'm not certain which scenes of the book my brain has blocked from my memory to protect itself from the mental trauma, but these two books may have been the most violent and gruesome book of the series. In a good way. If you haven't started this series, you should really give it a shot. Once you start, you won't be able to stop. It's kind of like passing a car wreck on the highway- you know you shouldn't slow down and look and you tell yourself you won't, but then you find yourself staring anyway. But, again, it's in a good way.

But seriously, this is a great series. The writing is well done, the plot is exciting and detailed, and most of the characters are deep and developed. Hidden under all the blood and gore, Javan Bonds has some talent as an author. The humor typically balances the darker aspects of the books, providing levity and enjoyment when it's needed. And it's just gotten better with the addition of the box set for the 5th and 6th books in the series (Zombie River Run & Zombie Paradise Lost).

Zombie River Run is the follow-up for the first four books in the Still Alive series by Javan Bonds. It chronicles the continuing struggles and adventures of the crew of Viva Ancora and the survivors of Guntersville. I really can’t say enough good stuff about this entire series, I love its humor, its cast of characters, and the storyline. And as an Alabamian, I find the characters, their interactions, and their culture extremely relatable. I swear that I’ve met and know some of them. However, I think Zombie River Run suffers a bit in the storyline because of where it falls in the series as it's working to resolve a few loose ends from the first books and set things up for the next few. That means after the story arc was wrapped up in the first four books, Zombie River Run transitions us into what is sure to be a great second story arc. It's a bit slower than the previous books and doesn’t end with the same adrenaline rush of climax, but it still has some great scenes, excellent dialog, and fun culture references.

Zombie Paradise Lost is full of all things that make this series great but is also a "split book" that takes place at the same time as Zombie River Run and I'm still internally debating if I liked that. Many of the events from Zombie River Run are repeated in Zombie Paradise Lost, but described from a different perspective. It provides some additional insight into many of the events in the last book but also left me feeling a bit cheated on the plot and advancement of the story arc. And while I was disappointed Mo isn't a major character in Zombie Paradise Lost, I really enjoyed the fully developed story involving the investigation of the missing children -- the whole good versus evil element has been excellent.

S.W. Salzman's performance in this series continues to blow me away. I still can't believe that one narrator can create so many different, distinct voices. It really makes the book come alive and significantly adds to Bonds' already well-developed characters. I’m definitely adding Salzman to my favorite narrator list and will be hunting down other books that he’s recorded.

Special thanks to Javan Bonds who provided me with this book at my request.

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