‘The Remaining Book 1’ by DJ. Molles was my first introduction to the zombie book genre; granted there are many other genres this series falls under. Zombies being one of the most prominent. I have to say it was quite the ride. I didn’t know what to expect, other than what my grandmother told me and what the back summary of the book gave me. But once I picked up the first book, I didn’t put it down. I had to read more, and so I bought the second book; vice verses up until I had finished the last installment of the series. There were many things I loved with very few things I could find to criticize, to the point that finding anything worth criticizing would be border lined nitpicking. But this post is regarding the first of the series, so let’s get on with it.
If you ask me, constructive criticism offers both “What did I like and What didn’t I like.” Let’s start with the positives so that we begin on a good note to set the tone for the rest.
What did I love? Well, just about everything. The settings, the pacing, the characters, and the attention to detail. The author retained my interest by keeping things a mystery. I had questions that needed answering and when I had answers I found myself asking more questions. The pages just kept on turning afterward.
One of the biggest takeaways I got from the first book was the in-depth detailed insight on military/police careered characters. What I mean to say is the training, mindset, and second nature people who train in the armed forces and police forces would have that most civilians do not have. There is insight regarding this from the author that I appreciated and learned from. Not to say that civilian characters were helpless in any way, because most were not. I’m just saying I learned a lot from Mr. Molles who knows about such details. My hats off to you good sir, in that you’ve taught me a good deal about such details, making me a better reader and writer.
The “zombies” were excellent, and the “adversarial humans” were just as much of an antagonist as the infected. When it came down to scrap, it was a death battle. Gritty and consequential. By that I mean people just don’t get up and walk off any injuries. Every blow given and taken has lasting effects that feel real.
I also appreciated how the story doesn’t go into detail about how the military and population were overrun by the infected. But we see glimpses into that recent past well after the collapse of society. I feel like this was a good choice because we’ve seen it a million times and don’t need to re-experience it again, rather it allows us to insert how exactly that occurs on our own.
So what did I, not like? Well for me, there isn’t much to criticize. I devoured this book (and the sequels). It would be borderline nitpicking for me to find anything. The only thing I can think of is an instance where I would’ve liked to have seen certain dialogue be condensed. A couple of times there are errors in the writing, but that’s something that every book and author is subjected to. Such things can be ignored and I jump right back into the story. But like I said, nitpicking and I’m not giving it. The Remaining Book One (and the sequels) has a top-shelf seating on my bookshelf. I love this book and this series.
The Remaining is great and done exceptionally well. I am so glad that my first introduction to the zombie genre was this series. If you read Book 1, be prepared to read the rest of them. This is all just my opinion of course. With very little to criticize, I was thoroughly invested in reading the whole series through. So much so that DJ Molles has the title of one of my favorite authors, with a consistent line of books being released I’m always impressed with what he writes.
My final rating for the Remaining (series as a whole) is a Hard Cover Collection for my bookshelf.
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