Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here

Author Mark Rounds gave me an e-version of Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here for review.

I want to start by saying that this is another case of an Indie gem. The big publishing houses are missing an opportunity with this new author. Amazon does a good job of supporting Indie authors, Barnes and Noble, not so much (Wake up B&N).

Hell is Empty... is a great representation of the Zombie Apocalypse genre. The story is in how the zombies came to be, so I leave it to you to read the book and find out. As a conspiracy theory, post-apocalyptic, wanna be prepper, survivalist, action lover; Hell is Empty... has everything I enjoy in a book. People struggling against long odds, making a stand and not rolling over. Thinking and acting with some intelligence. Intrigue, romance, humor, defiance, kicking butt and taking names. Definitely an action readers book.

I'm not a military expert by any stretch, but it is good to see that the military is not portrayed as a bunch of impotent, idiotic wimps, or testosterone flooded Neanderthals. Good guys, bad guys, and fence sitters a plenty. Kind of like what happens in a real catastrophe.

Hell is Empty... caught my interest immediately and held it throughout. For me there were no dead spots, no places where the story bogged down. The tension is maintained well between all out action sequences. The action is graphic and intense but believable. Not overblown, we are not dealing with comic book heroes or villains here.

A couple of negatives: First (and foremost); the ending it is kind of abrupt. My e-reader (like everyone's e-reader) shows what percent of the book is done. I saw 100% coming up and didn't see an ending setting up. Second; (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) some of the characters are really disrespectful to Spam (I like Spam)(Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam wonderful Spam! Thank you Monty Python).

All the main characters are well developed. Both villains and good guys are introduced in stages, their virtues and shortcomings set up rather than; here are the good guys, here are the bad guys. Character development is part of setting up the story.

So cliffhangers and my possible copyright violations aside, Hell is Empty and All the Devils are Here by Mark Rounds is an awesome read. I hate having to wait for the sequel. Enjoy!

Mike