Dead Earth: The Green Dawn by Mark Justice & David T. Wilbanks
Synopsis
Something bad has happened in Nevada.
No one knows what it is for sure. Rumors fly about plagues and secret government experiments. And the President isn't talking.
In Serenity, New Mexico, Deputy Sheriff Jubal Slate has his hands full. It seems that half the town, including his mother and his boss, are sick from an unusual malady.
Even more worrisome is the oddly-colored dawn sky.
Then a stranger crashes through town, a woman with a nightmarish story about what really happened in the Nevada desert.
Soon, the townspeople of Serenity start dying.
And they won't stay dead.
No one knows what it is for sure. Rumors fly about plagues and secret government experiments. And the President isn't talking.
In Serenity, New Mexico, Deputy Sheriff Jubal Slate has his hands full. It seems that half the town, including his mother and his boss, are sick from an unusual malady.
Even more worrisome is the oddly-colored dawn sky.
Then a stranger crashes through town, a woman with a nightmarish story about what really happened in the Nevada desert.
Soon, the townspeople of Serenity start dying.
And they won't stay dead.
Review
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I gave Dead Earth: The Green Dawn 4 out of 5 stars on The Bookie Monster.Jubal Slate is a young deputy sheriff in the small town of Serenity, New Mexico. He enjoys his quiet town, loves his fiance, and has a good relationship with his mother. Having grown up in Serenity, Jubal is well-liked and knows the town's citizens well. Everything in his world in going well... until a mysterious event occurs in Las Vegas.
No one seems to knows what went down in the Nevada desert but there are rumors of a government cover-up. Two weeks after the "incident" in the desert, a strange illness takes over the town of Serenity. Then there is the strange green hue making an appearance with the New Mexico dawn. Jubal knows there must be some connection, but as things go from bad to worse, there is not enough time to find answers.
Mark Justice's and David T. Wilbanks' first novel in the Dead Earth series is fast-paced, easy to read, and entertaining. I was immediately pulled into the story and could not put it down until I finished it. The main character, Jubal, is very likable and I appreciate how the authors developed his character. I felt I got to know him pretty well by the time I finished the book. The authors of this book also do a wonderful job with "visual" descriptions. I could clearly picture the characters in the story as I read.
The Green Dawn would most likely appeal to those who like Zombie fiction that doesn't have a strong military focus. It would also be good for people who like some extraterrestrials thrown into the zombie mix.
I only have two negative comments about Dead Earth: The Green Dawn. The first is, I feel the authors could have spent more time developing the scenes toward the end of the story. It seemed to be lacking in content toward the end... but that could be due to the fact that it is not a long book. It's almost as if the authors decided to cut the story short so they could make a sequel. Which leads me to my other negative point... for a book with only 89 pages, it is quite expensive compared to books of similar length in this genre. The current Amazon Kindle price for the book is $5.99. I would happily spend that for a full-length Kindle book, but this price seems rather steep for a book less than half the length of books listed at the same price.
With that said, I enjoyed The Green Dawn and am looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.
To buy on Amazon, click here: Dead Earth: The Green Dawn
About the Authors
David T. Wilbanks is a writer, editor and publisher. His short stories have appeared in Horror Drive-In, Postscripts and other publications. He and Mark Justice write the DEAD EARTH series, the latest and third book being SANCTUARY (2013). With Craig Clarke, he edited and published LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT, a dark fiction anthology from their own Acid Grave Press. David lives in Minnesota with his wife.
Mark Justice is the author of Looking at the World with Broken Glass in My Eye, and co-author of Dead Earth: The Green Dawn and Dead Earth: The Vengeance Road, both with David T. Wilbanks. His short fiction has appeared in Damned Nation, In Laymon’s Terms, Legends of the Mountain State 1,2, 3 & 4. The Horror Library Vol. 2 & 3, The Avenger Chronicles, The Green Hornet Chronicles, Dark Discoveries and many other anthologies and magazines. He co-edited the holiday horror anthology Appalachian Winter Hauntings. The Dead Sheriff, a supernatural western prose and comics series, will debut from Evil Eye Books in 2011.
Justice also produces and hosts the popular genre podcast Pod of Horror. He lives in Kentucky with his wife and cats.
You can also find my review of this book on The Bookie Monster along with many other book reviews written by different reviewers.
