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    Ex-heróis
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    Ex-heróis
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    Ex-heróis
    Ebook392 pages5 hours

    Ex-heróis

    By Peter Clines

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Os Vingadores encontram The Walking Dead, em uma batalha épica.Em uma Los Angeles arruinada pelo apocalipse zumbi, um grupo de sobreviventes deve lutar pela vida. Para isso, contará com a ajuda preciosa de Stealth, Mighty Dragon e seus companheiros. Refugiados em um estúdio de cinema transformado em fortaleza, o Monte, deverão se proteger dos vorazes exércitos de ex-humanos e de outras ainda mais terríveis ameaças. Em Ex-heróis , dois ícones da cultura pop – zumbis e super-heróis – finalmente se encontram, numa narrativa de tirar o fôlego."ZUMBIS? CERTO. SUPER-HERÓIS? CERTO.NARRATIVA IMPRESSIONANTE? CERTO.EX-HERÓIS TEM TUDO ISSO. PODE SE PREPARAR!"– MIRA GRANT, autora best-seller do The New York Times .
    LanguagePortuguês
    PublisherEditora Novo Século
    Release dateMay 8, 2014
    ISBN9788542801606
    Unavailable
    Ex-heróis

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    Reviews for Ex-heróis

    4/5

    42 ratings42 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines is the first book in a series about a group of super-heroes trying to survive and help others during the zombie apocalypse. I’ve always had a soft spot for zombie stories but who knew how much fun they would become by adding a few super heroes to the mix. This is a fun mash up of genres that is chock full of violence, action and zombies. The setting is post-zombie apocalypse Los Angeles. The survivors take up residence in the large major movie studio which they call The Mount (Paramount). Having a group of super-heroes with them is exceeding helpful when it comes to chores like scavenging among the millions of zombies that wander the streets of LA. But like many zombie stories the real danger is from other living humans in particular a surviving gang called the Seventeens. Our group of superheroes consist of St. George who is super strong, can breath fire and is impervious to the bite of the zombie. There is also Cerberus, Lady Bee, Zzzap, Regenerator and Stealth all with their own special skills.The story is told in two time-frames, both the current and the past so we get a good idea of how the zombies came into being, how the superheroes developed and how the current battle evolved. While I found the superheroes were fairly well rounded and interesting characters, the human characters were less so and eventually just seemed to be fodder for the action scenes. As this is the first book in a series, it serves more as a foundation for what is to come. I couldn’t help but feel that this would perhaps have been more riveting if it had been a graphic novel. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story with it’s different perspective on a zombie apocalypse.
    • 4/5
      In a dystopian zombie filled world, the superheroes of Southern California are protecting the surviving humans in a fortified Paramount Studios. A fun amuse bouche of a story. I enjoy the superhero genre and like when the author comes up with their own take on the usual tropes, and Cline does not disappoint. Stealth, Gorgon, Zzzap and the Mighty Dragon, to name a few. This is an interesting look at what happens when a world that has super/meta beings come crashing down during an Ex-human (Clines' world doesn't like to use the Z word) apocalypse. Its the start of a 5 book series, that I'm going to have to continue.8/10S: 2/8/19 - 2/20/19 (13 Days)
    • 2/5
      This will certainly be optioned as a movie (if it hasn't yet), and it'll be a good summer popcorn flick. But it was pretty silly at many points.
    • 2/5
      The premise of this book sounded interesting - and fun. And at the start it seemed to be what it promised to be, but as I went on I found myself losing interest in the story and the characters.
      Nothing I can truly put my finger on, but still it didn't work for me.
