Taking On The Dead by Annie Walls: Review

Taking On The Dead (Famished #1)
By Annie Walls
Published August 2012
Synopsis borrowed from Goodreads:

Life for Kansas was perfect until the day the world changed.

She has been hiding out for four years in solitude. It's the only way to survive. The only way not to draw the living dead. Helping a small group of people, she learns the new world might not be what she assumes. Venturing out of her refuge and comfort zone, she meets Rudy, who helps her find a greater purpose. She realizes that the world has moved on without her. Only it's not what she expects. Her knowledge of the living dead grows and only makes her more curious as humanity continues to hang on by a thread. While on her search for answers she finds comfort in new friendships and love, but her past seems as if it will haunt her forever.

Kansas takes it upon herself to help other survivors, which would be easy if the famished were the only obstacles.

In a trilogy plot thick with twists and turns, this adult dark fantasy is emotional as much as it is horrifyingly gripping.

Darkfallen's thoughts:

Taking On The Dead is a zombie novel that will never cease to surprise you!! And gross you out, like all good zombie books should. However this one takes it to a whole new level of gross. Living in a new world where the zombies aren't the only bad guys you have to watch out for...

Kansas has been surviving on her own for the last four years ever since the outbreak happened. It hasn't been exactly easy. Especially having to live with the guilt that she had to kill everyone she loved when the plague took over. Is was either kill or be killed. Four years has past and still not much has changed for her inside her own isolated bunker away from the world. Little does she know that the world around her has changed quite a bit, and soon her life is going to be turned upside down...again.

First off I just have to say that I LOVED Kansas!! She is made of pure awesome bad ass sauce. She's snarky, funny, and can kick some serious ass when needed. It's refreshing to see a girl that can choke down her emotions to get the job done, and she does this more than once. I'd like to think if I ever find myself in a zombie infested world that I will be like Kansas. Although I do have to say she is a bit naive. Living alone for so many years has made her that way. In her sheltered, isolated world the zombies were the only villains. Now that she is out in the world again she is too quick to trust the other survivors which leads her to trouble.

There is a bit of a love triangle in her...well, kind of, and it sort of didn't go the way I wanted it to but I am hoping that in later books I'll get my way. Lets just say I LOVE Rudy!!! Yum!! *winks* I simply can't get enough him. I love his bad ass ways, yet the way he takes care of Kansas pulls at my heart. Not to mention he is a zombie killing machine! If zombies take over the world I call dibs on Rudy being my survival buddy...and maybe another kind of buddy if you know what I mean. *sighs*

I will say that I have the uncorrected proof (ARC) copy of this book, and there are some serious editing errors that need to be dealt with to make this red seamlessly. I did, however, let the author know and she assured me that this still has to go through another round with an editor and those issues will be resolved. Still it never took away from the story and I still enjoyed reading every page.

I love the world Annie Walls creates where the famished are fast, the putrids are slow, and the humans are just as deadly as the living dead. Mixing in a does of voodoo for good measure and you have yourself a zombie book with just enough of a twist to set it apart from the others out there.

Overall this was a great read and I can't wait to read what happens next in the series!

Lymi...