RESPONDING to Reviews 2: When Dead Men Bleed

Of late I seem to be picking up books that are supernatural and apocalyptic in nature. This one is one such book. It is a creature feature that ranges from humans to Vampires, Zombies, Elves, Griffins, Minotaur, Gnomes, Fae, and Satyrs. This otherworldly species called Bleeders hover between life and death and more dangerous than Zombie.
This is a narrative about a world that lives with these myriad beings in harmony. Somewhat! I mean it is after all a post-apocalypse tale of horror. Humans are a dying species and hunted for their blood and meat.
Zeke, Etem and Cayla are the main protagonists. Zombies seem to be placed above other kind in this story. Zeke was cheated into an attack by a bleeder turning him into one. Bleeders have the ability to infect Zombies and humans. Since Bleeders are an outcast like humans, he tries to hide this fact from others. But he is an immortal and so it would be difficult to do so. A witch recognizes him and tells him where he can go and gives him a purpose. With his new status, he is left to ponder.
He sets out to find his kind when he is taking hostage. He meets Maverick, Raquel, Tanya, Mikey, and other humans, bleeders, and vamps etc. there.
In the course of his adventure as a bleeder, Zeke turns into a human eventually. The story ends with a cliffhanger. But I read the author’s note and turns out Zeke’s story will continue.

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My Thoughts:

My first thought at reading this review is I don’t think this person read all the way through the book, considering Mikey isn’t listed as a main character, but I digress.

Zeke does stand out among other Zombies. I wanted him to be a bit different, not afraid to live the life he wants to live just because he’s fragile. So he was in sports and he worked out and he taught himself how to fight… which is good, since he has a bit of a temper issue.

Cayla and Etem are (supposed to be) his best friends. Etem was a delight to write, and Cayla’s original name was Cady (fun fact) like from Mean Girls.
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My Takeaway:

Keep the reader’s attention past chapter three. If I increase mystery and intrigue, that might help for next time.