    • 1/5
      Zombies are easy. I mean, they were old in 1999 as a metaphor. Romero is the original and noone since has really done anything too new with it. I'll admit, I liked the Walking Dead comics...to a point. The torture issue finished it for me, and I never went back. But I did appreciate the theme running through WD that no matter how brutal the zombies were, it was the cruelty of the living humans that was always the greatest. But zombies were old in 1999 when I mocked the gimmick in my first novel, Death by Zamboni, but having the main character riff on how fun it was to beat up zombies. You can tear 'em apart...or whatever...just for fun. See, no one cares if you kill zombies. It's the perfect excuse for violence. We can glorify the violence and excuse the heroes brutality...because they are dead things, after all. Just viruses controlling bodies for inscrutable reasons.And that brings us to Ex Heroes, a mash-up of superheroes and zombies, which allows for R-rated superhero violence in that exact manner. No one can think badly of them for tearing apart a zombie, right? Well, actually. My gut reaction to this book was that it was racist. I gave it a chance because I thought, it might end up having a racial theme arise somewhere later in the story. But no. Two things made me feel it was racist. One, every time an individual zombie was described (gleefully) as being ripped apart, we were told what race they belonged to. Since this book happened to be set in LA, there were quite a few Asians. He'd also describe if they were blonde or brunette or old or young. But especially the race and especially Asian. Then second, there was the Latino gang that was portrayed as being lead by a single intelligent undead monster. Who could control zombies with his superpower. The gang members were portrayed as animalistic, for the most part, in the most old skool clichéd gang fashion. Like something from a 70s movie like The Warriors or Mad Max perhaps. Their humanity was not really acknowledged by the author.The racism may very well have been unintentional, and I am not saying the author is personally racist. But I found his book to be racist and expressed joyful detail in tearing apart zombies. Once I noticed it, I felt that subtly, the Asian zombies got it worse than the others. I'm sure it was a...coincidence.
    • 4/5
      This may be the oddest comparison, but I liked this book better than the most recent J. D. Robb novel. Usually, I can devour an Eve Dallas tale in a single sitting, with barely any breaks for real life. Well, of the two, Ex-heroes was a quicker and more enjoyable read!I had absolutely no trouble following the timeline jumps, and found the inserted back stories very well placed and fascinating. The characters were interesting people, the bad guys excellent foils for our heroes. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, and will probably look up some of the author's earlier works next time I need a good read.
    • 4/5
      A rather quick "fluff" read, with a very simple story. It doesn't take itself too seriously, so I wouldn't either; just sit back, don't think too much, and enjoy the ride. Be prepared for loads of pop culture references and humorous dialogue, and just an all all-around fun time especially if you're into superheroes...fighting zombies.
    • 4/5
      I won this book through last month's Early Reviewers. I thought the book was fast and a whole lot of fun! No, it's not deep and thought provoking but sometimes you just want to sit back and enjoy the ride. I recommend this book if you are a fan of super heroes or want a fresh take on the over-saturated zombie market...and if you're a fan of both, then this is a must buy!
    • 4/5
      A great cross between X-Men and Resident Evil. Some grammar errors present in my Early Reviewer copy. One thing that bothered me a lot was the use of different names for the same character which became confusing at times. All in all, a nice quick read with an interesting premise. It should be noted that this is a re-release of the book.
    • 4/5
      Superheroes + zombies is certainly going to hit a lot of buttons right now, and that explains why Ex-Heroes (originally published in 2010) is being given a splashy new release. It's definitely action-packed and features lots of skulls being crushed, but I was ultimately disappointed with the character development of the heroes. There are seven or eight "main" characters, plus quite a few that run about in the background helping advance the story, and I wound up wishing the focus had been more concentrated. It was also confusing to have alternating flashback chapters, told in first person by various characters, when we had to wait several paragraphs (even most of the chapter, in one instance) to figure out who was talking. I enjoyed the book as light commute fare, and as a non-Marvel/DC take on superheroes, but I wish there'd been more to it than that.
    • 3/5
      I really, really wanted to like "Ex-Heroes" more than I did. The premise was great (super-heroes fighting zombies) but the execution, in my opinion, was flawed (2- and 3- star reviews on Amazon summarize the issues I had with the plot quite well)."Ex-Heroes" reads like a script for a graphic novel, and if it is ever made into one, I would give it 4 stars. As it is, I expected more character development and more insight into actions and decisions of the heroes.
    • 4/5
      Superheroes protect human survivors of the zombie outbreak by making a fortress out of a movie studio lot. But in addition to the undead, they face another threat in the guerrilla attacks from a surviving street gang.Why I picked it up: Amazon recommended this to me over a year ago, it sat parked on my wish list until I got the Early Reviewer copy.Why I finished it: Superheroes. And while the story doesn't explore why people started developing powers, I did like how it explained the zombie outbreak.I'd give it to: Justin, who likes graphic novels and is just now getting into World War Z.
