Double Barrel: Season One by Grey West

The Barrel brothers in Colorado are given a mission by President Lincoln while in Manhattan, Violet and Sam Drake must escape the island which is being overrun by zombies.
It seems that there is a new monster in the public’s spotlight. First it was vampires and werewolves– now it’s zombies. The undead are making their way into popular culture with the growing fanbase of the television show The Walking Dead— which I do not watch– and other forms of media. About a month ago, the CDC had to come out with an official announcement saying that there was not an ongoing zombie apocolypse even though there has been stories making their way onto the news about people being attacked and eaten by others.
Needless to say, this fad is swelling to be even more popular than any vampire or werewolf.
With that said, among all these shows and books going around that follow almost the same story line, there is an author who has made a quiet appearance in the ebook literary world who has given readers his own fresh take on the zombie apocalypse. His name is Grey West– at least he wants us to think that.
Unlike all the zombie stories we have seen, this series is not set in the future, but in the past. Post-Civil War era, to be exact. And Grey even puts another spin into the story: This post-Civil War era is not the one that we have learned about in the history books. Instead, President Lincoln was not killed by John Wilkes Booth. In fact, he is still the president. A historical novel that’s not histoical? That’s right. I guess you could say that it’s an alternate reality, but not quite.
We meet the Barrel brothers, James and John, in Colorado where they are on the lookout for the undead that they have heard about coming from the east. The “scourge”, as it is called, has not made its way to the West. That is until the fourth page. And from there, the suspense never lets up.
Along with the story of the Barrel brothers, we follow the Drake children, Violet and Sam, who are given a mission from their father to take research to a certain historical figure called the Wizard of Menlo Park. From their first run-in with the undead, there was rarely any letup from the danger. And how could there be when thousands of zombies are wandering around, looking for flesh to feed on? Sometimes in the story, I just wanted them to have a time where they could relax and not worry about their lives being in danger. Grey does a wonderful job with keeping the reader’s eyes moving, wanting to know what was going to happen next.
When a particular subject is in the spotlight of the public, its uniqueness wears out. It gets boring after awhile. But with the Double Barrel series, Grey West gives us a story that keeps the uniqueness fresh and alive. I will most definitely be getting season two when it is released.