Spec Ops Z

By: Gavin G. Smith

Narrated by: Andrew Byron

Brought to you by Penguin.

When Vadim Scorlenski and his elite Spetznaz squad are sent to New York at the height of the Cold War, they're told it's a 'training exercise.' They discover, too late, that the 'practice' chemical weapon they're carrying is all too real. They go to their deaths...

...and awaken to a city overwhelmed by the walking dead, even now spreading across the globe. Somehow holding onto their identities amid the mindless monsters, Scorlenski and his squad of zombie commandos set out to return to Russia.

Someone's going to pay.

© 2021 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd (P) Penguin Audio and Rebellion Publishing 2021

This is an odd one.

A very fun concept, And well executed up to a point. There are some very major gripes i have with quite alot of the story, and the weirdness it took on at the end. That aside, i found the whole thing to be quite enjoyable. It almost seems like some parts of it were tacked on arbitarily, and there were several problem characters, as in they were a problem for the others that should have been taken care of instead of endless posturing and repeated threats and "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do?" Still, a fun ride.

Zombies for Cold War / WW2 alt history geeks

Interesting take on a zombie outbreak from the perspective of soviet spec ops in the late eighties.

A lot of military focused books, especially the spec ops vs. zombies style I’ve read, wind up being so heavily focused on the tactical stuff that the main characters wind up being completely bland and uninteresting. This book does not make that mistake. There’s no shortage of tactics and details on weapons and combat, but the characters also grapple with who they are, what they’ve become, and what they’re willing to do. It makes for a much more compelling story than a lot of the blank-slate-main-character books in these genres.