    • 3/5
      Clines gives us a fun mishmash of the Zombie genre by throwing Superheroes into the mix but like an episode of the Adam West Batman series there are a few POW's but some BIFFS thrown in as well. The basic summary is that zombies show up doing their usual checklist of overwhelming the government, eating civilians and basically making the world a not so nice place to live. Step in the few surviving heroes who take what's left of LA's population and hunker down in a movie studio lot and make the occasional scavenging run.I liked the concept and overall the execution was adequate but at times I felt that some of the decisions that the heroes made were arbitrary and only there to push the story along in typical comic book fashion, which works fine in a world where nothing ever changed or can be retconned when a new writer is brought on. Yet when you know that the story will eventually end and you see the heroes making the same arbitrary decision some of the luster is lost. Which leads to another problem, that of no character growth. In comic books I don't expect my heroes to grow as people as that would imply the series was moving forwards, or that someone was winding up the Retconn bat again. But with Ex-Heroes I would think that there would be some development yet at the end of the book nothing really has changed with the heroes other than having a few more zombie guts on them. If Clines had made the Heroes work through their insecurities that he mentions throughout the book he could have left the reader with a fully satisfying ending rather than the arbitrary good guys beat the bad guys ending we get. In addition the jumping back between pre-zed and now to give the back stories about the hero's while interesting, really broke up the tension. It would be like Jason about to kill the camp counselors only to break into a monolog about how his Mother brought him into the family business of stabbing people in the neck.Now you might be saying " I thought you said this book was fun?" and yes I did. Because even with the a for mentioned flaws I still had a fun time reading it. There is just something satisfying about having superheroes destroying hordes of zombies. If you want to read something that's quick and you can get a few laughs out of then give Ex-Heroes a try. Is it perfect? No but then what zombie book is. The entire point of zombie apocalypses lit is so you the reader can roll your eyes and say if zombies took over the world I'd never do something as dumb as that.Now excuse me as I go update my zombie survival plan to include a contingency for superhero zombies.
    • 4/5
      This book was a solid and fun book to read. Each chapter switched POV between the characters. Some characters were more interesting to read so I found myself wishing to get back to them. Cline did a good job making sure all the characters had their own voice. I thought there were areas that were a little slow but I liked the twists the plot took. All in all a very enjoyable read and I'll be sure to pick up the sequel.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Who can ask for more? Superheroes and Zombies! A group of superheroes- Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap, and The Mighty Dragon are the last defense for humankind. They protect people inside a movie studio that has been turned into a big community for survivors. Zombies, or exes as they are called in the book are trying to get in, but the superheroes help keep them out. I really enjoyed learning how each of the heroes got their powers and what they were like before they were heroes. However, are there heroes out there who aren't good? What if one of them has powers that are deadly to them all? I look forward to the next book in the series. I will read it for sure.
    • 4/5
      The field of zombie novels is crowded, but there is always room for fresh ideas and well-told stories. Ex-Heroes has both. Take your zombie apocalypse, add superheroes, and come away with a great story!Ex-Heroes is the story of a group of superheroes gathering what survivors remain in Los Angeles into a former Hollywood studio lot converted into a fortress. The story is told in shifting first-person perspective as well as jumping from the present to the past, shortly before and during the early stages of the zombie outbreak. As the first novel in a series, there is a lot of exposition and a lot of development of the characters, particularly the superheroes and their origins. Peter Clines manages this without sacrificing action and steadily moving forward to a very thrilling climax. The fights and battles are intense and exciting. The fact that the superheroes can die and worse yet, become zombies makes the danger feel real and adds to the excitement. On top of the typical pervasive zombie threat, there is an organized human threat of those who envy what the superheroes have in their fortress, The Mount, and want it for themselves. This adds another layer to the danger and gives the book a focus beyond the typical “kill all the zombies”. The heroes themselves are fascinating and their stories are easily as entertaining as the main plot.It’s amazing how much action and backstory is packed into a relatively short book. Ex-Heroes is a fun, fast and very exciting read. It creates a world that has room for many more stories in it, and I look forward to the next book. I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Zombies and superheroes! This was an interesting take, not just on the combination of the two, but on each group on its own.
