Interesting story but had some issues with the pace.

It seems like zombie apocalypse just isn't for me. I was really looking forward to reading this book but I ended up being disappointed. It's not really that much about the story itself but more about my reading preferences. I did mind the writing, characters felt a little bit flat to me but it's the whole zombie apocalypse trope that seems repetitive and uninteresting. I also disliked the lack of explanation to the origine of the apocalypse. All that remains simply wasn't for me.

I wasn't pleasantly surprised with this book. Not your average apocalypse survivor story and I really enjoyed it. The characters were good and had some depth to them, loved little Kaylee and Kyle and Sara were a great duo. I'm hoping for a sequel, great book!!

Not my usual read but I really enjoyed this book. All the remains is about a group of survivors that, while they're out scavenging for food, weapons and a new place to live, come across a lone survivor, a little girl named Kaylee, that may just hold the key to finding a safe haven. One of the members of the group, Sara, also has a special ability to communicate with the creatures that are overtaking their new world and she can read memories by touching them. The group tries to win Kaylee's trust and Sara has to read her memories in order to learn more about the place she was heading too. As they embark on their journey to locate this new place, they encounter a number of creatures, infected people and other not-so-nice scavengers. But something has shown itself: A terrible creature that is highly intelligent. Would recommend this book.

There are so many end of the world doomsday books that it is hard to find a book that is truly original. "All That Remains" by Al Barrera is original in the sense that there is an almost "Lovecraft" element to it with an unseen and seemingly God-like evil foe. I kept reading because I wanted to know what these horrible destroyers of civilization were and where they came from. The book is not simply post-apocalyptic but seems to have a combination of horror and science fiction as well which I love when an author can pull it off.
Kyle, Sara, and Tim form a small group in an effort to survive the horrible aftermath of the destruction of Mankind. Kyle is an older seasoned survivor who is facing demons of his own in more way than one. Sara is a tough chick who has developed some sort of telepathic ability that helps the group immensely. Tim is the young and trigger happy one who has grown up in this hell hole and has a lot to learn. Kyle is the one who seems the most well developed and complex to me. The group comes across a little girl who might be the one to save the world.
I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoy a quick foray into a doomed world with zombie like creatures and a mysterious adversary.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my favourite books I've read so far this year. I was initially intrigued by the description, loving apocalyptic books and also the fact that it wasn't in the YA category either. Once I started reading, I was fully engrossed in the world and couldn't stop reading until I was finished in the early hours.

All That Remains mainly centres on a very small group of individuals, Kyle, Sara, Tim and later includes Kaylee. We first meet them as they are on a supply run and almost immediately they are forced to turn around and fight which serves as a good introduction to the monsters that inhabit the world now. The apocalypse happened many years ago (13 I think?) so there are not many supplies or humans left, and not all of those that remain are friendly. It's not strictly a zombie book, although people that are infected do turn that way the main threat are the far bigger monsters who can be intelligent, actively track and follow and some can even influence potential prey. It's immediately clear that to come up against a group of them will result in a swift and gruesome death. While on the way back to their base they encounter a young girl called Kaylee which changes the course of events quite drastically.

Of the characters, Kyle was by far my favourite. Formally a college professor he is the hardened survivor, having travelled with many groups and also having suffered many losses along the way. Sara is a scanner, she has a special ability that allows her to sense danger, monsters and other things which makes her an asset to the group. Later in the book her powers grow and she reminded me a lot of Amy in The Passage, another book I love. Tim on the other hand, is young, inexperienced and prone to mistakes. I didn't like him at all at first but by the end I had changed my opinion which I think was the writers intention!

The book is narrated by both Kyle and Sara which is important as it allows you to understand what they are thinking and experiencing. Kyle in particular tugged on my heartstrings as he goes through a horrible time, while remembering people close to him who have died. Sara's narrative is important as she comes into her powers and understanding what she is able to do, some of which is seeing other people's memories and thoughts. I've read some reviews that said it's confusing as it's not clear which things are happening in the present and which are memories but due to what the characters are going through it makes sense and it didn't confuse me. I enjoyed having flashbacks intermixed with the present and they were there for a purpose. There is a section which runs through the same experience through both characters views which was very well done, explaining their parts in what had happened. My only negative is that I would have liked to see more about the origins of the apocalypse and the monsters but I feel this may be reserved for a later book. Having the focus on a small group of characters was also very welcome, helping you to get to know and feel for them more, although it would have been nice to see more from Kaylee.

It's a beautifully written book and was so very emotional by the end. It ends in a confrontation which was full of action and exciting but I dreaded what was obviously happening to one of the characters *cry* It doesn't end on a cliffhanger as such but does close off a certain chapter, much like the last episode of a season in a tv series. I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment and finding out where the characters go from here, which I hope is out sooner rather than later!

