I really enjoy post apocalyptic stories. The Last of Us was very entertaining this year and The Post had a lot of same type of feel for me as The Last of Us.

This one does have a heavier subject matter so definitely check out the summary for this one so you know what the story thread focuses on.

Otherwise I’d definitely recommend this one!

Read this right at the beginning of Covid 19 lock down and this book felt very Eerie. I normally stray away from post apocalyptic books. However this book just kept drawing me in for me and before I knew it. I was at the end of the book

This was one of the better post-apocalyptic books I've read and very very eerie to see what Kevin Munoz envisioned as I read it while on Covid 19 lockdown. The idea of zombies here was mingled with the very current illegal business of human trafficking. I liked the characters, they were strong and not lacking. The story line too was well written and well edited before publication. Information was fed to the reader as required, we learned as much or as little as was required. Sam, the main protagonist and lead investigator was capable, competent and interesting. Fighting against the hollowheads while investigating and trying to put a stop to the human trafficking presented two very different dilemmas in this story. It provided for a very good, individual kind of novel. I give it 4 stars.

A Surprise in the Crowded Post-Apocalyptic Genre

I’m sure that people would be able to pick apart a book that they loved but I couldn’t find a lot of flaws in The Post. I really enjoyed it and I think it’s because it was just a little different than the rest of the books I’ve read in this genre. Similar to how I feel about Nicholas Sansbury Smith novels. They are just a click or two away from “the norm” and it just takes them a level above the rest.

Munoz writes an absolutely heart-wrenching story full of twists and turns and surprises that even a veteran PA reader like myself couldn’t predict. I’ve seen him call it a zombie and mystery book wrapped up in one and I fully agree with that. It starts off where the reader learns about the community a bit and also about the zombies outside their gates. The zombies themselves (called hollow-heads due to the fact that there is “nothing left in their heads”) weren’t anything new or super unique. The screamers reminded me of my least favorite zombie in the State of Decay video games. Anytime someone would get close they would emit an ear-splitting scream – thus calling more hollow-heads to your position).

Another shock (for me) was that Munoz doesn’t really do a ton of world-building about the pre-outbreak world. I applaud him here only because this is someplace where books can lose me. Not because it’s boring or anything, but because they don’t do a good job (or just skip the science completely). All we know about the world is that they are living in The Little Five and we find out later that they are outside of Atlanta. The only real look back we’re given is that a pandemic killed most of the population and that the ones who were left were either okay or hollow-heads.

Munoz’s description of the virus (or whatever it was) that ended up turning you into a hollow-head was interesting and well thought out in my opinion. The fact that a person started to feel better (and also really not care about anything in the world) as the pathogen ate away at parts of their brain was interesting and a good touch.

Now, I’ve skipped talking about the actual full plot of this book and I don’t think that I can talk too much about it. I’m going to refer to the synopsis to see what would be considered a spoiler, but there was a kidnapping that ends up causing the main character to discover that there is a whole deep and dark world outside of The Little Five that they would have never expected. The final third of the book as she goes out in search of answers was a tour-de-force and I absolutely had to get through it to figure out what happened.

I don’t know if Munoz purposefully wrote the ending the way he did, but I can say that it was left open-ended enough to become a series. I do know that the series (after book one) would fall into the more typical PA tropes (I think) but maybe Munoz will surprise me again! One can hope!

Overall, I loved this book. It’s definitely going to stick with me for a long time after. It’s definitely a book in a crowded genre that made me think. And a story that I’ll be telling others about for a while.

My Rating : 4

This book revolves around the concept of a dystopian world where 'hollow-heads' (or otherwise called as zombies to be simple exists) and even they are not the biggest problem the main character faces. Sure, that sounds interesting as well as horrifying because it is. This book deals with a lot of sensitive topics so a <b> TRIGGER WARNING </b> is definitely needed. It deals with human trafficking, sexual assault and a lot of explicit death scenes. So make sure to keep that in mind before you start this book.