    • 3/5
      Quite interesting mashup of Superheroes and zombies. Was an interesting read but from time to time I felt it lacked something, just can't put a name on what..
    • 5/5
      Early in the 2000's, people with superpowers started to emerge around the world. Then in 2009, a zombie apocalypse stated which lead to the collapse of civilization. A number of the superheroes ended up infected and turned into zombies, while a group of the remaining ones fortified the Paramount studios in Hollywood and made them into a refuge for a few thousand survivors. A year later, the survivors in The Mount come into conflict with a street gang that has also survived in a nearby enclave and seems to have gained some ability to control the zombies.Ex-Heroes was a fun, quick read. The zombie apocalypse depicted is essentially the same as in most zombie stories, but the mix with the superheroes works well, and the origin of the zombie plague is unique. The heroes were well done and limited enough in their powers that they don't overwhelm the story. I will look forward to reading the next book.
    • 4/5
      Superheroes versus zombies. That's Ex-Heroes in a nutshell. Don't like superheroes or zombies? Well...that might not be a problem, actually.Ex-Heroes is about a group of super-powered heroes trying to protect a last enclave of humanity in a Los Angeles movie studio-turned-fortress following the zombie apocalypse. I will admit that I'm a bit of a superhero guy, but I couldn't care less about the current zombie trend. It's okay, though, because the zombie apocalypse featured in Clines' books is just the setting; the real show is the larger-than-life yet all-too-human characters: St. George, Stealth, Zzzap. Gorgon, Cerberus, Regenerator. You could draw some easy parallels between Clines' creations and the stable of popular DC and Marvel Comics heroes, but it doesn't matter because Clines makes his so engaging.I loved the structure of the book, too. The chapters alternate: two "Now" chapters set in the present day, told from your standard third-person perspective; then one "Then" chapter set in the past and told in the first-person by one of the superhero characters. The Then chapters move forward chronologically, slowly building up the history of the zombie apocalypse (including an ingenious superhero-related origin for the zombies) as well as fleshing out the backstory of the characters involved. And the way they interact with the ongoing plot of the Now chapters works brilliantly.If there are any real flaws in the book, it would be that one of the heroes seemed way too powerful, and the hasty explanations given for why he wasn't more effective didn't really satisfy me. Also, the main bad guy has huge question marks in his background that (thankfully) are mostly cleared up in the sequel, but still drove me nuts for most of this book. Those are minor nitpicks, though. This book is just too much fun. [4 out of 5 stars]
    • 5/5
      Ex-Heroes is a riveting tale of superheroes and zombies in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Lots of action and adventure with some morality thrown in. I couldn't put it down.
    • 3/5
      Due to a laboratory accident (natch!) people start showing up with super-human powers. Soon after that zombies also appear and civilization falls. This is the story of one group of super-heroes and humans holed up in a former film studio in LA and surrounded by hordes of hungry zombies. Some of the superheroes have fallen and are now zombies with superpowers.What did I find out about zombie novels? That page after page after page after page of killing zombies by sticking pikes through their skulls is repetitive and boring. Why didn't the superheroes use their powers more to clean up the mess? The Mighty Dragon could have incinerated them with his fiery breath. Zzzap the human star could kill them by flying through their heads, but found it gross and begged off, leaving his friends and all human civilization to endlessly poke pikes through skulls and be killed themselves. This is apparently much more acceptable to Zzzap.But then we got to the scientific reasons of why this all happened. I read the virus explanations and thought to myself "OK, this guy is not a virologist". But not many people are--although surely Clines could have found an avid grad student to read what he wrote and give him some feedback. Still, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and suspend all disbelief even if he had virus pretending to be leukocytes (sort of like grains of rice pretending to be football fields). But then we come to the scenario with the fatal blood transfusion that started the zombie outbreak. The whole thing was stupidly impossible. RH reactions don't work that way. Hepatitis wouldn't show up for months. And Clines, instead of checking his facts, used one of the laziest, most stupid explanations I have ever come across in a published work:" Two horrible, freak mistakes that both fell on one person. As someone in the medical profession, I know this and I understand why they could've been so baffled. Hell, anyone who watches House knows why they were baffled."And so Mr. Clines lost me. Zombies, maybe. Zombies and superheroes--intriguing. Mindless superheroes who don't use their powers, meh. Complete lack of fact-checking. Double meh. Believing that said lack of fact-checking can be waved away with a stupid remark--3 strikes.
