I’ve listened to the first 9 books in this series, and while they weren’t exceptional, they provided good value for the money, and I became invested in the characters and the overall story. When I discovered that there was a book 10 outside of the collection I had just finished, I couldn’t resist diving into it.
However, this particular book took a darker turn. Yes, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world with the infected, and yes, humans often behave like jerks and worsen things. But in this installment, I felt it delved too deeply into dark themes, particularly rape and attempted rape. It deviated from the tone established in books 1-9, which were indeed dark and unsettling with plenty of death, but didn’t focus extensively on this specific aspect. In those earlier books, instances of such violence were mentioned but not dwelled upon, often serving to highlight the main characters’ personal struggles and their perceived failures to intervene. However, this book had prolonged and uncomfortable descriptions of sexual assault that made me, as a listener, feel uneasy. For that reason alone, I would advise against listening to it if this content is likely to bother you, as it did for me.
Apart from that, the story unfolded, offering glimpses into where the characters ended up after all these years. It introduced new ideas about the whites and their healing abilities and mortality, which I appreciated. However, the journey to reach those revelations felt marred by the excessive focus on disturbing elements, dampening my overall enjoyment of the experience.