Reviewed by Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here by Mark Rounds is a highly credible, well researched, and impeccably paced post apocalyptic novel. The civilization-ending threat, while evocatively named the Zombie Plague for the cannibalistic violence of its symptomatic carriers, is rigorously established to originate from the biological intrigues of a devilish, perhaps foreign, coterie of baddies pursuing a world-domination agenda. First to become aware of the rapidly escalating national security threat are those in professions trained to take such notice: the Center for Disease Control, the military, medical personnel, and the police. The main characters that we embrace in their race for survival come primarily from these professions. Chad Strickland, his family and friends, along with a cantankerous but highly skilled veteran, Dave Tippet, as well as new survival-club members patrol officers Chris Vaughn and Amber Hoskins, all band together for protection against the often roving, infected mobs. Later they must flee their bunkered fortress home to escape specific targeting by a feral gang of bikers led by Special Agent Macklin, himself a blackmailed pawn of the original, power hungry devils.

With so much plotting needed to convince and engage even the apocalypse weary reader, Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here tasks author Mark Rounds with performing a highly dexterous juggling act: the need to establish credence while supplying the necessary heart-stopping level of dramatic suspense promised by his title. He does not miss a beat. He does not drop a ball. While the book would be well served by a keener eye for typos, one forgives errors for the quality of the story. The characters are deftly drawn, the writing is breathtakingly gripping, and the story development is both intelligent and fresh. The reader finds that he is checking his pulse way too often, perhaps worried about the reality of just such a zombie plague.