As with all my review of these Ex-Heroes books I'm going to struggle to say more than 'Zombie; Superheroes; Awesome!' Switch off half your brain (the literary critic part) and have fun with the ride as zombies and monsters get kicked, bunched and incinerated! I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous two, but it was still great entertainment that I struggle to put down.

In this one, the clue is in the title, the subject of people returning from the dead is central. I mean back from the dead in a more conscious living form than the hordes of exes! Max aka Cairax has been hanging around as a spirit only Barry can communicate with, and now wants a body to inhabit plus Doctor Sorenson's daughter Madelyn isn't as dead as everybody assumed. Things get a little more magical and religious with spirits and demons to tackle!

I liked Maddy well enough andI thought the way she was introduced was cool. Playing Dragon Age has taught me you don't trust a guy who spends his time messing with demons, so I was wary of Max. Plus remember the story of how he got infected and died? I wish Clines would stop bringing that up. It's interesting to mix the sorcery stuff with the more science-fiction world of zombies, I quite like that we've now just chucked everything into the big crazy pot.

There is lots of Captain Freedom being AWESOME in this book. He is HARDCORE. He shares driving more of the story with George which I liked. George is cool and all but I like to hear more from the others. There isn't much Stealth, although you learn more about who she is under the mask and she is softening up a tiny tiny bit! There was barely any Cerberus/Danielle which I missed.

My main criticism is that I'm pretty sick of Legion. He's back again. I know that he can't really be killed because he doesn't have a body any more.. but I wish they'd find a way!

I can't say much more than that.. these books are what they are - comic books written in prose! - and I love them for it. ( )

Peter Clines once again hit it out of the park.

I absolutely love getting to see how the LA surviving community is evolving and dealing with the numerous challenges and dangers that are thrown their way. That Christian Nguyen woman annoys the hell out of me and I really hope that the heroes deal with her before she pulls something stupid and dangerous. Religion, especially the variety of Christianity that Christian is propagating, is going to be especially dangerous now, as we saw when that woman towards the beginning left the safety of the walls and tried to stop the guards from shooting her "almost" boyfriend (believing that he was still himself inside of the corpse) before being devoured by him and the surrounding exes.

I was completely surprised by Regenerator being kept in the cell, probably because I forgot he existed, and knowing that the demon Cairax was hanging around made me legit worry for the survivors when he (Regenerator) escaped. Speaking of the demon, I thought for sure he would go for Rodney since he controls the exes, but I wasn't all that surprised to find that he took Regenerator instead.

The final battle was totally epic and I was convinced that once again, one of the main heroes would die. I was especially worried for Zzzap since Cairax was hurting him so easily and he (Zzzap) kept talking about a cold feeling he had. What really had me floored though was Rodney's appearance at the battle and basically saving everyone. That was really unexpected, but his line ("You ready for round two, pinche pendejo?") when he showed up made me laugh. I am getting to like Rodney even though he is still a serious threat to the survivors.

The epilogue really cemented Zzzap as my favorite character and hero. His whole "going where I'm truly meant to be" joke actually made me laugh out loud. ( )

Peter Clines once again hit it out of the park.

I absolutely love getting to see how the LA surviving community is evolving and dealing with the numerous challenges and dangers that are thrown their way. That Christian Nguyen woman annoys the hell out of me and I really hope that the heroes deal with her before she pulls something stupid and dangerous. Religion, especially the variety of Christianity that Christian is propagating, is going to be especially dangerous now, as we saw when that woman towards the beginning left the safety of the walls and tried to stop the guards from shooting her "almost" boyfriend (believing that he was still himself inside of the corpse) before being devoured by him and the surrounding exes.

I was completely surprised by Regenerator being kept in the cell, probably because I forgot he existed, and knowing that the demon Cairax was hanging around made me legit worry for the survivors when he (Regenerator) escaped. Speaking of the demon, I thought for sure he would go for Rodney since he controls the exes, but I wasn't all that surprised to find that he took Regenerator instead.

The final battle was totally epic and I was convinced that once again, one of the main heroes would die. I was especially worried for Zzzap since Cairax was hurting him so easily and he (Zzzap) kept talking about a cold feeling he had. What really had me floored though was Rodney's appearance at the battle and basically saving everyone. That was really unexpected, but his line ("You ready for round two, pinche pendejo?") when he showed up made me laugh. I am getting to like Rodney even though he is still a serious threat to the survivors.

The epilogue really cemented Zzzap as my favorite character and hero. His whole "going where I'm truly meant to be" joke actually made me laugh out loud. ( )

Read from December 13 to 16, 2015

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous editions, but I love the back-and-forth between now and then and still find the main characters interesting. A new "super" character is introduced and we meet a couple of characters from the first book again. I did not see the Corpse Girl thing coming. At all. And I'll admit after all the talking to himself Zzzap was doing, I expected him to be crazy. Instead, he was talking to a ghost...a little surprised by that. However, I hated Max and found it very difficult to believe that Stealth was talked into letting him hop into the dead body of a much-beloved citizen of the Mount.

Nevertheless, an enjoyable read for a long drive from AZ to CA and back again. ( )

Superheroes, zombies, and the end of the world. A great combination of elements that Peter Clines has succeeded in keeping interesting and powerful. ( )