We are the End by Steve Kuhn

The battle for Vegas is done, but not without heavy casualties and broken loyalties.  Dishonesty within the group and mental instability weakens the bonds of family, making them vulnerable.  One member will break an unspoken rule and thrust the entire group to the brink of self-destruction. (taken from the back of the book)


Normally when I review a series, I review them all individually.  Each book gets its own review.  This time it's different.  I will not be reviewing this book.  Instead, I'll be reviewing the series.

Those of you who have read 'The Green Mile' are probably aware of the way it was published.  It's all one long story, but it was released pieces at a time.  You needed to put all the pieces together at the end to get the full story.  I was one of those people that was out buying each piece and reading it as soon as it was available.  However!  Once they were all released, I sat down and read it over, starting from the beginning.

Dext of the Dead is similar in that manner.  You can read each piece and then put them together, but you'll also want to sit down and read them in order, from cover to cover.  The story once they all come together is absolutely breathtaking.

I may have been misleading you with my reviews.  I was under the impression that this series was about the zombie apocalypse.  I believed it was another 'monster' series.  I didn't mislead you on purpose.  I was wrong.

This series is a story about a man named Dexter Baxter.  He's your normal man.  He goes to work, watches television, checks on his parents.  Then the world changes, and he has no choice but to survive.  Survival is everything.  But what is he surviving for?  What reason does this man have to live in a world that has gone so crazy?

He finds his purpose in recording what's happening in the world.  Dexter has faith that someday the world will find a way to right itself, and it's imperative that those in the future have a written record.  He keeps a journal and he writes in it whenever he can.  He writes about the people he meets, the places he goes, the atmosphere of the world, their struggles, their hopes and dreams.  Sometimes, he writes how he's feeling about it all.  Most of the time, he tries to keep a true and honest accounting of what's going on without letting his emotions and thoughts cloud that.

Here is where I failed as a reader.  I forgot.  I forgot that this series is one man writing.  I forgot that as people, we tend to not have clear perceptions of ourselves.  I forgot that Dexter Baxter is a human man.  Everything he writes, while true in his mind, isn't necessarily the absolute truth.  It's mostly true and honest, but it's colored by his perception.

While I was expecting a zombie apocalypse series, I received so much more than that.  This is an incredible character study.  It's one of the most enjoyable reads I've had in a long time.  It's horrific and heart-wrenching and it made me laugh out loud.  This series is one of a hand full that left me sobbing at its finish.