The dead rose expecting a feast. What they got was a firefight.
Sergeant Alex Slaughter and the Marines of Alpha Squad were on a routine training exercise near Quantico when everything went silent. No comms. No command. No clue.
What they find when they return to base is worse than anything they trained a bioweapon has unleashed a zombie virus that has shattered civilization, and now they must survive the Collapse.
But as the squad pushes deeper into hostile territory—through the death-choked streets of Arlington and into the rot-stained corridors beneath D.C.—they discover that the undead aren’t the only threat. Desperate survivors, rogue military units, and darker truths buried beneath the weight of secrecy will test their loyalty, their mission, and their very humanity.
Written by USMC veteran Jonathan Shuerger and set in J.F. Holmes’s brutal and unrelenting Irregular Scout Team One universe, Semper Die delivers pulse-pounding action, authentic military detail, and a terrifying vision of what happens when duty and apocalypse collide.
If you crave hard-hitting military thrillers, brotherhood forged in battle, and Marines who refuse to die quietly—this is your next mission.
Jonathan Shuerger outdoes himself in this one! I've been on-board with his stories since "The Exorcism of Frosty the Snowman," and from a pacing and prose perspective this is Shuerger's best work so far. Though I am unfamiliar with the "Irregular Scout Team" series by J.F. Holmes, the universe of which this story is set in, I will say that this story has for me supplanted "World War Z" by Max Brooks as my favorite zombie book, and I'm certain a film adaptation could go toe-to-toe with "Battle: Los Angeles" in terms of "Oorah Marine Corps" energy. The setting of a zombie apocalypse in a modern day really brings to light Shureger's experience in the Corps, and the dialogue in this story is the most natural and believable dialogue I've read in a military story. His prowess at describing violence is practically made for the zombie genre, and as a Marine veteran myself I could see the personas of Marines I knew and loved amalgamated into the Devil Dogs of Alpha Squad.
Slaughter! What a ironic name for a soldier lol. And I liked the Ivan guy too. Very entertained. I could really feel like the author knew these soldiers and how they’d act and talked,
I know the infected / zombie trope is getting kind of old for some people but it's an excellent background for an author to let loose with pure hate. Great combat scenes, and at times I found my heart racing as I hoped the squad would make it. Highly recommended.
This book rocked. I love zombie stories - if they are well written and executed. This book met that criteria and more. It had both believable and likable characters along with pulse pounding action. Highly recommended for anyone who likes this genre.