Title: The Walking Dead: The Road to WoodburyAuthor: Jay Bonansinga, Robert Kirkman
Series: The Walking Dead: Novels #2
First Published: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Pages: 291
Genre: Apocalyptic, Horror, Supernatural
Format: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
The zombie plague unleashes its horrors on the suburbs of Atlanta without warning, pitting the living against the dead. Caught in the mass exodus, Lilly Caul struggles to survive in a series of ragtag encampments and improvised shelters. But the Walkers are multiplying. Dogged by their feral hunger for flesh and crippled by fear, Lilly relies on the protection of good Samaritans by seeking refuge in a walled-in town once known as Woodbury, Georgia.
At first, Woodbury seems like a perfect sanctuary. Squatters barter services for food, people have roofs over their heads, and the barricade expands, growing stronger every day. Best of all, a mysterious self-proclaimed leader named Philip Blake keeps the citizens in line. But Lilly begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. . . . Blake, who has recently begun to call himself The Governor, has disturbing ideas about law and order.
Ultimately, Lilly and a band of rebels open up a Pandora's box of mayhem and destruction when they challenge The Governor's reign . . . and the road to Woodbury becomes the highway to hell in this riveting follow-up to Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga's New York Times bestselling The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
The Governor saga continues in The Road to Woodbury. We are introduced to a brand new protagonist, Lilly Caul, and her journey to Woodbury as it is being developed under a new chain of command. This book does an excellent job of providing more information as to how Woodbury became the dreaded town from the comics and television show. The Governor’s story begins to take shape and through this story we see him develop into the villain that Walking Dead fans know so well.
Sadly I found this book to be a bit underwhelming, especially reading it so soon after Rise of the Governor. The first book leaves off on a cliff hanger and by the time Lilly and company make their way to Woodbury, the cliff hanger in question is only briefly mentioned and the reader is never told exactly what happened. This particular event was later published in a short seven page novella that didn’t feel worth reading.
I also didn’t care for most of the characters, especially the main cast. TMartinez and Stevens, who had both previously appeared in the comics, make an appearance and it was great learning a little more about their characters and the difficult roles that they play in Woodbury.
Most of the book I spent sloshing through Lilly’s back story waiting for the story to really get around to the big clash. The book definitely picks up pace near the end and the last page left me breathless, setting up a wonderful revenge plot for the rest of the series. This book just suffers the unfortunate circumstance of being that “in between” book in a series where it’s all just build up for another book.
Quote
“I’d rather be a piece of work than a piece of shit.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Jay Bonansinga
The national best-selling author of ten acclaimed books – both fiction and non-fiction — Jay Bonansinga has been called “one of the most imaginative writers of thrillers” by the Chicago Tribune.
Jay is the holder of a master’s degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
About Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman’s first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert’s first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert’s creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
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