World Departed by Sarah Lyons Fleming Narrator: Roger Wayne, Teri Schnaubelt, Christian Barillas, Mia Gaskin
Series: The Cascadia Series #1
Published by Podium Audio on September 15, 2020
Genres: Horror
Length: 25 hours and 24 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible
In the zombie apocalypse, your worst enemy may be yourself.
From the Until the End of the World and City Series universe comes the story of the virus on the West Coast. Where the end of the world is only the beginning…
Rose Winter has enough problems. With a marriage going down the tubes and a dreaded anniversary party on the horizon, the last thing she needs is the zombie apocalypse. She wanted to get drunk and sing karaoke, not murder her undead neighbors. It’s clear the party’s over, however, and now Rose has more problems—a missing husband, an overbearing houseguest, and keeping her family alive.
Tom Jensen has inflexible rules. Rule number one? Don’t deviate from the plan. But when his life is overturned in the space of minutes, his plans die along with everything else. The world is finished, the future is uncertain, and survival means living in the last place he’d planned to be. Maybe his rules weren’t meant to be broken, but if he can’t change his tune, he risks losing the one thing he has left—his daughter.
Craig Matthews has a mission: get to Oregon. Doable, maybe, if he could bring himself to leave his apartment. With his food and water near gone and death closer than ever, a chance encounter may lead to finding his friends—if he can first find his courage.
Unfortunately, the new world doesn’t always mean leaving old problems behind, and as the West Coast succumbs to the virus, the survivors face more than the undead—they face themselves. But in an existence where fences offer dubious safety and zombies certain danger, people may save you in more ways than one.
I picked up this book during an Audible 2-for-1 credit sale. I had already read Sarah Lyons Fleming’s Until the End of the World series, and since the cover and description for World Departed looked similar, I figured it might be set in the same world. I’m glad I gave it a chance. This story does take place in the same zombie apocalypse universe, mostly in Oregon and a little in California. The timeline overlaps with Until the End of the World, starting right when everything begins to unravel and people are still unsure what’s going on.
The story follows multiple points of view. Rose Winter is a real estate agent with college-aged kids, a missing husband who struggles with addiction, and a house full of food that was meant for an anniversary party. Her neighbor, Tom Jensen, is gruff and introverted, and doesn’t seem to get along with anyone, including his kids. Clara, Tom’s daughter and best friend to Rose’s daughter Holly, ends up joining them after climbing the back fence. Rose’s best friend, Mitch (short for Michelle), her daughter, her son, and her father all shelter in place at Rose’s house. Meanwhile, Rose’s friend Craig is stuck in California. He didn’t make it out in time for the party and ends up trapped in his apartment for weeks with zombies outside the door.
At first, everyone believed this might pass quickly. The radio even claims the infected will die off in 30 days. That turns out to be false, and the group has to face the growing reality of their situation. As with Fleming’s other books, the focus isn’t just on the zombies, but on the people trying to survive. That’s what I love about her writing. The characters are so well developed that it’s easy to get attached to them, which makes the stakes feel even higher. You know someone’s not going to make it, and it’s going to hurt.
I’m really glad I tried this series. I enjoyed the first book so much that I went straight into the second one. There are four books in this Cascadia series, compared to three in the previous one, which means more time to spend with these characters.
Narration:
The audiobook uses four narrators: Roger Wayne, Teri Schnaubelt, Christian Barillas, and Mia Gaskin. Each narrator covers one of the main points of view. I’m not sure which performer voiced which character, but I enjoyed all of them. Each one narrated their full section, including dialogue for all characters, which made it easy to follow and helped keep each perspective distinct. I had no trouble knowing who was speaking at any point, and I would definitely listen to any of these narrators again.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
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I have the first series, looks like I need to collect this one.
I loved Fleming’s Until the End of the World Series. 😀
Neat that you took a chance and it was not only in the same world as the other series, but a solid set of stories in its own right. Great review, Melanie!
Whoa, these characters are really going through some stuff.
Ooooooo!!! This sounds like a nice read for spooky season coming up.
Sounds like a good read! I enjoy movies and tv shows like this, but don’t always get into the books. Great review!