Product Description

The outbreak began in 2007. It's now 2112.

The crippled U.S. government is giving up in its fight against an undead plague. Military forces and aid have been withdrawn from the last coastal cities, leaving those who choose to stay in the "badlands" defenseless against hordes of zombified humans and animals.

It's been a hopeless battle from the beginning. The undead, born of an otherworldly energy fused with a deadly virus, have no natural enemies.

But they do have one supernatural enemy... Death himself.

Descending upon the ghost town of Jefferson Harbor, Louisiana, the Grim Reaper embarks on a bloody campaign to put down the legions that have defied his touch for so long. He will find allies in the city's last survivors, and a nemesis in a man who wants to harness the force driving the zombies--a man who seeks to build an empire of the dead where America once stood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #228440 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781934861028
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
A macabre masterpiece of post-apocalyptic zombie goodness. -- Dr. Pus, Library of the Living Dead Podcast

About the Author
David Dunwoody lives in Utah with his wife and their cats. Other stories from the Empire universe can be found in The Undead, The Undead: Flesh Feast, and The Undead: Headshot Quartet, all from Permuted Press; as well as Read by Dawn II from Bloody Books, and at www.empirenovel.com.

Customer Reviews

Empire of the Dead, 4.5 stars
Empire takes place a century from now, long after the rise of the plague that caused the dead to rise. These zombies are a bit different than what we have seen in other works though: the dead have always had the ability to rise up when near places that are a "source" of supernatural power, but the plague came because the power of the source was laced with a deadly virus that allows their bites to transfer their infection, allowing them to perpetuate it and carry it through the entire human population. These zombies are tougher--some are faster, stronger, and continue to regain near living physical capabilities as they feed on the living. You can't just shoot 'em in the head and walk away, you need to sever the head and burn them...always burn them.
The story takes place in Jefferson Harbor, Louisiana near one of the sources of supernatural undead energy and likely the origin point of the plague. The military has pulled out, giving up on yet another coastal community as the remnants of the US government continues to consolidate its shrinking power to the north inside walled in cities. A few citizen's choose to remain behind, ignoring the goverment's pleas to go with them as the city is abandoned. Those that choose to stay include a cop who wants to protect those who have decided to stay, a rock group that has traveled the country trying to offer a bit of a distraction from the plague for the troops and citizens who struggle onward, a man who believes he understands the true power behind the source and wants to tap into it for his own evil purposes, and a dark visitor, the grim reaper, who wants to put a stop to the undead who have defied his scythe for far too long.
David Dunwoody has created a vibrant and creative tale of the undead, fresh with new ideas and yet still unleashing the vast flow of gruesome goodness a fan of zombie fiction craves. The grim reaper is by far one of the most traditional symbols of death but tying him into this story was definitely interesting and unique amongst the zombie tales I have read over the past few years. That this story takes place over a century beyond the inception of the plague also provides us with a different viewpoint than the traditional outbreak tale, with the entire cast of characters having lived with the undead their entire lives--death is all around them, waiting for them everywhere they look. They have a resigned nature to them, an acceptance that they are living quite possibly at the end of days. Most of the characters just want to hold on to what little life they have left, even if they know their end is coming soon.
While I liked the creativity of this plot, I guess my one issue would have to be with what I would call the grand delusions of Baron Tetch. A mad genius communing with old world powers that ooze out of the swamp close to where he lives, he cuts a disturbing figure of man who wishes to control the dead and create his own empire where he stands supreme above them. His desire for power should have been more sweeping, more awe inspiring. Somehow I felt he was more of just a puny madman than a wicked sorcerer communing with the old gods in a way that would bring down the wrath of Death himself. But this is a minor issue and does not take away from this gritty tale of life, death, and afterdeath. We have characters that feel real and complicated--they understand what they face and that more than likely they won't make it out alive but they keep on fighting, clinging to every bit of living they have remaining in them while the world around them crumbles. I particularly liked the character Vorhees, who seemed tenacious and determined, willing to sacrifice himself to salvage the unsalvageable, to save anyone he could regardless of the massive odds stacked against him.
A good read and a new and creative slant on the traditional zombie tale.

Graveyard of Dead Logic
This could have been a really good book. The author is a competent writer, and has a strikingly original idea about how the Grim Reaper would deeply resent being cheated out of his task by an undead virus. Could have been . . . but isn't. Here's what went wrong.
- Uses the cookie-cutter "guess who is going to die next" formula. Like countless bad slasher movies, here you have a cast of characters, and have to try to guess who gets killed off next, and who will live to the end.
- Characters appear with no real purpose. Most of the action takes place in town, but there is a small Army group that stayed behind after the main force left, and spends most of its time outside town. They have no place whatever in the main story. It's like an additional short story that got chopped into pieces, and a piece inserted into the novel every chapter or so.
- Logic hole #1. The zombies here are propagated by getting bitten by another zombie, which passes along a virus. (Except zombies who are caused by exposure to "the Source", but that is pretty much an unexplored distinction.) Zombies gain energy by eating people, and the more they eat, the more energetic and "healthy" they become. But unlike the prototype Romero zombies, these zombies can't be killed with a head shot, because their flesh regenerates. So, a virus gives people the ability to regenerate flesh, bones, and organs? Say, that's a pretty good trick. And once a zombie is shot in the head, and the brain is gone, how does it function? Is the virus intelligent?
- Logic hole #2. The story is set 100 years after the outbreak. But the zombie virus is a cross-species one. It affects people, animals, fish, and amphibians. It may affect insects; that's hinted at but not really clear. With the food chain pretty much wiped out, and humans serving as a food source for an endless horde of zombie humans, birds, rats, dogs, mice, etc, is there any chance there would be life on earth after 100 years? Nope, maybe 10-20 years max.
- Death makes an innovative character, but is pretty much a bit player. The twist on Death's fate near the end is ingenious, but the author doesn't really do much with it.
- Sadly, like many zombie books, this is clearly part 1 in a multi-part series of books. When you're paying for a fairly short book (280 pages, but large type on small pages), at twice the cost of a normal paperback book, you have the right to expect better.

With every zombie novel, like horror or sci-fi, you have to suspend disbelief to an extent. But once you establish the parameters for your little corner of hell, then the rest of the story should logically fit within your constraints. That doesn't happen here. It makes an OK read if you can find it at a library, but just isn't worth the cost to buy a copy.

Not Enough Grim Reaper!!
This book started off with a great premise: have the grim reaper take care of all the worlds remaining undead zombies. I guess it was too much to ask to have the reaper mowing down hoards of the undead side by side with the world's remaining survivors. The reaper doesn't even show up very often in the early chapters. This was a HUGE disappointment since this author was such a talented writer! This book showed so much promise it's a shame it took a left turn and never got back on the road! To make matters worse this author leaves huge gaps unanswered, as he expects the "sequel" to be written. Sorry, zombie lovers; I suggest you look else ware for a better read.