The Wall is a direct sequel to Greg Rode's Sanctuary from the Sanctuary Chronicles. The fifth installment of the post-apocalyptic dystopian series opens with the unnamed narrator and his friends deciding to leave upstate New York in the winter for warmer pastures. The little group settles on Hilton Head, South Carolina, as their next destination and sends Morgan and Bob to scout the route ahead. While Morgan and Bob bond during the journey, an unexpected encounter requires Morgan to unleash her inner killer once again. Meanwhile, the narrator travels with the rest of the group, picking up a few former military personnel along the way. Soon, they locate a zombie horde of thousands marching toward their destination, led by an alpha with extraordinary abilities. Will the narrator and his friends survive their last stand against the seemingly insurmountable horde?

Author Greg Rode picks up the pace once again with this thrilling installment of the Sanctuary Chronicles. The Wall culminates a story building throughout the four previous books yet perfectly functions as a standalone post-apocalyptic survival drama that zombie lovers will devour with relish. In this book, the narrator and Eve are on the verge of taking their relationship to the next stage, while the fight against the zombies takes a more sinister turn when the new alphas display even more powers. This is a far more action-packed book than its predecessor, and although the story has a satisfactory ending, Rode also leaves room for further sequels down the line. I have enjoyed every single book of the series so far and think dystopian fiction readers will feel the same.

The fifth book in The Sanctuary Chronicles, The Wall by Greg Rode is action-packed zombie horror fare that is well-invented and well-tuned. Written as a first-person account, the narrator introduces his zombie apocalypse team composed of himself, Eve, Morgan, Kumiko, Maya, Bob, Amy, and two dogs named Ajax and Jack. Morgan is his sister while the rest are folks they met at some point and decided to join forces with them to increase their chances of survival. As the season gets colder, the group discusses the beach as a potential sanctuary. It is up to the team leader to make the final decision. In a world infested with the undead, decisions don’t have to be overanalyzed, so they head for the beach. Only then do they realize that the sanctuary they are looking for is going to be hell in actuality.

Like many zombie movies, The Wall capitalizes on the simple premise of trying to survive while fending off as many of the undead as you can. We expect to be scared and trail along with the characters to see whether or not they will lose their sense of humanity or keep it intact. This is one of the strongest elements of the storyline, as there are scenes in which the team has to resolve friction among themselves. I guess that in a world infested by zombies whose only sole purpose is to eat a brain, the worst enemy that surviving humans could have is themselves. If you enjoyed watching Zombieland, Night of the Living Dead, World War Z, and other zombie films that you can recall, The Wall by Greg Rode is definitely going to be a feast for your reading entertainment.