*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I love zombie apocalypses for some reason. The idea of the world ending, not having to go to work anymore, pay bills, or spend holidays with the in laws is totally entertaining. I know life would be harder as a hunter-gatherer but I still like to fantasize about it by reading zombie novels.

All that Remains was good, not too gruesome. Throughout the book I thought this would have been an awesome young adult book, however there was too much profanity for that and the characters were too old. I really liked the child's character,Kaylee, and her relationship with the main characters, it was well written. I will be purchasing the sequel. I hope it reveals how this apocalypse came about.

Wasn't the greatest fan of this work. Couldn't finish it. I would have preferred a far deeper exploration of why the apocalipse came to be.

This book was awesome! Everything i was looking for and more in a story, the characters were amazing. I couldn't put this book down and i cant wait to read the next one.

This book had so much potential, but poor world building and under-developed characters ruined it for me. Not worth it.

Kyle and Sara battle through a dystopian nightmare to get to a high-tech hidey-hole that a little girl thinks exists. An interesting premise, and I wanted to like this story, but it was very hard to get into the book at all. I almost gave up at around 60% but ploughed on to the end. I found it very hard to follow what was going on; the story felt very stilted and was broken up by extremely frequent flashbacks/thoughts/scanning, etc, and it was hard to tell which character was experiencing what event at any one time – so much so that I only started to be able to piece it together when I got to about 90% of the way through. Unfortunately it was a frustrating and difficult read.

I wasn't sure if like this and struggled to get into it but once I did I really enjoyed myself

I'm not much of a horror fan. But this book made me question it. All that Remains is a book filled with non-stop action and nicely written in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi elements. I recommend this book to fans of these genres as they will be surprised.

I received this book from NetGalley in return from my honest review.

I am a huge fan of the Post-Apocalyptic genre in films. Haven’t read much of this genre though but that didn’t stop me enjoying this book.

It ticks the boxes in that there are small set of survivors on the road dealing with the hazards that they meet on the way. Crops, food and water are not in ready supply due to an orange ‘blight’ that fell from the sky. They have to fight other survivors, ‘infected’ humans who have been bitten and turn into well think ‘Walkers’ from Walking Dead. And some ‘monster’ that has suddenly developed a conscious that allows it to probe minds.

The main protagonists, Sara, Kyle and Tim come across a little girl who talks about a safe place, possibly a military base that her scientist mother talked about. Is it too good to be true? We don’t know but as their community is destroyed by the infected they have no choice but to try and find this military base.

I really enjoyed it. The main characters are survivors and may not always be likeable. And some really horrible things happen to them.

This book is three stars. the editing makes it sometimes difficult to follow. In one particular important scene it’s hard to know whether it’s a flash back, or if it’s really happening. And when you realize the scene is not a flash back it’s hard to follow who is saying what. Or why it happened. That was only a small observation though and it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

And am looking forward to the sequel which is apparently due out later this year.

All That Remains is definitely a slow burn. It could fall under the “zombie”, “post-apocalyptic” story categories, but has a few unexpected twists to set it slightly apart from the rest. Though the cause of the “zombie apocalypse” is not plainly laid out, one can entertain a few ideas and scenarios, which gives the storyline its appeal. Zombies are also not the only foes to be weary of.
The story begins with our heroes already surviving in the “blighted” world. We are thrown in to the fight against the “monsters” of this world, both physical and emotional. Within this fight, we meet a little girl with a secret, a symbol of hope. This little girl leads the heroes on the rest of their journey through this fight, with hope for an end. Along this journey we encounter several kinds of “monsters”, human, un-dead, and something in between. We learn of humans who have extraordinary abilities and come to understand that there are still things worse than trying to survive in this world.
Though I wouldn’t put this book at the top of my list, it is definitely worth reading. The story left a lot to be desired as far as an explanation to what caused the world to end and where all the different types of monsters came from, but that also adds a positive aspect that allows the reader to imagine for themselves. I would have liked for more clarification between memory flashbacks and internal thought, as well as an explanation for “scanners”, but, other than that, the story and characters were well written and the ending left me wanting to know “what happens next?”

A mix of The Walking Dead, World War Z, I Am Legend, The Stand, and Independence Day with its own twist kept me turning the pages. Kyle and Sara are a great team, good at surviving on their own. On one of their supply runs for the community they are living with, they run across Tim, a 16 year old that said he walk to Tennessee from a Texas solo, and Kaylee, a 7 year old whose mom and friends from a government lab were killed by infected as they were trying to get their new discovery to a sister government lab. Sara, who is able to sense people and the infected and the creatures that help make the infected, gets a strange feeling around the time they find Kaylee, like there is a creature like her that is scanning people looking for something. When they go back and find their community destroyed, they decide to go to the research facility Kaylee's mom was headed for before she died. Their journey becomes more urgent as Sara senses the creature scanning people, which she calls Walking Death, senses her and Kaylee have information it wants and starts pursuing them.

