Review of Bryan Way’s “Life After: The Void”

Life After: The Void carries the story of Jeff Grey and company forward about three months after the events of the first book, where the dead rose and he and several other people attending a high school band competition managed to turn the high school they were at into a barricaded fortress while the world outside goes to war with the undead.

Jeff remains bitter after the loss of his girlfriend and is dealing with a somewhat awkward burgeoning relationship with another friend, Mel, despite many awkward misgivings and some fairly contentious interactions.  Jeff, along with his National Guardsman friend Anderson, and older survivor Rich are the leaders in their reasonably stable new community.  They have provisions and routines to keep them safe, though the tension in the group is palpable.  The undead, for the most part, have become background noise, slaughtered when they get close but thought of more in theory than reality.  Except when, occasionally they overwhelm the survivor’s reality and become more of an immediate danger.

It is the humans outside that are the real threat, as they have always been and ever will be.  Jeff has been grasping the fact that nothing will ever return to normal despite the seeming static routines of his new existence.  This is compounded by the guilt and rage he feels at the loss of his brother and girlfriend, while his parents are a thousand miles away.  The group makes their way outside the barricades they have built and have to deal with the living in a variety of ways, coping with marauders, the military, and rescue missions.  Throughout these experiences, we see the world through Jeff’s eyes, though we know what those around him think of him.  Jeff is a self-admitted asshole, bitter and more often than not itching to get in a fight, or at least a debate, or how best to survive and to live.  The events he has to face and the tragic experiences he has had to cope with wage a constant war with his ability to keep it together.  He is a trusted and relied upon member of his group, but at the same time he seems to have a contentious relationship with just about everyone who crosses his path.  A teenager still, he is reluctantly being forced into the role of leader and does so often like a bull in a china shop.

My understanding is that there were a few short stories that the author wrote that take place between the first book of this series and this novel.  I am sure they would have added to the depth of the story, but having not read them didn’t make me feel as though I was lost in any way when I started this book.  This is definitely a sequel though, with the expectation that the reader already knows the main characters introduced in Life After: The Arising.

The action is a bit more tempered in this second entry of what I am guessing will be (at least) a trilogy, since the urgency of immediate survival in the hours and days that followed the first onslaught of the undead has subsided.  The characters have settled into life where they still have electric power and plenty of supplies, but of course are trapped in both a world and a barricaded fortress that is somewhat claustrophobic.  There are bursts of action in the book but much of the first half deals with the human dynamics of a group of people forced to unify and create a new existence with rules and routines that everyone can live with.  The author focuses a good deal on the interpersonal relationships between Jeff and pretty much everyone else.  His awkwardness with the children, annoyance with other leaders, and anger with just about anyone who confronts him are front and center.  The action picks up as the story progresses, but Jeff’s battles with those around him as well as his inner demons continue throughout, especially when he is forced to confront some very hard truths about himself and his place in this new world.

Jeff is a hard character to like in many ways.  He was in the first book and remains true to the personality the author created there in this book.  Abrupt, gruff, itching for an argument, and perceived as a know it all, it takes more than being forced to take a leadership role in a desperate survival scenario to force him to grow up and come to grips with his failings.  It is the life he must live, interacting with others in regular, routine daily activities versus coping with swinging a sword and blowing a zombie’s head off that are slowly chipping away at his desire to be contentious with just about everyone.  Much like with the first book, I believe that whether the reader enjoys this tale will likely hinge on what they think of Jeff and appreciate the path he is on-whether it be to redemption or ruin.  It is certainly an interesting path, regardless.

Life After: The Void can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Void-Bryan-Way-ebook/dp/B01LX8ZPSQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486918475&sr=8-2&keywords=bryan+way