Official Review: Hounded by Ellie Douglas

Acwoolet · Post by **Acwoolet** » 04 Dec 2017, 16:53

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Hounded" by Ellie Douglas.]

3 out of 4 stars

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If you enjoy books that completely gross you out and make your skin crawl, then Hounded by Ellie Douglas is definitely the book for you. Throughout the novel, we’re taken on a surprising twist on the zombie apocalypse genre when it’s discovered that humans aren’t the ones being turned into zombies, but instead it’s their beloved canines. While the infested canine population runs rampant, humans must not only come to terms that their beloved pets are out to consume them, they also have to actually survive the apocalypse.

Hounded, which was previously published as Zombie dogs SB-16, takes us on an Earth shattering journey of eat or be eaten. The novel follows Calloway Foster and his family as they first witness the brutal attacks of the diseased dogs and have to figure out how they are going to survive. As many of their neighbors and loved ones end up comatose due to the virus, SB-16, the Fosters must rely on each other and any primal survival skills that may be lying hidden under soft exteriors.

With never a dull moment and written in the first perspective, the reader will find themselves following the Fosters and a few other characters in their journey to save humanity. Although Hounded does jump around to different viewpoints, it is always very clear as to who is narrating each part. In true horror fashion, the novel has very gory language and vivid scenery in which one will find themselves becoming jumpy around every corner and twist in the story. The main characters are pretty relatable and I could find myself considering what I would do if I were in their shoes, and many times questioning what in the world is that person doing. The secondary characters are also well written and help to fill out the story line by giving the Fosters someone to latch onto in discovering just who they are in times of crisis.

I’ve recently become obsessed with the whole zombie craze, which made me jump on the chance to read this novel. While I enjoyed reading this novel very much, there were a few things that bothered me a little bit. Although the dialogue was fun and relatable to the characters, the grammar and the punctuation needed a lot more editing before it had a professional feel to it. The use of question marks specifically was very distracting; there were many statements that were ended as questions when they were clearly not actual questions. There were other random uses of types of punctuation, but they weren’t quite as noticeable as the question marks were. Something else that I found quite odd was the author’s obsession with having her characters urinate. A majority of the chapters have different characters either announcing their need to do so, or reminding each other that they probably should urinate, with all of this being said to other adults, not little kids. I found some of the characters action choices to be very questionable, such as the fantastic idea of sending your child outside to look for their beloved dog when you know that there are rabid, rampant dogs running around eating people. But, I suppose that is all in the fun of a zombie apocalypse.

Although I enjoyed reading Hounded very much, I can only give it a 3 out of 4 stars due to the need for more editing. Errors aside, I believe that lovers of the horror and zombie genres will greatly enjoy this novel.

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Hounded
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Job Njoroge · Post by **Job Njoroge** » 07 Dec 2017, 08:52

Great review too bad it is not properly edited. Keep up the good work.

Gunnar Ohberg · Post by **Gunnar Ohberg** » 07 Dec 2017, 10:21

Good review, and I agree with your criticisms. Constant references to urination seem like a fantastic, bizarre insight into the mind of the author.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 07 Dec 2017, 10:42

That's definitely a different spin on the zombie apocalypse. That's for sure. It sounds like it might be a little too much for me. Thanks for the review, though!

Marissa Michael · Post by **Marissa Michael** » 08 Dec 2017, 04:14

The irony of me of liking horror stories but not a fan of any zombies related. I will give this book a try. Thanks for your review.

Mercelle · Post by **Mercelle** » 10 Dec 2017, 18:53

I can't imagine my beloved dog turning into a zombie and trying to kill me. This sounds interesting, but it's not my kind of book though.

peprica21 · Post by **peprica21** » 13 Dec 2017, 15:53

What an interesting twist on the genre of horror and the pop culture love of zombies! Sad the book was not edited in advance so you could properly fall into the story line. Thanks for your review!