Tartarus: West of Hell #2, written by Jason Brant, is the long-awaited sequel to Gehenna: West of Hell #1. When Gehenna ended, McCall and Karen had managed to fight off the moaners long enough to board a train. They were finally riding away from the burning town of Gehenna and the horde of flesh-eating corpses that had overtaken it.
The train they boarded was full of passengers who gazed in wonder at McCall and Karen. McCall wasted no time in announcing his identity as they all stared at Karen, covered in blood and zombie bits. Of course, no one realizes what these two have just escaped, so they aren't quite ready to believe them, especially since McCall is waving a gun around. The two zombie escapees are not thrilled to find out that there are at least fifteen injured people, all of whom have been bitten by the undead, in the back car. The passengers don't have a clue about what is going on. They have no idea that those bitten will turn into the walking dead.
Did McCall and Karen escape one hell only to enter an even worse one? Oh, and McCall isn't the only criminal on the train. On board with him is a guy who has the reputation of being the fastest gun around, and with him is another who just happens to be a sadistic killer.
No one believes their warnings about what will happen to those bitten. McCall and Karen understand why no one believes them. If they hadn't experienced it themselves, they wouldn't believe it either.
Now McCall is questioning whether it is actually necessary to be bitten to turn into one of these horrific creatures. Could coming in contact with the blood of one who has been bitten be enough to bring about such a change?
The biblical twist that I so loved in Gehenna continues on through this story. The things Doc Randy said continue to run through Karen's mind as she, McCall, and others on the train fight off these deceased cannibals. If you know your bible at all, you will recognize the names of the places mentioned. McCall and Karen are fleeing from Gehenna and are on their way to Sheol, a city on the edge of the desert. The train's final destination is by the River Tartarus. If you don't have a clue what these names mean, you might want to look them up. Could there be a hell worse than what they experienced in Gehenna?
The characters are most definitely believable and behave in ways that I imagine people would behave if their town was ever overrun by zombies. Even though they act like I imagine they would, that doesn't mean they're predictable, just that I can see them doing the things the author allows them to do.
If you like zombie books and stories filled with action, you will enjoy this book. You need to realize this is a zombie book, so there is plenty of blood and gore. Also there is a smattering of curse words, but let's face it. If I was being chased by a horde of zombies, keeping my language clean would be the very last thing on my mind.
One word of warning – the ending of this book will make you mad. It won't make you mad because it isn't written well, it will make you mad because you will immediately want to read the third book in this series. I yelled really loud after reading the last paragraph. How could the author end his book with such a cliffhanger? I wanted the third book in the series immediately, but I am forced to wait until sometime around the end of this month for the publication of Sheol.
I received my copy of Tartarus free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review. If you would like a copy of this book for your own personal library to help you train for the upcoming zombie apocalypse, I have provided an Amazon link for you below.