    • 4/5
      A quick, engaging read about superheroes and regular people making a living on a movie studio lot in the zombie-infested land of LA. I was instantly hooked from page one and I enjoyed the glimpses into the past - showing bits and pieces from the different heroes' lives. It had action and adventure and plenty of zombie smashing. I still have some questions, but I'm hoping they'll be answered in book two.
    • 4/5
      One of the most solidly intriguing and creative premises I've read in a long time (seriously, I dare you to think of two common tropes less suited for each other than zombies and superheroes and make it work) with a cast of interesting characters and a truly EPIC final battle.An overall enjoyable read, although I found the frequent jumps between past and present somewhat grating. I also found that I much preferred the first-person perspective offered in the 'then' chapters, as opposed to the more generic third person that appeared in the future. Still, it's hardly a problem for this overall gem of a novel.
    • 5/5
      Los Angeles has always been thought of as the land of make believe. It is a place where dreams are made of and are often shattered by reality. L.A. is the land of the have and the have nots. You are either famous or a nobody that is waiting for just the right part to come along. Los Angeles is where Hollywood actors transform into super heroes in order to fight larger than life villains. It is a city within a city where some choose to hide their true self and flaunt a persona that they have created. Within these winding roads of future actors are the notorious doctors and surgeons that assist in transforming the upcoming stars. They are the plastic surgeons that create a new face that will make a star or the notorious heart surgeons that keep those alive that should have passed long ago from dope habits. What if these doctors were special in more than one way? What if humanity secretly carried a mutation that allowed some to be better than others? What if these mutations created heroes? This story is about one such man named Josh. He is a man that was once considered a hero in his own right, but is now a man who is determined just to survive. Josh is a brilliant man who has his career in the medical community. He is a man born will the power of rejuvenation. One day while on a mission with other heroes his wife is killed. Desperate to have his wife by his side he attempts to rejuvenate her. Instead he creates a monster or a thing known as an X. It is a soulless creature that lives to eat and eats to kill other living beings. One lethal bite turns an average person into a walking zombie that can cause pain and sorrow. To Josh's horror his wife is patient 0, the first X monster. To his shame and conscience Josh spends the rest of his life saving other people from the X's. However, something is changing and causing the monsters to mutate. How can Josh stop his creation from mutating into something worse? How can his peers rely on him if he was the source of the madness?This book is a wonderful story that is perfect for those who enjoy comic books. I also believe it can be enjoyed at any age and is perfect for comic con! To be honest this book was so good that my husband named Josh read it before me! We both were amazed at the author's ability to create such a fast moving story that really drew us into his character's world. I could not help but feel sorry for Josh throughout the book knowing that it all stemmed from his wife's death. I will not tell anymore details of the book. I would rather you read it and find out for yourself how much fun it really is! I would recommend this book to anyone and in fact I am hoping that they turn this series into a graphic novel! That would be a lot of fun to see and to be honest I could see them doing something more with this. I must say thank you to both Goodreads and the author for giving this book to me in a giveaway. It is very appreciated and I think the author would be happy to know that my husband is already reading the second book in the series and making me wait to read it! How messed up is that? LOL! Either way the author has a lot of talent and I am looking forward to his other books!
    • 4/5
      Kapow and Moan!Like a slap in the face, this book takes the reader by surprise. The moment a book introduces super-heroes and zombies you would expect a ludicrous tale. This book is far from ludicrous. The author has taken geek lore and turned it into a plausible and enjoyable read. The suspension of belief occurred (for me) regardless of the characters. This is a well-written and enjoyable story with pacing that is perfect. Character development was great, with an ending that left the reader wanting more. Perfect read for fans of the genre and for anyone wanting a fast and fun time.
