Shawn Chesser Books In Order

Publication Order of The Hitter Books

Publication Order of Riker's Apocalypse Books

Publication Order of Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Shawn Chesser
Author Shawn Chesser lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two kids. He studied writing at Harvard on the hill (PCC Sylvania) many years ago.

Shawn’s a major fan of the apocalyptic horror genre, with writers such as George Romero, Stephen King, and Cormac McCarthy being major influences. Having been a zombie fanatic for decades, he prefers his creatures moaning, shambling, and trudging. And as for the agile, fast, and screaming specimens, not so much.

When he is not writing, he spends the rest of his time doing whatever his wife says and doting on his two kids.

“Trudge” is the first novel in the “Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse” series and was released in the year 2011. For Cade Grayson, dad, husband, and ex-Delta Force operator, that warm sunny Saturday in July (later called Z-Day by some anonymous person that’s probably long dead) started like any other, and none since. With Brook (his wife) and Raven (his daughter) visiting her parents in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Cade hopes that his immediate future holds nothing but the Mariners on television, an easy chair, and paring down a honey-do list that’s a mile long.

However those hopes quickly get dashed and his life’s forever changed when news broke of a clash in downtown Portland between soldiers from the Oregon National Guard and hundreds of anarchist protesters all of sudden became violent and, by one anchor’s account: cannibalistic and blood-thirsty. While the first waves of injured Guardsmen, bystanders, and rioters showed up at hospitals in and near Portland, it soon became obvious that there was a new lethal disease was unleashed on the population.

Whether the virus was naturally occurring or was an escaped lab experiment of some sort Cade had no clue, and was not all that concerned. That is, until he learned of its odd method of transference, unprecedented virulence, and the fact that, according to those talking heads on the news, brought the newly dead back to life, semi-mindless, and with this insatiable desire to feed on the flesh of the living.

Cade, armed with this new information and seeing the larger cities like New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles being rocked by this rapidly spreading scourge, ignores the volley of contradictory edicts the White House drew up and then set in motion by DHS and FEMA. Then he loads his truck with supplies and dusts off his tools of war.

Unable to reach Raven and Brook and not willing to just leave them at the mercy of some distant politicians’ inability to keep the nation together, he starts an impossible 3,000 mile journey over a reeling United States with what should be about millions of infected in the way. He just has a single favorable outcome: find Raven and Brook still alive, or die trying.

“The Promise” is the first novel in the “Riker’s Apocalypse” series and was released in the year 2018. Lee Riker, an army veteran, is staying in an Atlanta shelter and supports himself with odd carpentry jobs when Tara, his sister, summons him back home to Middletown, Indiana for their mom’s will reading.

Hopeful that this unknown sum of money that’s included in his portion of the inheritance is going to bring an end to his recent stretch of bad luck and trouble, he boards a Greyhound bus in Atlanta. All he takes with him is his duffel, a secret he’s gotta protect at all costs, and two hundred bucks. He makes it to Middletown just to find out his sister just witnessed a brutal death. Insisting that she saw the victim rise up out of his own blood and attacked the Samaritan that rendered aid, Tara floats the idea to him the guy coulda been a zombie.

As the siblings compare what she believes she saw to the conflicting stories reported on the news, the emergency broadcast system gets activated. And they find they’re under order to report to one of the three new established quarantine centers. With this unexpected turn of events looming over both of their heads, and as a result of the will reading most likely being postponed indefinitely, Riker tells Tara of the promise that he made to their mom on her deathbed months prior.

It is a promise whose details leave Tara almost as confused as those of the gruesome attack that haunts her each of her thoughts. It is a promise that Riker is insisting is worth ignoring the government edict in order to uphold. It is a promise that requires both the Rikers to leave town even while shadowy forces look to seal it off from the rest of the nation, a tall order which they’ll soon learn is going to be easier said than done.

“The Plan” is the second novel in the “Riker’s Apocalypse” series and was released in the year 2019. What would do if you saw the zombie apocalypse coming and you had time to prepare for it? Where would you go? Who would you take with you? Who could you trust?

After their flight from zombie infested New York and flush with some money from a recent inheritance, Lee and Tara have holed up with their new buddy Steve-O in a multi-million dollar Miami Beach waterside mansion. Hope for the best, but still plan for the worst.

Having just witnessed firsthand the virus which brings the recent dead back to life and hungry for human flesh, the trio hold out hope that the government will sterilize the flashpoints of infection and eventually achieve full containment of what the CDC are reporting as the fastest spreading virus that man has ever seen.

Hopes are rapidly dashed and worst fears are realized, however, when the aptly named Romero virus shows up at their door, forcing them to flee this tropical paradise without much beyond the clothes that they are wearing and a semblance of a plan.

A plan whose few firm details Tara’s afraid of divulging lest doing so could jinx it for everybody. A plan that Lee knows from experience is not likely to survive first contact with the enemy. A plan that’ll require a whole lot of luck and teamwork if they’re going to survive and see it through.

2 Responses to “Shawn Chesser”

1. Tim Smith: 2 years ago

   Hi,

   Are there any other series you can suggest that are similar to Shawn Chester? I really like the way he develops the characters and allows them to grow throughout his series. Thanks in advance.

   Tim

   Reply
   • Whitmill: 8 months ago

     Try A. AMERICAN; His first book is rough around the edges, but grows better the further into the series you delve (not a zombie book writer). Another author to try is Mira Grant. It is an escaped virus/zombie book

     Reply