The Walking Dead

November 28, 2011
Inspired by Kirkman’s award-winning comic, this novel follows the events that transform family man Phillip into a half-crazed dictator known as the Governor in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Fred Berman’s narration is smooth and keeps listeners engaged throughout this audio version. He develops solid, authentic-sounding voices for most of the book’s characters, particularly the authoritative Phillip, and Brian, whose voice is soft with a hint of weakness. And while some secondary character sound like caricatures, Berman more than redeems himself via his excellent pacing. As the narrative moves into more pitched moments, Berman chooses pauses and projection with a great deliberateness, adding to the suspense and making the prose all the more impactful. A St. Martin’s/Dunne hardcover.

February 25, 2013
Fred Berman’s narration brings out the horrors—those caused by both zombies and humans—in this latest installment in Kirkman and Bonansinga’s Governor saga. Lilly Caul and a small band of survivors are caught up in the day-to-day fight to stay alive: scavenging for food and supplies while doing their best to hide from the wandering hoards of zombies whose only objective is to find and consume the living. With winter coming and provisions running low, things are looking bleak, until the intrepid group finds sanctuary in the idyllic town of Woodbury, run by the seemingly benevolent Philip Blake, a.k.a. the Governor. However, not everything in Woodbury is as perfect as it seems, and Lilly soon discovers that flesh-eating zombies may not be the worst evil walking. Berman keeps the story moving at a solid pace; his action sequences are exciting and suspenseful, while he lends more quiet moments and intimate quality. He also provides distinct and individual voices to an array of characters, especially Lily’s ragtag group and the villainous Governor. A Thomas Dunne hardcover.

June 14, 2004
Taking a well-worn genre—flesh-eating zombies overrun the world and the unlucky surviving humans must deal with the gruesome aftermath—and approaching it from a purely character-driven point of view propels this series into the spotlight from out of nowhere. This collection of the first six issues of the ongoing series opens with police officer Rick Grimes awakening from a gunshot-induced coma. From here, he's immediately dragged into a world where dangerous revenants are shambling amok without any sort of an explanation. From the moment Grimes comes to, it's a harrowing battle to avoid hordes of decomposing zombies and a hope-against-all-odds search for his missing family. Grimes makes his way to Atlanta, the nearest large city where there may be other living people, and events take several unexpected turns upon his arrival, as he meets up with a rural encampment of survivors. Of course, as in recent hit movies 28 Days Later...
and Dawn of the Dead
, the last humans may turn out to be as much a danger as the zombies. Forceful scripting that gives the book a strong grounding in reality, crisp b&w artwork, a shocking final sequence and brisk, gory proceedings elevate this book from the trash heap of pedestrian horror comics.