The Ghoul Archipelago

By: Stephen Kozeniewski

Narrated by: Jennifer Fournier

After ravenous corpses topple society and consume most of the world's population, freighter captain Henk Martigan is shocked to receive a distress call. Eighty survivors beg him to whisk them away to the relative safety of the South Pacific. Martigan wants to help, but to rescue anyone he must first pass through the nightmare backwater of the Curien island chain.

A power struggle is brewing in the Curiens. On one side, the billionaire inventor of the mind-control collar seeks to squeeze all the profit he can out of the apocalypse. Opposing him is the charismatic leader of a ghoul-worshipping cargo cult. When a lunatic warlord berths an aircraft carrier off the coast and stakes his own claim on the islands, the stage is set for a bloody showdown.

To save the remnants of humanity (and himself), Captain Martigan must defeat all three of his ruthless new foes and brave the gruesome horrors of...The Ghoul Archipelago.

©2013 Stephen Kozeniewski (P)2017 Stephen Kozeniewski

Lots of fun ideas - but needed a little more

The Curien Island chain is infested with the walking dead… and they wear glass jars on their heads tightly sealed to their necks. Yeah – that should give you a horrific visual. Drug traffickers collide with the locals and the US Navy. It’s really quite a mess as the world falls apart. On top of that, Rand Bergeron, creator of the virtual reality gizmo and sex programs, is right smack in the middle of this as well. It’s quite logical that a twisted religious cult would rise up out of all this mess, lead by Sonntag. I loved hating on Sonntag! He was the most despicable character but also a powerful force that pushes all the other heavy hitters around.

My favorite character was Libby West. She’s trapped walking this thin line under Admiral Fall. She wants to keep her men safe and also help the remaining humans but Admiral Fall has some twisted ideas. West tries again and again to hold to some healthy morals as people around her stray ever further into one flavor of depravity or another.

It took me some time to get into this book. First, the zombies jar heads (while an awesome scary image) just wasn’t practical. Where do they get all these jars? What happens when they break? Zombies are clumsy. Then the story spent time on this fancy new tech from Bergeron which was at odds with this nitty gritty zombie infestation. But once all the characters clashed together, the story worked a lot better for me.

Tuan Jim was a fun character because he kept popping up in unexpected places. I loved it when he squared off with Sonntag. Martigan, while an important character, was only so-so for me. Hannibal Mo was more memorable, along with Kurtz and how they lend a much needed helping hand to Butch (a stow away).

The story takes a devious turn in the last quarter that I didn’t see coming. Yet I did wonder about Bergeron’s virtual reality collars. They have a little needle that slips between the vertebrae…. and injects something? There was line about the collars needing a refill? So I had questions about the collars and their final use.

All in all, it was a mash of fun ideas that could have been tightened up a bit. Most of the characters were one-dimensional and I wanted the details about the tech to be clearer. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Jennifer Fournier did a great job with this narration. She had a variety of character voices, complete with accents. Her male voices were believable. There were plenty of emotions in this story and Fournier portrayed them well. 5/5 stars.

Fantastic

Unique story filled with fun characters and read by a wonderful voice performer. Not a typical zombie novel with a fun blend of historical fiction--life at sea on a ship, and science fiction--futuristic technology.

Zombies

What did you like best about this story?

The Ghoul Archipelago tells a story about the zombie apocalypse that occured in fictional islands in the South Pacific,. The story was a bit confusing at first, as I tried to adjust to the different points of view, but by the end I was quite invested and staying up late to find out what was going to happen. Very interesting plot.

a good zombie apocalypse tale

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator.

I love a good zombie apocalypse, and this is a good one. The characters are well-drawn and the plot involves more than just the "run, scavenge and survive" present in all zombie tales. There's social, political, and religious commentary/snark. It is irreverent, crude and gory. I largely enjoyed the social, political, and religious commentary/snark, although some is bit stereotypical. The gore didn't bother me, but this book is probably not for the really squeamish. I did find a few of the sexual depictions verged on offensive, particularly those involving Rand and his VR collar. Definitely written from a male point of view, but luckily these scenes weren't too prevalent or lengthy. The presence of strong female characters with agency redeemed the author.

There is a large cast of characters. The novel jumps around from character group to character group. All interact in the end, but you do need to pay attention to keep track of them all and follow the action, particularly in the beginning when the jumps can be a little confusing.

