well-written telling of an apocalyptic situation.

A zombie-like virus that was the result of overzealous pharmaceutical companies is ripping through the United States. All of this is happening while the Bryant family are traveling from all over to get to the greater Seattle area to meet up for a family reunion. They are thrown into the mix of these “diseased/zombies” while they attempt to find each other, hoping that everyone makes it. Thankfully this family is incredibly adept at surviving.

Narration was done by Joseph C. Wilson who does a wonderful job with this story. Yes, I wish that there were more voices, but that’s nearly impossible to do with just how many characters there are within this story. The quality was perfect and his voice is wonderful to listen to.

So, I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of characters. There are so many characters that the author has a disclaimer at the intro of this book with a link to his website where you can read all of the character bios to hopefully help you keep up with all of them throughout the story.

Now, normally having this many people to follow and understand would take away from the story, but I think that DeBryan did a wonderful job pulling all of their stories together into this mosaic explaining what was going on with the outbreak throughout the United States. You get to see the outbreak from many different viewpoints and see how it affects different people differently.

Normally, with an apocalyptic tale like this, you get one (or maybe one small family) outlook on what is happening in the world around them. With Family Reunion, you get a ton! Which leads to an incredibly unique story.

Overall, once you wrap your brain around the different family members and each one of their stories, this is a well-written telling of an apocalyptic situation. The interweaving of the stories made this book for me.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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11 people found this helpful

Couldn't finish

Rarely is there a apocalypse book that I simply can't finish/don't care to finish. This is one of them. May appeal to others - I am known to be picky.

5 people found this helpful

Who reads like this ???

The story isn't bad, but I have never listened to a book with such a stiff and bad narration. I barely made it through this

5 people found this helpful

Pretty good end of the world book

What made the experience of listening to Family Reunion: When the Apocalypse Happens Only One Thing Matters...Family the most enjoyable?

A large variety of characters approaching survival in a lot of different ways. Some are trained and adept at surviving. Some stumble through it all and some don't make it.

What did you like best about this story?

Fairly realistic reactions by well developed characters make this an enjoyable read. The family aspect is a nice touch.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this over the course of a couple of days and always wanted to continue the story.

Any additional comments?

This is setup for one or more sequels. They should be good if this book is any indication.

4 people found this helpful

Horrible.

Impossible to finish. The narrator is like zombie John Wayne on heroine. Boring. Annoying. Dont waste your cash.

3 people found this helpful

Sometimes all you need is family.

A deadly virus rips through the United States leaving members of the Bryant family stranded or looking for shelter. They were all attempting to get to a family reunion near Seattle, Washington. Thankfully, this family is incredibly adept at survival. Join each family member as they attempt to find safety in numbers and each other in Family Reunion.

The narration for this was done by Joseph C. Wilson -- while I've never listened to any other novels that he's voiced, I did enjoy his narration a lot. Wilson gives a nice edge to each character and my only complaint was that there wasn't enough differentiation between characters in his voices. Granted there are a TON of characters to voice, so I can't fault him that much.

Given the insane amount of characters (there are so many that the author has included a disclaimer at the beginning of the novel telling readers that he knows there are a lot), the book still has a pretty nice flow to it. Now, at times I found myself thinking "who am I following now?" or "wait, which person is this?" but the author does have a nice description of each character on his website.

Now I know that he was going for a family reunion feel - with lots of families from all over -- I just know a lot of people would find this to be extremely hard to follow, especially in audiobook form, because there is no way of telling who's who right away. Even with all of that I still found myself enjoying this book. The different family members from different areas with different background really helped to create a nice narrative of the disease/plague that was spreading across the US.

Overall, if you can wrap your head around the number of family members and each of their stories -- this was a really unique telling of an apocalyptic moment in time. DeBryan does a great job of interweaving their stories together and I'm glad that I was able to listen to this book.

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2 people found this helpful

Big family zombie book . Nice story

What i great zombie read it was at times hard to keep up with everyone but that got better. The story is solid the zombies are pretty cool different then the normal. Seems everything got thrown at this group of people trying to survive

Some times the Narrator some times had the voice to him like he was trying to sale me something

Overall Great zombie story would recommend

2 people found this helpful

One of the worst books I've listen too

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you like listening to technical manuals then maybe you find something in this book worth your time

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It felt to me like listening to a book 15 years ago when audio books were not so available and the narrators were not very good. Tone was flat, no difference when switching between characters and just not good enough.

Any additional comments?

Save your money, please don't waste it on this.

1 person found this helpful

Could not make it through this

This is more a review of military weapons and an RV than an apocalypse story.

1 person found this helpful

Large family well written.

Would you consider the audio edition of Family Reunion: When the Apocalypse Happens Only One Thing Matters...Family to be better than the print version?

No it is the same story,you know that right?

What other book might you compare Family Reunion: When the Apocalypse Happens Only One Thing Matters...Family to and why?

None it is in a class all it's own

Which character – as performed by Joseph C. Wilson – was your favorite?

39 characters. All of them were well written. There was a lot of characters, but the Author did a good job so you can keep them all straight.I like that even though this family of 7 kids and their separate families were pretty easy to follow. The sisters were for the most part just as outspoken as the boys and they were strong women.If I had to pick a fave it would be Ryan, Parker or Barb.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Well I was yelling at the family (Grandpa to watch out that his granddaughter was not herself anymore.) I felt bad for him. I was also glad that they were able to find each other. Though some family members died either from the flu shot or by the infected it was good to see the survivors find one another.

Any additional comments?

I will look for more of this Authors books. The Narrator did a good job with it as well.This was a good read. There were a lot of characters 39 but Mr.P Mark DeBryan did a good job to help you keep them straight. He lumped the 7 kids of the Brent family and their spouses, kids and grandkids into groups. You followed each family group and the events that impacted them along the way.

There were also a few cousins Maddie (Molly) & Harry, Thomas was with them at the Coach factory and is an engineer he became an important part of the group. One of the strays the Brent family took in was Deric ,Parker took him in after his family was dead to help keep this kid alive.

Not all of the family made it. Some died from the vaccine and others were taken out by the infected. When they worked together they succeeded. You follow them as they learn to survive. Not many of the Brent family were young chicks. Some were well past 60 yrs of age.

This was a well thought out story with believable struggles and realistic family dynamics. The characters were well rounded. This book makes you wonder how your family might do in a similar situation.

1 person found this helpful