Mountain of Fire by Jason Cordova

Review

I’m the first to admit most zombie stories bore me. John Ringo changed that when he started his Black Tide Rising series. Here was a zombie apocalypse that made sense, as much as one can. Sure, his characters were over the top, especially Faith. But there was a feeling of hope, of determination to the characters. Most of all, there was fun in the books even as the characters struggled to survive. In the years since, Ringo’s let others play in his sandbox and the latest installment, Mountain of Fire by Jason Cordova now ranks as one of my favorites. Short version, buy it and enjoy.

The first thing that struck me was, after a prologue that helped set the scene for “the Fall”, Cordova started the action six months after the ZA hit his characters’ little part of the world. And that was the second part that hit me. Where the first book of BTR spent a great deal of time in NYC, Mountain of Fire takes place in and around a St. Dominic’s Prepartory School for Girls in the Blue Ridge Mountain area. Our cast of characters is, on the whole, a group of school girls of varying ages and the kick-ass nun (who once upon a time before taking her vows was a Marine).

Now, I can hear your groans and see you rolling your eyes. Gotta admit, I did before starting the book. However, what I found is that Cordova didn’t fall prey to the caricatures we see too often where we have female leads who are so bad ass they can’t be taken seriously. Instead, he gives us a nun who is more than capable of guiding her charges physical and spiritual growth. But she is troubled and has her own demons—which brings me to one of my regrets about the book. I wish we knew more about her history and the actions that led to her deciding to take her vows.

We also have a group of girls, led by Maddie, who have their own issues. Some of those are the issues you expect any teenaged girl to have. Some are expected from their circumstances. The girls at St. Dom’s are what might best be considered “troubled”, at least by their parents. This is more hinted at than actually detailed. Cordova is a master at giving us an insight into why the girls are there in little bits of information here and there until you see them in a situation and have that light bulb moment where you realize exactly why there were chosen for that bit of the actions.

But what Codova does so well in my opinion is how he shows the real enemy in a ZA isn’t the zombies but the humans. Sister Ann, Maddie and the rest of the girls at St. Dom’s, and the other survivors who begin gathering there, find themselves facing off against an antagonist who has declared himself the king of Appalachia and he has followers with rifles and more willing to carry out his orders. When they first come across a small group of teen girls in Catholic girls school uniforms, well, you can guess what will happen.

If I say much more, I’ll get into spoilers and I don’t want to do this with this review. So let me get to the bottom line. Then situations presented in the book are believable. The characters, with very few exceptions, are as well. Sister Ann, Maddie and the rest of the survivors from St. Dom’s have their strengths and weaknesses. Maddie is a more than capable leader, if she allows herself to be. But she has self-doubt and she has issues because of what she’s been forced to do since the Fall. However, under Sister Ann’s guidance and tutelage, she has stepped up without really realizing it.

Sister Ann is that mentor, parent, sibling, friend and teacher I wish we all had. She isn’t afraid to point out when one of her charges has stepped out of line, but she does so in a way they aren’t torn down and that they learn from the mistake. She also knows how to build up those who need it. She is capable and she is dedicated to her vows, even as she sometimes has to do things that bring back her own personal demons.

There are other characters, some you can smile about and others you respect for their dedication to duty or family and yet others you want to take out behind teh woodshed and give a good beating too. But they help fill out the story and make it all the more real.

But I have questions I want answered. As noted above, I want to know more about Sister Ann and her background and choices that led her to being at St. Dom’s when she was most needed. I want to know more about Maddie, especially her later story as the world continues to fight to rebuild. I really want to know why Maddie had doubts about the governor and if those doubts turned into something she, or someone else, would have to deal with later for the good of the state.

After finishing the book, I made a FB post where I tagged Cordova. I decided to change the post before hitting send because the Fb ‘bots would probably have flagged it as containing forbidden content. Why? Because I told Codova that I wanted to kill him. The book drew me in—and kept me from sleeping until I finished it. More than that, I wanted more and when would the next book be out?

I don’t know if he has any plans for more books set in and around St. Dom’s. I hope so.

Bottom line: Mountain of Fire is one of the most entertaining books I’ve read for awhile. I highly recommend it, even if you aren’t a fan of zombie books. While they are a part of the plot, they aren’t the predominant antagonist. They are simply a part of life these days, a dangerous and deadly part, but now St. Dom’s part of the world has a bigger danger to deal with, one that is solely human created.

Featured image is the cover of Mountain of Fire.

(Links featured in the post link to Amazon and are my Amazon associates link so I may receive a small percentage if you purchase anything through the links.)