    • 5/5
      I received this ARC through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.This book combines three major premises: superheroes, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, and zombies. I love a good superhero story. Sometimes, however, it doesn't translate well to a novel. Post apocalypse stories? I love'em to bits because I'm morbid like that, but zombies tend to creep me out, so I don't actively seek out books with them. Therefore, I approached this book with some hesitance.The book, in return, impressed me greatly.Clines has created a vivid, incredible world here. His cast of superheroes varies widely as far as powers and personalities, and while they do follow the tropes of the genre, they are all vivid and absolutely believable. Even more impressive, he skips from perspective to perspective and between the past and the current apocalyptic environment, and manages to do so in a way that's not confusing at all. The heroes all speak in voices that are that distinct.The setting itself is another wow factor. I'm a native Californian but only have a very basic understanding of where things are located around LA. Gauging from this book, Clines KNOWS this place. He uses the movie studios, the streets, and shows how it's all become a battleground. It feels firmly grounded in reality. My only wish is that the front of the book included a map.Then there are the zombies. They are as nasty and sad as one would expect. The shambling undead have taken over the world. It's really chilling, though, when Clines breaks down the statistic to show how many zombies are staggering around LA, even after all the efforts the heroes have taken to combat them. Of course, the heroes aren't up against the zombies alone. Their big rivals in town are the Seventeen gang, and the thugs are no longer content with peddling drugs and spraying graffiti--no, they want supplies, and they want the superhero Gorgon dead. Again, as a Californian, this really resonated with me--I could see a gang taking over in a vacuum of power like this. It's really weird to say, "This superhero zombie apocalypse novel won me over with its realism," but it's the truth. I went in with low expectations and now I really want to read the sequel that comes out soon.
    • 3/5
      The blurb on the cover of Peter Clines' "Ex-Heroes" plugs the novel as "The Avengers meets The Walking Dead". Those expecting something like The Walking Dead may be somewhat disappointed, but those into comic book heroes like The Avengers may enjoy this book a great deal.For my taste, the book was too comic-bookish, but I was expecting a little more horror than Clines provided. The other issue that I struggled with was character development. The genesis behind the "creation" of the Heroes who help battle the undead in the Hollywood part of Los Angeles was thinly described, at best. Clines does a little background work on the different heroes, such as The Mighty Dragon, Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, and Cairax, as he flips from the past to the present throughout the story, but don't expect to find out a lot about these "heroes". The humans who are being protected by the Heroes play almost no role in the book. The zombies, or "ex's" (as in ex-humans) are drawn by the "book" for the most part and provide few surprises.The action in the last half of the book is solid as the Heroes and humans fight off the ex's by the thousand as Hollywood is attacked en masse. There are a few draggy scenes early in the book, but for the most part, it's a fairly quick and involved read. I do want to point out that Clines has a couple of moments of brilliance in the book. His depiction of the demise of some very familiar real-life Hollywood stars and "B" players is hilarious and witty. "Ex-Heroes" is a quirky, imaginative novel that will probably appeal more to science fiction fans than to horror aficionados, but if you into this type of novel, then you should give it a look.
    • 5/5
      This is the first in a fantasy series that sounds like it is trying to do too much. A virus has spread throughout the U.S., and zombies are spreading rapidly. The government has fallen, and a group of superheroes is trying to protect the survivors in a studio lot in Hollywood. As the story unfolds, Clines fills in more of the detail about how this crisis began and reveals that the zombies aren't the only danger that the superheroes need to fight. Zombies, superheroes, street gangs, and a plot with a gradual reveal - Peter Clines weaves it all together like a pro. I couldn't stop turning the pages! This was exactly what I needed in the midst of the craziness that comes at the end of the semester.
    • 5/5
      Man this book was a fanboys dream. It took my two favorite genres horror & super-heroes and smooshed (or is it smushed? Or should I say smashed?) them together to make this novel that reads like a blockbuster movie coming out. Peter Cline does a great job on fleshing out the characters with flashbacks ala Lost with then & now segments of the book. Some characters like Stealth you associate with a Batman knockoff or the Mighty Dragon – Superman (sorta…maybe not so much) but Clines comes up with some really unique ones as well. Does this book have flaws? Yes. But that is ok. It’s like eating at a restaurant with a “B” rating that serves really good food. As long as you don’t try too hard to find out what the B rating is for, the food still tastes exceptional.