I got attached to the characters and their backstories from before and right after the fall. There was a little bit of paranormal fantasy too with one of the characters being a "scanner," a person that can sense people and the infected and the creatures that help make the infected and the "scanner" creature called Walking Death. I read this book in less than a day and would definitely recommend to others.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

Three words: Seriously. Blown. Away.
I can't believe how spectacular this was, especially considering those few negative reviews that deterred me from picking this book up for longer than needed!

A dead world didn't cater to the wishes of the living.


While I haven't read many (zombie) apocalypse novels so far, I've seen what feels like 214 movies and shows with that theme, so I do consider myself a bit of a connoisseur. I don't need there to be a completely unique, groundbreaking storyline to be content (I believe the genre has been pretty much exploited by now), nor do I need elaborate explanations as to how this all started - what I do need is likable characters to connect with, action that brings me to the edge of my seat, and preferably some gore to top it all off. In a book, a compelling style of writing wouldn't hurt, either.
And boy, did Al Barrera deliver on all those aspects, even adding quite a few elements I haven't seen before.

So what is this about? The story follows three survivors - Kyle, Sara and Tim - through their struggles against hunger, desperation and a bunch of evil, blood-thirsty creatures after the world has been overrun by them for 13 years. When one day they stumble across a little girl whose mother apparently worked for the government and was on her way to some safe haven when her group was attacked and killed, and the three of them find themselves out of alternatives where to go, they decide to deliver the girl to her people. However, it doesn't take long for them to find out that something else entirely, a creature more intelligent and malicious than anything they've encountered before, has set its eyes on them... and that their time is running out.

The sun moved across the sky. The number of infected trailing them increased. The things took notice of their passing and fell in line behind. A few more soldiers in the army of the damned lining up to their genocidal duty.


Barrera's writing was exceptionally atmospheric, and it sucked me in from the first line I read. He created this amazing bleak mood that practically oozed with danger, tension and hopelessness.

"Do something, man!"
There was nothing to do. They were dead; the reaper just hadn't reached them yet.


The main characters... they were utterly amazing. Deep, raw and highly developed, all of them different in their own ways but the perfect match to complement one another. Though to me they didn't seem too unique in the beginning, they quickly weaseled their way deep into my heart with their personalities, authenticity and tragic back stories.

Crazy. It was all crazy. Kyle the Professor had become Kyle the Monster Hunter. Kyle the Savior. Kyle the survivor.


He jumped to his feet, weapon in hand. He was the specter of death, the unkillable spirit of vengeance come to rescue his friend.


Despite the tense atmosphere, quite a few fighting and survival scenes, gore and violence, the story wasn't a non-stop action fest. While there was hardly any reprieve in intensity, there was enough time to get to know and built a connection with the characters, learn about their pasts, beliefs and abilities.

In the dim light, claws reached for them from every shadow. They were in Hell now. Dante breaching the final layer to find the Devil frozen in ice. Here at the bottom were only the sinners and quiet spirits.


So in case you haven't realized it yet: I loved this book. I can't wait for the sequel to come out, but in the meantime, to bridge the time until its release, I'll have to check out more by this author.
This is a must-read for anyone who's into (post-)apocalyptic settings, gore and character driven stories.

All that Remains is about a group of survivors that, while they're out scavenging for food, weapons and a new place to live, come across a lone survivor, a little girl named Kaylee, that may just hold the key to finding a safe haven. One of the members of the group, Sara, also has a special ability to communicate with the creatures that are overtaking their new world and she can read someone else's memories by touching them. The group tries to win Kaylee's trust and Sara has to read her memories in order to learn more about the place she was heading too. As they embark on their trek to locate this new place, they encounter a number of creatures, infected people and other not-so-nice scavengers.

I'm a big fan of a good post-apocalyptic story so I'm always on the hunt for something new and unique. The story line though unfortunately lacked the originality I was hoping for and reminded me of a combination of several popular series. I also felt like the world building along with Sara's abilities and how she acquired them could have been fleshed out a lot more. The characters too, especially Tim and Kyle, weren't very likable and bordered on irritating. On the upside, if you like non-stop action and a lot of close encounter face offs, then there's plenty to be had in here.

In a word: Amazing!!! The descriptions, the characters and their journey, all combine together into perfection!