Last Stand of the Dead (White Flag of the Dead Book 6)

This is one of those series that I really enjoyed, both for the characters as well as the storyline. I had lost touch with the series after Boom 5 and I am only getting around to reading Book 6 two years after publication. If it were a stand alone book, I might have let it pass by but I had to read the end of the John Talon series.The surviving main characters are all thoroughly fleshed out (sorry, I couldn't avoid the pun), imperfect and yet represent the type of folks we would all willingly go back-to-back when things go to $hit. I miss Nate however but such is the nature of things in zombieland.That all said, as others have pointed out, this was a continuation of WFD 5 more than a new story. As such, it did not feel as fresh as I would have preferred. But I still give the series 5 well-deserved stars and thank Mr. Talluto for his contribution to the genre. I have Generation 1 waiting on my Kindle for when I have the time....

I ordered this book today - read it in nearly one sitting.WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW!My initial reaction to the first pages were as follows:Really?! The opening sequence is ridiculous! John is fighting his own soldiers because a truck got stuck?! He's the one who messed the whole thing up in the first place by not covering all the river crossings?! It's like he can never be wrong?! Where does this arrogance come from?Talon set up the new government - set up the new army - these soldiers are all trained if not by him, by those he trained - they all survived the apocalypse - and now they are "knuckleheads"?! Seriously?! Once again we see the "John Talon, those of us who survived couldn't and still can't do it without you." This truly aggravates the crap out of me.The kid zombie horde had just crossed the river and no one thought to send a large group of soldiers immediately after it? It took over an hour and a half to send FIVE men across that same bridge!? This is beyond unbelievable - it's pure crap. They have radios, they have other means of communication and it's like they are back in the first days - where is the skill? Where is talent? Where is the spirit that began this series?Then Charlie makes a speech about how these soldiers are `new' and don't have the skills? Really? I simply cannot buy this at all. The threat never left, the skills would continue to be honed. The soldiers would be used to dealing with Zs and you would think that out of the several hundred veterans who show up at the end of the book to handle the situation a few would have stuck around to train the new folks!So those were my initial reactions - below are some more pet peeves:A little more reality to inject here:Kevlar helmets do not:- stop direct hits from rifles- allow bullets to `bounce' back into the helmet.Talluto is getting more and more fantastic as time goes on. Oh, by the way, bullets do not knock anything back several feet, they typically go through or stop inside, the movies make us believe they knock things backwards.Okay - now to where Talluto typically shines:Once we get past Talon's apparent hatred for the Army and he gets back into his typical Z killing mode, the book gets better. The largest problem I have with Talluto is his characters don't seem to grow or even really learn. They do the same stuff over and over and the only changes are the challenges they face. Talluto has found a `new' enemy - the end is even a bit of a surprise, yet overall it has the same feel and same letdown as the other recent installments.I think I have finally discovered what annoys me about Talluto as an author - he does a great job describing the battles, yet has difficulty with the in-between stuff. The level of detail and pace during the fight scenes are excellent. When he's doing anything else, it lacks a great deal. I would really enjoy reading more about how things got put back together and how Talon failed to establish an adequate training regime for the new army. (They were basically fodder for his new enemy).Overall I am actually kind of glad this is over. The story, essentially, is at an end and I liked the story. This last installment, like the previous several, is short (I finished in a few hours) and the pace is hectic. At the end of the story we have, no surprise, John Talon saves the world - again - and no one else could even come close! He's the only one left on the planet who can handle this sort of thing. It goes beyond belief that all the rest are just there to support this amazing fighter - He's like the Batman of the post-apocolyptic world - they should have a searchlight with a pick-axe shape on it to call him when needed.....Hope that helps....

Finally finished the White Flag of the Dead 6-book series. I was planning to review each book as I read it but to be honest as soon as I finished one book I immediately started the next one. I couldn't stop reading. This series is amazing and I was hooked from the very first book. I love all the characters and laughed, cheered and cried for and with them all. I am looking forward to reading the new Generation Dead which I already got ready on page 1 on my Kindle to read but I'm taking a breather to write this review. Although I am copying for each book they are all great books. I had no problem with the time gap between some of the books. Just made it more interesting although I am very curious about Denver now. I hope Joseph Talluto keeps writing because I am addicted to his books. If you like zombie books you will love these!

