A fun book that kept my attention the whole ride. Barbarians ship-wrecked on an island with zombies, what more can you ask for! Keene is a pro at writing compelling horror and this is no different. His descriptions were wonderfully grotesque and I grew to like many of the characters. A horrifically good time.

ZOMBIES!! Zombies and a fantasy world what could be better?? This book was thrilling and amazing! Almost like reading game of thrones mixed with army of darkness!

I'm a fan of Brian Keene, I follow him on social media and on Cemetery Dance so when I was offered an ARC of Island of the Dead I jumped on it. Staying true to his genre, Island of the Dead is about exactly what the title depicts, an island where you can die, but not really die. We are observing a fleet of ships with a hidden agenda, heading to war and in the hold are captives, murderers, slaves, and a specific barbarian warrior, Einar. A supernatural storm is observed coming ever closer to the ship and Einar takes the opportunity to attempt to escape, along with a ragtag band of like-minded individuals and the ships cargo, of which no one is aware. After fighting soldiers, and the storm, Einar finds himself on the beach of a deserted island, or so he thinks. And so begins the story of the Island of the Dead, where the dead don't stay dead.

I'm not usually a fan of zombie stories, and this one fell in line, but I did enjoy some of the magic and unnatural events such as obelisks, humongous insects and animals, not to mention the banter between the troupe of exiles such as Rat, who is the snarky comedian, and Mathias, my favorite character, who I cheered on from both sides of the island. Expect death, gore, and mayhem when reading this story, but I bet you will enjoy it!

I received an advance review copy for free courtesy of NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is maybe my 3rd or 4th Brian Keene book and he never disappoints. He writes creature features so good, and this one is exactly that. Monstrosities are the main focus here, and they keep you entertained throughout the entire book. There are a lot of threats on this island, so you are never bored.

I want to personally thank NetGalley, as well as the author, publisher, and anyone else involved in providing copies, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Reviews will also be submitted to Goodreads when possible.

Einar and those he was held captive with escape after a shipwreck. The island they are on is strange. The dead walk this island and something far worse. Will Einar and the others survive or become one of the undead? Awesome zombie read.

I enjoyed the story but I was drivin nuts trying to read it. Not sure if I missed the memo about all the ! And $ and stuff in weird places but it made it hard to understand

Fun old school gore horror. This one starts with an action packed bang with an escape attempt on the ocean that turns into a shipwreck. Once our hero reaches the titular island, all hell breaks loose and when it does , the novel gets down to gory, blood soaked business. This is tons of pulpy fun, with a main character that is smart on his feet and doesn’t give up no matter the situation. I really had a great time with this one.

As always, Mr. Keene does not disappoint. His work is always magical, sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying. My favorite of his works is The Conqueror Worms, but I would read his grocery list, if he published it. He has a very distinctive style.

This book had me snickering throughout, I was just caught off guard so many times. It was refreshing. I felt like I was constantly muttering “Oooo…I didn’t see that coming” I’m not going to give any examples, just read it and enjoy the adventure.
The characters are great. Very well developed for a fairly short book. Einar is just a machine, if you’re not with him, then you better get out of his way. Rat is your comedic sidekick that you just always want around. Fhad is Wrath James White and you can’t convince me otherwise. Mathias is your everyday person who you just cheer on.
There is just something fun about reading a Brian Keene book. He does not seem to be out to impress anyone (please consider this a big compliment) He writes for the enjoyment of telling a story and his stories can be wild and off the wall. Characters you like will die horrible deaths. Expect the uncanny. There will be eviscerations. Yet there is a quiet compassion laced throughout his work. Some of his characters shares his values and they will subtlety let you know that you should be who you are and they will support you and defend you if needed.
I hope to see more from the survivors of this book again.

That was exactly what I expected for a Brian Keene book, and by that I mean nonstop action, horror, and a fun ride. What a motley crew we meet as a ship wrecks on an island. Some of the surviving slaves discover their problems are only beginning as now they have to deal with the walking dead, killer ants, and murderous citizens of Atlantis. This is short and light, considering the constant sense of danger. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thanks to Brian Keene, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. This is fast paced read and very reminiscent of some of the Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard fantasy novels. Adventure and action from cover to cover, I loved it. Highly recommended.

Island of the Dead by Brian Keene was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I have been reading this author since his beginnings when I met him at a horror convention hocking his first book. Some of his books are masterpieces, some, not so much. This short read is a quick read that reminded me of the old Conan books, with zombies. along with great creatures the escaped slaves/barbarians must deal with. The book ends setting up a sequel or continuation, so the assumption is there will be more. If you, or someone you buy gifts for likes Conan the barbarian type books or swords and muscles and/or zombies, give this book a read. Be advised, there is one transexual character that maybe should not have been in this book and may upset some people.

