Anywhere But Here: Emotionally Exhausting... and AWESOME.

I want to begin this review with a warning:

NEVER 

stay up a few hours

past your bedtime to read

a zombie story.

(especially a good one)

Never.

Well, ok. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing just a bit. This isn't the case with all zombie stories. This isn't even the case with most zombie stories... but it is definitely the case with this one.

Cover Art by Melchelle Designs.

Anywhere But Here, the first installment of the Starborn Ascension, is a post-apocalyptic thriller by Jason D. Morrow that will send your imagination soaring... or diving for cover.

Because, you know... zombies.

So what's it about?

Waverly was in the middle of a simple game of Go Fish when news of 'greyskins' was first reported. Media reports talked of people whose skin turned gray, and whose eyes turned black. Those people were seemingly unstoppable and attacking en masse, even though their bodies appeared to be dead.

That was three years ago. Now, people struggle in a world overrun by greyskins. Even worse, they have to be careful of each other. Trust doesn't run high in a devastated world. There are stories of a town called Crestwood, however, that allows travellers to settle within its walls. All a person needs to do is get there. Somehow.

I expected a run-of-the-mill zombie story, but that's not what I got. In fact, I got

Another Treasured Tome!!!

I know what you're thinking. 

"Already?"

I thought the same thing. Two Treasured Tomes in a row? No way!

But... yep. It happened. See, this was a spectacular work from the very beginning. Not only did the first few pages draw me in, but somewhere around 2/3 of the way through, I cried.

Not little, easy to ignore tears. Big ones. Huge ones that forced me to take a break because I couldn't read the blurred words in front of my eyes.

I was hooked, and good.

But then... then!

After the waterfall finally ended, I kept reading, puffy eyes and all. I read through dinner. I read through tooth-brushing. I then read long past my bedtime.

Big mistake.

Don't do that. I didn't sleep well at all, largely because my dreams were infested with zombies and vacant cities. And raiders.

Then, then next night, I had more nightmares. Everybody noticed the shadows under my eyes, and "...it was a good book" was the wrong response, triggering eyerolls, rather than commiseration.

The thing is, I don't have nightmares. My dreams are about eating a sandwich, typing on the laptop, tying my shoes. They're usually are usually quite boring, and even when they aren't, I find them more fascinating than anything else. Nightmares are rare.

Nightmares after reading a book? That just doesn't happen.

Although, I guess it does now, right?

See, but that's not everything. The worst part is that the ebook isn't. 

Even. 

Scary. 

Not really, anyway. I mean, yes there are zombies, and yes, people die. But super-creepy Steven King type stuff? There's none of that.

Rather, this book gets under your skin. It slowly takes over your subconscious, making sleep a distant memory. 

I haven't had a book do anything like this to my mind in a very long time. Morrow crafted a story that draws the reader in, causing them to beg for more... then releases the reader in an emotionally exhausted state.

Yet, all you can think about is going back for more.

Anywhere But Here can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

Read it.

But not right before bed. That's a really bad idea...