First of all, the characters were amazing. We didn't have a lot of them, but I really liked the complexity of the characters. Nobody is perfect, everyone has their own demons to deal with and they are not afraid to let it show. I think that accounts for a really good package when it comes to a dystopian novel. You need that uncertainty, the hope that everything might get better even when shit is going down. I loved the pacing of the book. It was not fast, which really let the situations sink in before anything bad starts happening. I almost cried twice.

When it comes to the plot, it is not something really new. Yeah you can only do much when it comes to this particular genre, but I was really glad when Romance was not the main focus of this book. It dealt with relationships, yes, but not explicitly romance. And I was really into it this book because of that. Plus Marilyn was one of my favorite characters! (Not a spoiler but...) Sure Sam is the main character, but I felt that the reason Sam stayed sane was because of Marilyn and if not, she would have made terrible decisions and just gotten herself killed. I loved how vulnerable the character sometimes were, and accepts their stupidity. I have not read a lot of dystopian novels, so I might be wrong, but I really loved how this book turned out.

But, I would have loved to read some more about the actual situations people were in, and how they came to be what they are right now, and there were a few loose ends in the ending. And the twist, okay.. about half way through the book you kind of figure out who the person is and there are a lot hints that helps you with that too. Despite the slightly disappointing ending, I really liked this book and how it deals with the harsh reality of the world. Also, this book reminded me of the movie World war Z, and it is slightly similar when it comes to how the Hollowheads work, but they have their differences.

If you are someone who is looking for a dystopian novel that doesn't have romance centric plot, really good pacing and writing, you definitely check this book out. I definitely would be reading a lot more of dystopian from now on.

Despite multiple attempts to go back to this book I could not finished. I could not buy into the premise of the book.... even in the suspension of disbelief it just did not connect.with me.

I really enjoyed reading this! It took awhile to get to it but once I started I finished it in a day.

The Walking Dead: post-apocalypse

At least, that's how it came off to me. A story of life after the world goes "dead". When, all of a sudden, you're forced back into "normal" criminal activity. Only, it's through one of the most despicable crimes... human trafficking.

The Post by Kevin Munoz is a dystopian suspense novel set in rural Georgia. The novel is set in the not so distant future and focuses in on a community known as the the Little Five. Society has collapsed after an unknown virus has taken out 90 percent of the world’s human population. There are now 2 primary groups of living humans in this new future. Regular humans, and zombiefied humans who thirst for flesh, who are known as hollow heads.

Sam serves as the chief law enforcement officer in the Little Five. She is in charge of a small group of deputies and she manages the safety and order of the small community. Sam has definitely suffered considerably since society collapsed, and she lost her daughter and her wife. She feels compelled to protect and serve those in the community to atone in some way for those she has lost.

The Little Five is accustomed to taking in random survivors who come up to the border fence, so when 2 wanderers named Owen and Abigail show up at the fence asking for help, Sam accepts them freely. She allows them to stay in the Little Five so they can at least get back on their feet. The relative peace of the Little Five is shattered when the two wandering strangers are attacked and killed one night. It is clear they were ambushed from within, and the sanctity of the Little Five is thrown into question. Things deteriorate further when a trap is set by a mystery character that brings hordes of hollow heads to the doors of the Little Five. It soon becomes apparent that the hollow head trap was set to abduct the 16 year old step daughter of the town mayor, Phoebe. Sam cannot let Phoebe go, and she vows to hunt down Phoebe’s abductors.

I was not really sure at first where this story was headed, and it had a feel reminiscent of Walking Dead in some ways. I might be somewhat jaded, but I initially thought the character of Sam was male. It isn’t revealed till later that she is female, which kind of made her more interesting. She is a strong, fierce character who has a strong moral fiber despite spending years living in a altered reality where the lines between right and wrong have visibly blurred, and the survivors have had to invent new and novel ways to survive. The story does gather steam quickly, and I was interested in finding out what happens to the main players in the story. The story does have a plot twist in it that keep things unexpected and interesting. I am curious to see if there more adventures for this character. Novel provided by Netgalley.