4 stars

My thanks to Diamond Back Distributors, Brian Keene and Netgalley.
I didn't think it was possible for Keene to write a crap book, but here it is in all it's fucking glory.
It sucked. I didn't know it was possible for Keene to write crap, yet here it is.
No review. This was a waste of time.

A Horror Bookworm Recommendation
Island Of The Dead by Brian Keene
https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/

Einar is a thief, mercenary, pirate, warrior, barbarian and presently a chained slave upon a large seagoing vessel. When an unnatural storm presents an opportunity for Einar to escape, its precious cargo is also released into the world. Einar and a small band of companions end up shipwrecked along with the deadly cargo on a deserted island that does not exist on any charts or maps. Rescue and survival is nearly impossible for all who remain.

Island Of The Dead is the brainchild of Mr. Zombie himself, Brian Keene. This novel successfully mixes sword and sorcery with a good number of horrific scenes of the unbelievable. Enormous sized insects, magical obelisks and of course the shambling living dead all have one thing in common…the urge to feed upon the living. These castaway companions will encounter some of the most vicious inhabitants that are cloaked in darkness.

Brian Keene fuses social commentaries of race, religion, creed and culture into one reality-warping story of the darkest kind. Zombies are equal opportunity eaters which leads me to the next subject…graphic violence. If you like your chaotic infestations with a heavy dash of the dead, let me tell ya, Keene reinterprets some of the most gnarliest creative and original deaths this side of a Romero film. When it comes to flesh-eating zombie lore, ya can’t go wrong with the Keene kind.

With the island’s extraordinary wildlife and a mouthful of flesh and sinew, you might ask the question…how do you kill something that’s already dead. Brian Keene answers this question in his book, Island Of The Dead. A five star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Horror Bookworm Recommendation.

What a fun read! I felt it was part fantasy adventure, part horror and I really enjoyed it! ❤️ It was a quicker read as well, which I needed! 👏

This was my first Brian Keene, despite having some others on my never-ending TBR! So this definitely won’t be my last!! 🙌

Highly recommend this for lovers of action-packed adventure and of course, zombies!! 🧟‍♂️

Thank you to NetGalley and Apex Books for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! ❤️

I enjoyed this novella from beginning to end. The story, though a well-known trope in horror, is transformed into a unique experience by the author's use of time, setting, and utilisation of the zombies as weapons during a medieval time instead of modern. This is not something I've encountered and found a welcome relief to the preferred medical cause of zombiism favoured by video games and movies in the zombie sub-genre.

The character of Einar, though a bit shallow, was an interesting take, in what I believe an anti-hero. This is a gorgeous change from characters like Rick Grimes, Leon Kennedy, and other morally grey protagonists. Einar seems to only care about survival and the next means to an end. He doesn't see much value in connections at first, but soon develops into someone who cares about his comrades to the extent that he needs them to survive.

I love the way the author writes the story to pace it comfortably without dragging or info-dumping too early. There is a sense of mystery as to where the zombies came from and why the empire chose to use them as weapons. I love this about horror. The feeling that not everything needs explaining and keeping things out of reach makes readers keep guessing and turning pages.

This was a fun read. I like the cover of a different edition better, but the cover here is still good. The story moves pretty swiftly but the Atlantean subplot kind of threw me. The story could still work without it, so it almost felt needless. However, the book was still quite enjoyable.

Einar is an enslaved barbarian aboard a ship transporting a mysterious weapon to enemy shores. When a storm leaves soldiers and slaves shipwrecked on a strange, uncharted island, friend and foe alike must band together against a steadily growing horde of the undead! Not even death is an escape from the Island of the Dead!

Unsurprisingly, this was book absolutely OUTSTANDING!! There's a reason Brian Keene is one of my all-time favorite authors! Action packed from cover to cover! Apocalyptic storms, gore to the extreme, mysterious lost civilizations, and more! And all wrapped up with an undead army to boot! This book kept me turning pages one after the other well into the night.

Keene's writing just has a way of pulling you in and keeping you there like no one else! This book is no exception! As a zombie/fantasy/horror combo, this one ticks all the boxes!

BIG THANKS to NetGalley and Apex Books for this ARC!

An entertaining romp of a science fiction/ horror tale that reminded me fondly of the pulp fiction science fiction of my youth. The action was fast and the "bad guys" were amusingly over the top. There wasn't a lot of time for character development between harrowing and often death defying action sequences and character motivation was fairly straight forward. Overall a fun read that should appeal to a wide variety of readers.
A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this title. I'm leaving and honest review voluntarily.

Brian Keene knows a few things about zombies, and this didn’t disappoint. It’s like if Robert E. Howard had marathoned George Romero movies and decided to drop Conan the Cimmerian on an island filled with hordes of giant insects and ravenous undead. It’s a quick and fun sword-and-sorcery adventure.

As a bonus, it will piss off a certain breed of asshole who likes to complain about “woke” this and “woke” that in storytelling.