First, I have to say how EXCITED I was to realize that this was a choose-your-own adventure story! They didn’t have these when I was a kid, but I remember reading them with my son in the 90s when he was small. I really liked the premise of choosing how the story would go, rather than just what the author thought, down a linear path. I normally am not a humongous fan of zombie movies, but I can handle “zombie lite”–reading without too much gore. I’ve read one or two zombie novels that I really really enjoyed, and I was looking forward to reading this one.
I died once and survived once. So, 50-50 odds! The first couple of chapters go very quickly as they are setup for the story. You have to decide whether you’re getting involved or running like hell. I ran like hell both times I’ve read this story. Once I ran to the wrong place (OOPS, zombie trap- they ate me) and once to the right place (Yay! I lived.. with LOTS of guns and ammo! KABLAM! and other people.)
Story picks up pace quickly and it keeps moving, and the only place where it stops is really when you have to make your choice. I did hem and haw a bit; it’s telling that the writing is good in how it got to me (personally, YMMV) that I really felt like I was going to be in a LOT of trouble if I didn’t make the right choice. Fictional people were counting on me, yes, but still.