The narration is very well-done. I'd recommend the audio - this is the type of tale I like to listen to while gardening, doing dishes, etc. Because of some of the gory and/or explicit sexual scenes, watch out if listening while driving with the windows down. I had one awkward moment while stopped at a red light.

Strange book, great narration!

If you could sum up The Ghoul Archipelago in three words, what would they be?

Weird, ghoulish fluff.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Eh.

What does Jennifer Fournier bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I loved her narration and the way she breathed life into rather far fetched leaden characters. If it wasn’t for Ms Fournier’s entrancing voice, I’d probably have turned this back in and reclaimed my credit. I hope this terrific narrator gets to read more polished, less ghoulish books in the future. She deserves better!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

This isn’t my genre, obviously, but I enjoyed the telling so stuck with the tale.

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Pickle Jar Muzzles and So Much More

If you’re looking for a zombie novel beyond the typical undead apocalypse, The Ghoul Archipelago by Stephen Kozeniewski delivers in pirated goods. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill zombie fare; it’s an ambitious mix of horror, satire, and enough existential dread to make you reconsider humanity’s priorities. Just when you think one subplot might overshadow the others, Kozeniewski ties them together with a blood-soaked bow.
The “mechanism” (I’m cringing just hinting at it) of the undead is something I have not encountered in my reading of various other zombie novels. What makes this story stand out isn’t just the creative kills (although there are plenty of those) but the unapologetic way it holds a mirror up to society. Greed, corruption, blind faith, perversion (so so so much) and survival instinct are all on full, grotesque display. It’s uncomfortable, it’s ugly, and it’s utterly compelling. With the tiniest twinkle of hope of the future in the very end.
The horror in The Ghoul Archipelago isn’t just in the shambling corpses but in the very human choices made in the face of disaster. With various defined reactions ranging from opportunistic, to worship, to just trying their best to survive, I found myself gagging more at the moral rot than the physical gore—though Kozeniewski doesn’t skimp on the latter.
If you’ve got the stomach for something that’s as thought-provoking as it is gag-worthy, this book is for you. Five stars for originality, tension, and a horrifyingly accurate look at what might really happen when the world ends.

Who are the real ghouls?

This book is not your standard zombie flare, and that's what I liked about it. A story with zombies that steers clear of the tropes and is more character driven without getting boring like The Walking Dead. If you're looking for a story with zombies that isn't like a lot of the fodder out there, this is your book.

The Ghoul Archipelago

I loved the concept of the story, but honestly I had a hard time keeping things straight as the point of view changed from one character group to another. This was definitely not your typical zombie apocalypse tale.

I was once again impressed with the excellent narration by Jennifer Fournier.

High Seas & Zombies

The Ghoul Archipelago takes us on quite the adventure. On the high seas, to the islands of Southeast Asia, we experience a region of the world unfamiliar to many of us. Kozeniewski populates his near-future vision of the exotic environment with smugglers, pirates, island tribes, missionary religious fanatics, a smug computer programmer and inventor, and, of course, zombies. We've witnessed zombies all over American and Europe, the cities of Asia, and the islands of the Caribbean. Stephen Kozeniewski takes us to a novel location where we can witness the collapse of civilization and the rise of the undead, somewhere it's less apparent that the rest of the world is gone.
At the core of this story, we see the same sad commentary on human nature fans of the subgenre should be familiar with. No matter where we are in the world, it would appear that we're always too preoccupied with petty squabbles and power plays to focus on the survival that should be the unifying goal under such dire circumstances. As depressing as it might be, the author probably isn't far off from the truth of it all.
Skirting through a gauntlet of pirates on the payroll of a billionaire still fixated on profit, adherents of a Christian death cult, and a megalomaniacal naval commander are Henk Martigan and his crew of smugglers. Will anyone make it through Kozeniewski's tale alive, or will monsters, both living and undead, grind all of the survivors into a meaty pulp of blood and viscera until only maggots thrive?
It's not easy to create an original story of the zombie apocalypse, but The Ghoul Archipelago is precisely that. Reliant on three-dimensional, believable, and even sympathetic characters, Kozeniewski propels the reader through scattered viewpoints as the adventure becomes far more than just a zombie story.
Jennifer Fournier's audiobook narration is excellent, especially when capturing shifts in cadence and accent from one character to another.