The Post was not what I expected it to be. I won't spoil anything. I will say some issues and characterization made me uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I didn't like this one at all. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Stand Your Post, Soldier! This was an excellent story in the vein of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, but... you know, actually good! But it *did* remind me of that bleak, depressing world McCarthy created. This book simply tells a far superior story of zombies and lesbians and a horrifying secret being kept by some people in a town that has come together over the years after the zombies took over the world. This is one of those books that tells a complete tale but leaves a sequel open and ready, and I for one am hoping we get it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Diversion Books for the opportunity to read advance e-galley of this book.

In Kevin Munoz's The Post, I've fallen victim to bait and switch again. What starts as a post apocalyptic novel centering around a surviving community veers off towards mystery then jumps ship to be a politically relevant and almost thematically western as a small group of heroes led by our moral compass character sets out to rescue a female in distress and set all wrongs to right.

This book tries to go in too many directions at once. It works so hard to be of the moment by throwing in a child/sex trafficking story line that just seems difficult to correlate with scenes of driving vehicles over herds of zombies. It's like The Walking Dead with social and moral relevance?

I'm sorry to say this one didn't work for me. 2 stars

The Post was not what I expected. And unfortunately not in a good way. I was hoping for an action filled story about zombies but instead what I got is a slow burning post-apocalyptic story. The zombies or hollow-head as they are called in the book seem kind of like a backstory to the happenings in the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc, opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Diversion books, and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story is a strange and brutal tale crafted by newcomer Kevin A. Muñoz. Often dark to the point of being physically unnerving and bulging with well-crafted battles between the main character, Police Chief Sam Edison of the Little Five and hollow-heads, unkillable cannibals no longer capable of higher thought. All within the context of a small struggling community fighting to make a home again after an apocalypse of illness and destruction ten years prior.

The story revolves around our main protagonist, Police Chief Sam Edison. A once upon a time coast guard captain, who has fallen into the role of Police chief and leader of a small community called Little Five. Sam struggles daily with memories of the past and the death of Sam's wife and daughter. Edison continually attempts to atone for deaths that were no one's fault and spends much of the novel recriminating herself. This causes a compulsive need to protect the innocent much to the detriment of those around her. Two strangers arrive at the fence of Little Five hoping for succor. One of the strangers happened to be a young, pregnant and abused young lady. They are promptly murdered within days of arriving. It is apparent that they were killed to protect a secret. To make matters worse, along with the murders, the beloved stepdaughter of the mayor is kidnaped. Sam feels compelled to the right this wrong, find Phoebe, and bring justice upon those who hurt young women.

At this point, the primary basis of the story has been laid, and the pace of the novel picks up. We are treated to battle after well-crafted battle between Hollow-Heads, gunmen, and town traitors on Sam's quest to rescue Phoebe. The reader has a choice at this point, either cheer for Sam or scratch their heads at Sam's misguided stubborn refusal to abandon this quest. It is the weight of one innocent's death versus the death of many. That in itself adds to the horror and pacing of the story. I know that me personally, I found myself often wondering at Sam's motivations, as well as the motives of supporting characters that assisted Sam in her endeavors. This often broke the suspended disbelief of the story for me.

Another quibble I have in an otherwise excellent piece of writing is the use of two plagues. One a strange catch-all cannibal creating disease that has affected the population at large. The other is vague allusions to oil going bad at about the same time as the cannibal creating illness. The fuel going bad sets up plot points further into the story, but I found it unnecessary and even distracting. If facing an apocalyptic scenario, oil would go bad and become scarce as a matter of course. No people means no oil refineries. Bio-diesel would become a tradeable and necessary resource for a community to thrive.

One thing that Muñoz does quite well is creating a believable apocalyptic world, aside from my small quibbles about oil. He creates a setting in which the town, Little Five, is surviving and in some ways flourishing, but never for a moment is it forgotten how close to the edge of destruction they are. It is believable in many of the ways that most apocalyptic scenario stories are not.