This review contains SPOILERS so continue at your own perilJust finished WFD: Last Stand of the Dead and enjoyed the book but glad the series appears to be done. Here are my thoughts.While reading the book I noticed that I was 50% the way through and really nothing new had happened from the last book. Tallon and the gang were still chasing the kids, they ambushed them a couple of times but they could never really get ahead of then.As the book stated the kids moved about 2 - 3 mph via the railroad tracks and some overland but primarily via the tracks. Even assuming they only stopped to savage towns here and there and pick-up new recruits (aka kids) the team should still have been able to overtake them in cars / trucks. Yes, I know the Army slowed them down but seriously, even with trucks going 5 mph which is very slow that means they had a time advantage. OK, I'm knit picking but you get the pointI didn't buy that the Army was all incompetent and their leaders idiots. Since the survivors from the upheaval were very much still alive does it really seem plausible that the Army leadership and soldiers would not come from seasoned zombie killing veterans? Given how rugged and individualistic the survivors were and their deep distrust of the former Government is it likely they would create an Army of fools and soldiers who could not fight? Would the survivors really want to spend resources on an Army that is basically no better then Mall Security? I think this was a disservice to the Army and would have been better omitted from the storyThe death of Tallon's brother rang hollow. If Tallon and the team were in such a hurry to get home why did they stop every time; especially the last time when it was an automated distress beacon? Given the devastation Tallon and team had seen the zombie kids create was there any doubt the last town was dead and the distress call would be more of the same? Tallon and the team knew the zombie kids were heading to their home so every minute counted they took another detour?This brings me to my other gripe. Given that the Starving Rock compound is at the top of a mountain and very isolated how likely was it that the zombie kids would hit it? All along the zombie kids were using the rail system? Did Starving Rock suddenly get a railroad?Tallon's dad magically appearing at his sons grave was corny and unrealistic. Enough said.The final battle was great but did we really need to reintroduce Ellen and Zeus? It felt contrived and we never did really go into how the zombie kids were different? Did only Ellen's bite cause them to be different? I would have liked more character development as I think this was a missed opportunity.Lastly, Sarah and Rebecca didn't get enough time in the book. Other then promising sex and offering dialogue out of a B movie they were not as much fun as they could have been.

I really loved that series! The heroes are charismatics, not the "Chuck Norris" type that always win but in a more humane way. They make errors, do their best and are fun to follow.I didn't give 5 stars because I think there might be improvement in the psychology of the characters that follow the hero. I would have like to follow their thoughts, just give them more meat.A lot of action, some originals ideas, sometimes funny, I really recommend White Flag of the Dead! The kind of books that you don't want to close! :)

Nice quick read, better than the previous book. Nicely written but again same old spelling mistakes. This maybe petty but it ruins the flow of the writing, especially as I am a quick reader, I suggest the editors / publishers pay more attention when loading this onto any e book site.Also a map or diagram of the area would be helpful for each area or town, I don't live in the USA and quite a few times it was a little confusing trying to figure out where they were. Reilly does this well in his novels, check them out.

I have lost hours of my life to this series of books and became a little obsessed. So much so i spent weeks looking at places whilst out and about, wondering if the would be a good place to settle if a zombie hord invaded lol. Anyone who has read and enjoyed these books will so understand this. I Look forward to the day when we hopefully find out what happened in denver. Mr Talluto, a spin off set of books about the zombie wars would be greatly appreciated by fans please. :)

Not sure if the author sees him self as John Talon. but its starting to get too Team America for me. The characters good natured bickering while being super soldiers on par with the SAS or the American equiv.The hard charging hard fighting has started to become to unrealistic. And the books are becoming a tad preachy on the prepping side.

I am now 3/4 s through book 6, Last stand of the Dead and i'm dreading it. I have grown to love the characters in the series. It has been an emotional journey from the start with John Talon. If you want to get to work or even to sleep this is not for you. Putting these books down has been very difficult because the end of every chapter compels you to start the next. Thanks you Joseph Talluto on a brilliant series. I'll miss them.xx