Newfound Family and Old Enemies Collide in Zombie Apocalypse Sequel

Fangs Bared (Where We Stand Now, Book 2) by Brandon Pawlicki

How do you survive monstrosities without becoming a monster yourself? Is violence justifiable when the endgame is peace? These are some of the questions our heroine grapples with in Fangs Bared, book two of Brandon Pawlicki’s zombie apocalypse series, Where We Stand Now.

Vallerie Sabell has seen more than her fair share of tragedy in her two short decades of life. She lost her high-school boyfriend to a school shooting, her best friend to a violent cult attack, and now her brother to the Bastion, a militia clinging to American patriotism at the end of the world. The lone survivor of her tiny band, Vallerie is taken in by commune leader Grahm, who shared the same failed mission: save a draft dodger from execution.

Fighting to Protect Her New Family

The grief that follows binds them together like family. Vallerie makes herself an uneasy home in Grahm’s commune amid a caring, ragtag community. It’s a beautiful place far from the pillaged cities and suburbs, full of woods, meadows, a river and a spectacular view of the mountains. Save for the occasional incursion of the wandering undead, it’s a place of peace and hope for rebuilding a future where she can lay low and start over.

But not for long. If her aid to her draft-dodging brother, Allan, in evading the Bastion weren’t enough reason for her to be on the militia’s hit list, she’s really done it now: killing a Bastion soldier in a horrific manner for killing her brother. And the Bastion won’t rest until they find and execute her, something their leader, Esther, takes great pleasure in doing. All of Vallerie’s caution is for naught when she’s recognized during a trading excursion to another camp, leading to more bloodshed than bargained for.

Now she’ll need her newfound family for more than just shelter. She’ll need to step from the shadows as a thought leader for a new world. But there’s a long path of chaos and death before she can get there.

Guts and Gore — and Something More

For readers of the series, Vallerie has come a long way from a victim learning to be a survivor. Her fighting skills are honed to a fine edge, with the precision of an assassin and the strength of an athlete. Her prowess in dispatching undead and soon-to-be-dead alike is matched only by her quick wits. But there’s a far darker side to Vallerie now.

Where once was reluctance and regret in killing, Vallerie has become decisive and battle-hardened. She has come to recognize that in order to build a future, the vestiges of the past must be destroyed. There are no borders and no limits on how society can be rebuilt for the better this time. But first, the Bastion and its vision of New America needs to be eradicated.

Pawlicki does a great job of moving the narrative forward with equal parts action and reflection. There’s guts and gore galore, but also complex character development. We are given more insight into why and how things are the way they’ve become, but only just enough for us to better understand the motivations of the Bastion. Many questions still remain, chief among them being where and how the zombie apocalypse originated. No doubt, we’ll eventually find out, if not in book three, then in a future episode.