Beyond the Inferno

By: S Butler

Narrated by: Erin Rieman

The world is dark, silent except for the crackling of flames that consume the remains of what was once Chicago.

©2016 Shannon Butler (P)2017 Shannon Butler

Interesting take

This isn't the typical zombie apocalypse. The main character is is deeply sad throughout the story. Rieman does an absolutely fantastic job bringing the depth of despair the end of civilization would bring. Decent story, could have done without the love triangle, but it did tie into the story somewhat, so that's fine. Good listen!

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Post Apocalyptic Love Triangle Mess

Beyond the Inferno is a story that starts out with promise and goes all over the place and ends up being at the heart a post-apocalyptic love triangle after someone released the zombie virus. That is never really made clear how it all started. Everyone in the world cant remembers how the world ended except one girl who now calls herself Rose Marie. But that's all she can remember, How the world ended. So that's the quest in the book. To find out how the world ended. For me, this audiobook never really clicked. We never really saw enough of the zombies or revenant as they are called in the story. If you want to try something different give it a shot maybe it will be to your taste.

One thing I really liked about this audiobook was the narration. Erin Rieman has a great voice and I really really enjoyed the performance in this production. I am looking forward to hearing more from her in the future. Her performance kept me listening to the audiobook until the end.

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge via Audiobook Boom for an unbiased review.

Unrequited Love and Amnesia

Do you think Beyond the Inferno needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I don't know if it needs one, but I'm pretty sure there will be one.

Any additional comments?

This is a confusing story. It starts in the both directions as the main character recovers her memory, sort of. There never seems to be a good explanation of . There are things that don't make sense and some really really overwrought characters and scenes. Evidently there were zombies, but no they are gone for some reason. Then they are back at the end, sort of. The main character can't make up mind about anything and ricochets between rational thought and unreasonable anger. Perhaps this is due to her amnesia and conflict, but it causes the main character to do irrational things and creates unrealistic scenarios. There is way to much inner dialog and angst.
The book is decently narrated by Erin Rieman, but is a tough listen due to the slow rambling plot.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A zombieless zombie book

The end of the world has come. The zombies invaded cities, with their contagious bite and lack of care. The only way to end this was bombarding most of the bigger cities, even though some innocent had to perish with them. Strangely, nobody remembers how it happened, since they just woke up to a flaming world of dying zombies. There is nevertheless a girl who remembers this terrible event, but has forgotten her previous life. She will need answers, and her new friends will join her in her quest.

This is a zombieless zombie book. There is plenty of talk about them and the horrors surrounding them but as they have died with the bombarding, none of them appear in this book. I am not generally fond of zombie novels, so I appreciated this, but for those who love to read about slow zombies dragging their feet and eating brains, they may be disappointed by this book.

This book is about a quest, not only about the origin of the zombies (which it is too), but a quest to Rose's heart. Do the memories make a person? If there is memory loss, and the person in question starts to make new ones, is this still the same person? This questions are asked again and again throughout the book. It is an interesting topic, but maybe not the one that one expects from an apocalypse book. Rose is twenty-three but most of the time she behaved like a teen, which makes this book appropriate for YA. There is also a lot about romance, and a love triangle that she can't figure it out. It was just too much for me, but I understand that this may appeal to many YA readers.

Although this is not a long book (just under five hours) it seemed to stall for the most part. Shannon focused too much on this personal quest and romance, while dropping important details about the zombi invasion here and there. There is a resolution towards the end, but the execution was far from credible and it felt quite rushed.

Erin Rieman's narration was absolutely wonderful. Checking her Audible page I am amazed at the fact that this seems to be her first book. Rieman has a very sweet voice but she knows how to use it well. She gave different voices to all the characters and her male voices were quite good. Her character's interpretations were really emotive, and the audio production was spot on. I am looking forward to future books narrated by Rieman.

I received this book in audio format from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Confusing

What did you like about this audiobook?

The plot was new and interesting.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

No

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

No information was presented.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

Nothing. The performance was good.

Do you have any additional comments?

I was given this book in exchange for a fair review.

End of one world, perhaps the beginning of new.

I enjoyed this book and it was a little different from a lot of the other dystopian/zombie books. The narrator did an excellent job. I voluntarily reviewed this audio book after receiving an advanced copy.

Beyond the Inferno

This is a really good short apocalypse book.I like that it contains the whole story and didn't have a cut off leading into another book.People wake up and do not remember what happened.Only one grl remembers and she has dreams,etc.She and her new friends set out to find a truth that is shocking.Erin Rieman did a great job narrating.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

the premise was interesting

I wrote a lengthy review for this book, but then erased it, realizing that I might have been spoiling much of the story when I was pointing out the issues I had with it. So I reworked the review.

I hate to leave negative reviews. I have nothing but respect for people who are not only creative but are also brave enough to then put their work out there to be scrutinized by others. So in that regard Ms. Butler has my sincere respect. That being said, I can't overlook the numerous issues I had with this book. Let me first say that the premise of the book was interesting, however the execution just wasn't there. All fiction requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief on behalf of the reader, this is even more true of some genres. Post-apocalyptic readers, at least the ones I know, tend to give authors a fair amount of latitude. Sell it to us right and we're willing to 'believe' some outrageous things. A story can be wildly unbelievable as long as it is 'grounded and believable' to the fiction world that is presented to us. Hope that makes sense. Sadly there were way too many plot holes in Beyond the Inferno, and way too much suspension of disbelief is asked for.

Now as for the narration, I quite enjoyed it. Erin Rieman has a pleasant voice and clean delivery. Definitely someone I'd be more than willing to listen to again in the future.

I received a copy of this audio title for free in exchange for an unbiased review

Interesting concept, very good narration

My review of this audiobook is consistent with several other reviewers.

The narration was great, except for a few mispronunciations (e.g., grimace). Erin has the right voice for YA fiction. The heroine in this story was 23 and Erin's vocal style is authentic for this story. Good job!

I can understand why the author might have been reluctant to make the heroine younger, but I had the distinct feeling that I was listening to YA fiction even though the main character was in her 20s. Why did I feel this way? Because of the love triangle. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles in fiction. While this would certainly appeal to some audiences, I thought that the pages would have been better filled with plot development and action scenes. We hear the revenants (zombies) make noise in one scene towards the end of the book, so we know they're out there. I would have loved if it our characters would have had to tussle with them a few times. As other reviewers mentioned, our characters seemed to get from point A to point B in the story with extreme ease. If I ever experience an apocalyptic event, I want it to be like this! (I used to ride a motorcycle and I scratch my head at the ability of the heroine to ride literally one-handed). There were two main places in the story where the author could have expanded the plot significantly and created more tension and insights/ explanation about the disease - the events at CDC and the interactions with the President. We have an interesting and mysterious world in the story and I would have liked to understand and explore it more, including the circumstances surrounding the disease and the government's role/response. I would have also liked to better understand what was happening elsewhere in the world.

Having said that, the idea for the story was quite interesting. I've read a fair bit of zombie/apocalypse fiction (for adults and also YA) and I like it when authors get creative with this genre and the characters in these types of stories.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Absolutely Loved it.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review." I love the end of days books and this one is one of the better ones I've had the pleasure of listening to. It kept me on edge and wanting more. I hope that there is more to come in this world.