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Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes #2)

Peter Clines

Why we're reading this: A small band of superheroes try to save the last of humanity from the zombie apocalypse by holing up in t…more
[close] A small band of superheroes try to save the last of humanity from the zombie apocalypse by holing up in the former Paramount film studios. Book 2 in the ex-heroes series.

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Mar 21, 2012 Thee_ron_clark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action, zombies, super-hero-stuff, post-apocalyptic

Super heroes and zombies clash again in Peter Clines' follow up novel to Ex-Heroes. I have to say, I wasn't really expecting much from the first story and was pleasantly surprised. Moving on to the sequel, I find myself hoping for a third one.

In this novel, the survivors of the first book find themselves visited by a military that they did not know still existed. Unfortunately, they also find that said military has plans for them that they are not happy to be included in.

Along with the heroes wh ...more

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Apr 10, 2017 Colleen rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, zombies, comics

...and my disappointment deepens. If you, like me, LOOOVED The Fold and 14, skip these. It almost feels like a different author. I mean, I'm sure it's the same person writing all these books, but I was almost baffled in how much Clines missed the mark in these.

Relatable, rootable characters in his sci-fi series but here--nope, one over-the-top cliche after another. In my review of the last book, I bitched about the romance popping up constantly and interfering with every scene, every character, ...and my disappointment deepens. If you, like me, LOOOVED The Fold and 14, skip these. It almost feels like a different author. I mean, I'm sure it's the same person writing all these books, but I was almost baffled in how much Clines missed the mark in these.

Relatable, rootable characters in his sci-fi series but here--nope, one over-the-top cliche after another. In my review of the last book, I bitched about the romance popping up constantly and interfering with every scene, every character, every plot development (though nothing actually happens, just lots of angst or violence)--which I don't know, I wasn't expecting in superheroes fight zombies in an apocalyptic wasteland to be like Apartment 3G Under Attack! The last book went into all sorts of Red Flag land when it came to how women were depicted, rape, necrophilia, some questionable racial stereotyping--and this one merrily tacks on the Jessica Jones theme of rape via mind control and cedes about 10% of the book to the innermost musings of an incredibly misogynistic bro. The bro's (Brute Force) thoughts have zero impact on the book, mostly just about how much he hates women and what bitches they are, he's seen for a few moments at the end, and I that downgrades this book an additional star for me.

Why? Why was that huge chapter necessary? I absolutely hate it when authors do this--in a way it's hammy overacting--ceding the stage to the most vile awful viewpoint that they can find for dramatic effect. But so much time to such a peripheral person... Clines does great backstories--the strongest parts of both books have been the THEN sections--I'd be more than happy to see Zzzap fight crime (the one and only person in these books I wholeheartedly like) as an amorphous charged cloud of energy.

I know there are more of these but I'm tapping out of the rest of the series, which is too bad. If the cliches had been toned down a smidge, and I don't know what Clines was thinking at all when it came to women & race in these books but he needs to tamp down those Piers Anthony impulses--hopefully he has, since I didn't see that in those books, but still. It felt like every 5th word of this book was c***t. There is something of a rah! girl power in the frigid too-beautiful-to-ever-love-a-man Stealth, but I found her ultimately a gross and unbelievable wish-fulfillment as well.

The idea is still fantastic (though Marvel Zombies did this far far far better, and that's saying something because it got cheesy pretty quickly)--what good would Batman be in a world of a zombies--28 Days Later style? How would loner-anonymous-socially-stunted-authoritarian vigilantes get along with a frightened survivors and the stress of being the savior for thousands against ever increasing number of zombies or other enemies in the government or surrounding warlords? ...more

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