REVIEW: Mountain Man

 Mountain Man
Author: Keith Blackmore

I enjoy a good zombie story...especially one that steps away from the typical characters/plots. The main character in this series is just an average guy. He's not a survivalist...not really prepared...and not a stand-out in any way really. Gus Berry was a house painter before the zombies came. He was a fat, lower middle class white guy. And content with that. Then the world went to hell....and Gus learned quickly how to survive. Now he is a less fat, average white guy who survives by scavenging, drinking and sheer dumb luck. 

This is what might happen to an average joe spending two years or more by himself, isolated up on a hill above a city filled with zombies who want to eat him. He's a bit off his head.....too much into the bottle....and doing the best he can do. He found a house that fits his needs and made it safe.....he finds what he needs to survive....and has learned a few lessons on what to avoid. He makes mistakes...lots of them. He's obsessed with finding toilet paper (after events in 2020, I fully sympathize!) and drinks to celebrate each and every time he arrives back home after a scavenging trip. 

This story is not for those who have issues with a man being a man. He has no filter -- when you are alone after the end of the world, who needs a filter? Gus focuses a lot on his booze supply, self-medicates frequently with alcohol, cusses with abandon, celebrates when he finds toilet paper to wipe his ass, scratches his balls whenever the hell he wants, and is just happy to finish the day alive. He drinks so much he vomits.....shits his pants a couple times....talks to his buddies Captain Morgan and Uncle Jack like a castaway making friends with a soccer ball....and survives. This isn't a pretty story.....it's the freaking zombie apocalypse. Dead people want to attack and eat him. He's alone. Society is gone. The plot is gritty, gross in places, and unapologetically male. If any of that might offend...pass this story by. Not every story is for every reader. 

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. Narrated by R.C. Bray, the audio is a bit over 8 hours long. Bray does an outstanding job of narrating! He really brought Gus to life and did an excellent job of voice acting. Definitely adding Bray to my list of favorite narrators. Outstanding! 

Just going to stress this fact -- this book is NOT for anyone who doesn't want to hear about bodily functions, drinking, guy stuff, guy junk, sex and violence. All of the above is in this story....unfiltered and real. It's the zombie apocalypse....and Blackmore sanitizes nothing. 

Enjoyed it! Moving on to the second book....gotta find out what happens to Gus next!