Cutthroat Express is the seventh book in Bryan Cassiday's Zombie Apocalypse: The Chad Halverson Series. Due to having never read any of these I was concerned that I may be completely lost with what was happening. With David Moody's Autumn series, and Bryan Way's Life After series you have a somewhat grounded and more realistic approach to a zombie apocalypse, Cassiday's approach is the opposite end of the spectrum, with this being an insane and bloody action rampage from start to finish, one that felt like a low budget zombie horror movie translated to page. Probably spoilers for previous entries in the series to follow.
What remains of the United States government find themselves with quite a serious problem. While they are in the relative safety of their underground bunker, they are unable to leave due to the former President having nuked the surrounding area as part of his elaborate suicide. To make matters worse, the air supply in the bunker is getting dangerously low due to the amount of zombies blocking the ventilation shafts. Salvation appears to arrive in the form of Mike Cassavetes, a man who states he has came from the facility of a brilliant scientist who has discovered a cure for the zombie plague. The new President, Mims, formulates a plan, to get a group of volunteers (who include among them government agent Chad Halverson, military commander Strider, as well as a few convicts promised their freedom should they help the mission succeed) to head out with Cassavetes and make their way to the scientist's base, in order to get the vaccine and bring it back, so that the remaining government will be able to leave their base without fear of getting infected.
Any fears that I would feel like I was playing catch-up all novel were quickly dispelled with the understanding of how insane this world is. The previous book appeared to end with the President of the United States nuking himself, which I took as a statement that I would be in for a thrill ride with Cutthroat Express, and that I was. The notion of a road-trip as the main storyline isn't something I haven't read before in zombie novels, Scott M. Baker's Rotter World and Tim Morgan's The Trip both come to mind, yet there was something about the shared nihilism that all the characters seemed to have which made this feel different. I had no idea which characters had featured before and which were new creations, outside of the convicts at least, due to them each getting their own introductions. This led to a feeling that any one of these characters could die, making the story more exciting straight away. As much as I enjoyed the initial bunker scene, it was when the group leave that things really begin to get exciting.
I'm no stranger to hordes of undead in novels, but it's the way these characters all act around the zombies that I grew to love. Everyone seemed more or less happy to put themselves in extreme danger, with the fear seeming to have long ago passed. This leads to endless scenes of high action fights, I never got bored of how when needed, the characters wade off on foot into the hordes, fighting the whole way through them. There was something off kilter about everything here, a world where everyone is mad to some degree.
The road-trip element makes up most of Cutthroat Express, and with the group being in heavily armoured vehicles you had the feel of a wandering fortress. Completely safe while in the vehicles, the moments where they have to leave was akin to diving into the deep ocean. I would say that this is more a novel about the journey than the destination, as I did think that part was the weakest section of the book. There was also a care-free attitude to characters fates, with plenty of characters built up over the novel only to then die underwhelmingly off-page without any real arc to their paths. These aren't meant to be realistic situations though, when your group includes both a cannibal and a serial killer, as well as an obsessive leader who values the mission more than his own team you should expect some skewed moments.
I will also add, the subplot involving the deteriorating state of the bunker was a great idea, was a nice palette cleanser between all the undead battling.
From the start of the novel all the way up to the end I was constantly entertained. With over eighty short snappy chapters, endless descriptions of the undead, and a end twist that didn't disappoint, I was loving this book. Not only were the events I was reading easy to picture playing out in my minds eye (always something that makes a good novel), it even inspired a rare zombie nightmare I had. Brain-dead in the very best way, Cutthroat Express was a darn entertaining read.
SCORE:
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