Review of Under A Graveyard Sky by John Ringo

Under A Graveyard Sky

By: John Ringo

Amazon Summery:

Zombies are real. And we made them. Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived under a graveyard sky.

My Review:

First let me start by saying I am a zombie-holic. Ok to be more appropriate I am an apocalypse addict, but I prefer my apocalypses to include zombies.  However any book that includes zombies, whether they bring on the end of the world or not, I will eagerly devour. I enjoy the apocalypse ones though because they deal with how people decide to handle the end of civilization as we know it.  How they use the resources they have in new and inventive ways, how they deal with the zombies, other humans, and all that good stuff. 

Under a Graveyard Sky is one that would fall under zombie apocalypse.  Let me say it was good, really good.  It kept me turning the pages and I actually got attached to some of the characters.  There were some points that kept it from being 5 stars, but I don’t think they should keep someone from reading it.

Let’s start with what I liked.

The world Ringo has created is solid.  The attention to detail on how the virus started, spread, and how the Smith family is prepared for the impending apocalypse is awesome.  Yes there are some things that aren’t completely explained, but the author does acknowledge them.  For example how the gps system on the boat still works.  The characters wonder how it is still working but they just take it as they are lucky and go from there.  That’s fine; you have to suspend belief in most apocalypse books anyway.

I love the characters, especially Faith.   Yes she is a tab bit young to be a super zombie killing machine, but she is funny.  I also like how the author doesn’t shy away from having his characters dealing with the psychological trauma brought on by having to deal with zombies.  Faith’s teddy bear doesn’t bode well for her future mental stability.  However it does show that you can’t just go around killing people who once were human and not be affected by it.

What I had issues with.  First, while it was uber-detailed, I didn’t know what some of the abbreviations meant. Maybe a quick explanation of what they stood for would have helped?

Second the end of the second book became choppy.  It just seemed to jump from scene to scene, and while the beginning of the book had a lot of detail, the ending just seems to be missing pieces.  Plus the ending is rather abrupt.  Lots of questions are left unanswered and it basically ends mid-scene.  That’s the main reason I’m giving it 4 instead of 5 stars.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and would gladly pick up the next one.  There are some interesting questions that are left unanswered and I would really like to see what happens to the Smith family.  I definitely recommend picking this one up it looks like the start to an interesting series. 

I received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review.  All opinions are mine.