The ending is a bit muddled and less satisfying that I would like, but I will leave that to you readers to find out for yourself. All in all, this is a reasonably satisfying read, a bit confusing at times and head-scratching, but still gratifying. If you are a fan of "The Walking Dead" and "A Walk Amongst the Tombstones" by Lawrence Block, I think you will enjoy this.

A grim and gritty post apocalyptic tale set in Atlanta and its surrounds. In the not so distant future, a strange plague has wiped out an estimated nine tenths of the worlds population, creating roving herds of "Hollow Heads" , essentially walking corpses whose brains have degenerated leaving only the most basic functionality. Despite the world having gone to hell, the community of Little Five are doing pretty well, They have their own bio-diesel manufacturing plant, a healthy barter and trade system and stout defences against the Hollows, In charge of the safety of the community is former coastguard turned de-facto police officer Sam Edison, still grieving the loss of a wife and daughter. When a man and a pregnant teenager arrive at their gates, seeking sanctuary, the people of Little Five take them in, but in their wake comes nothing but trouble, as it is soon revealed that under the surface several of the Little FIve townsfolk may be involved in a dangerous conspiracy involving human trafficking and slavery. When one of their own is taken, Sam and some others head out on a rescue mission rife with danger, and along the way learn that some people are more monstrous than the hollow heads could ever be.
I really enjoyed this book, the excellent pacing kept me turning pages from start to end, and the author did a really great job of populating his world with a really interesting and believable group of characters. I particularly applaud the fact that it is not made clear until the mid way point in the book that Sam is a woman, its rare to find a lesbian character where their sexuality is not made a big deal of or emphasised in a way that is not the case for heterosexual characters , but here Sam as a character just happens to be gay, it is a simple fact that does not become a defining plot point for the book. My only real criticism is the over use of precise descriptions of each and every gun the characters used, held or even saw., it seemed like unnecessary detail that at times got in the way of a dramatic or exciting scene.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

There's something about novels centered around policemen - or their equivalent - in a post-apocalyptic setting. Invariably they're all trying to bring order to a world that's lost it's mind (in this case, literally), and invariably they always run up against the worst in humanity as a result.
The Post does this very well. Our main character, Sam Edison, is the kind of woman who just wants to do her job and keep her people safe. But she's not afraid to take action when he has to, and we're spared the kind of dithering that props up a weak plotline - instead, the story of this book stands on it's own two feet, and it's all the better for it.
Overall, this was a great, strong entry into the field of post-apocalyptic novels. Even though zombie fiction has definitely dropped in popularity recently, standouts like this will keep it around for some time yet.

Sam Edison is the Chief of Police in Little Five, a small post apocalypse town in Georgia. One day a man arrives with a teen girl who is very pregnant. The girl is obviously traumatized. The people of Little five take them in and give them a home. When they both get murdered, the Chief intends to find out why.

While the Chief is busy trying to figure out what happened, the Mayor's step daughter gets kidnapped. The Chief goes after her with two others. They must get past the Shriekers and the Hollow-heads in order to find the girl. This is no easy task. Nor is finding shelter and transportation along the way.

I can't say more without leaving spoilers, just know that sometimes, the monsters aren't the worst things out there.

If you like the TV series The Walking Dead, you'll like this book. It could be a spin off of that series, although there are some slight differences in the underlying premise of the book. The characterization is pretty well done, and it keeps your interest. A quick read.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read the POST by Kevin Munoz. Fans of sci-fi futuristic novels will like this book.
A police officer Sam Edison still hangs on the the society vows he once had and continues to solve crimes in a small town outside of Atlanta. Zombie like creatures roam the earth due to a petrolium spill 10 years ago and in the midst of this world, he hunts for those who go missing. Sam wants to save those he can, but in a world that is doomed, he finds little satisfaction but still tries.
This is a good debut, good writing and a backdrop that is vivid and frightening.
Recommend.

A superb dystopian read with fully developed plot and characters. Munoz has done a superb job at crafting a fine read.