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Crawlerz: Book 1: Red Sky in the Morning Kindle Edition

4.3 out of 5 stars 1,480 ratings

Are you ready for the end?

When an ancient tomb is unearthed live on TV, the world watches in fascination... until horror escapes the desert sands. A deadly infection spreads rapidly across the globe, turning ordinary people into violent, cannibalistic predators.

In Florida, three adopted teens and their parents witness the chaos unfold on the news. Before long it’s at their own front door. As society crumbles, survival becomes brutal, and the only thing worse than running out of food and water is running out of ammunition.

Join a tight-knit family of outcasts as they battle their way through a reality where might makes right, humanity is a memory, and staying alive demands more than strength... it demands loyalty, sacrifice, and a will to fight for each other against impossible odds.

Fans of
Max Brooks, Mark Tufo, TW Piperbrook, JL Bourne, and Bobby Adair will devour this action-packed zombie survival thriller. If you loved World War Z, Zombie Fallout, The Last Survivors, or Day by Day Armageddon, you’ll be hooked on Crawlerz — a gripping post-apocalyptic saga packed with relentless action, brutal choices, and gritty human survival.

The complete series is available for download today!

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There are 7 books in this series.

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From the Publisher

Are you a fan of spine-tingling horror? Look no further than the thrilling works of R.S. Merritt, a master of zombie fiction. With over two dozen apocalyptic themed books available on Amazon, R.S. Merritt has been keeping readers on the edge of their seats for years with pulse-pounding tales of the undead. From the hauntingly empty streets of Disney to the desolate wastelands of a virus stricken Egypt, R.S. Merritt's vivid and immersive writing will have you completely engrossed in the terrifying world his characters find themselves struggling to survive in. Join the legions of fans who have been captivated by his unique brand of horror - but be warned, once you start reading, you might not be able to stop!

Zournal
Son of the Keeper
Zombies!
Crawlerz
Exploited Blood
Customer Reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars 689
4.2 out of 5 stars 100
4.4 out of 5 stars 1,336
4.3 out of 5 stars 1,480
4.3 out of 5 stars 609
Price $0.99 $2.99 $3.99 $3.99 $0.00
Available on Audible
Complete Series Available no data
5 Star Reviews > 367 > 48 > 604 > 658 > 197
Available on Kindle Unlimited
Available in Paperback

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An awesome read fast paced with good characters and well thought out actions sequences and believable scenarios. Definitely going to read the rest in this series." - Amazon Reviewer

"It's one of the best apocalyptic novels I've read in a long time." - Amazon Reviewer

"
This book has a new take on the zombie apocalypse. I found that I was holding my breath in some of the intense situations. What a book, I look forward to the continuing adventures." - Amazon Reviewer

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08GQT3V6Y
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.6 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 378 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 1,480 ratings

About the author

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Randall Scott Merritt
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Living in a lighthouse as a child led me early to a love of reading. Despite what you may have been told, the life of a lighthouse keeper’s son is not all glamour and parties. There's a lot of time when there really isn’t much to do besides wonder if the fog horn has finally made you deaf — or watch your dad pull fishing lures out of various parts of people’s bodies. (You'd be amazed!)

I read. I read a lot.

At school, we had a "reading caterpillar" that stretched around the room — each book you finished earned a new link. My caterpillar grew so large they had to give me two colors because mine started to look more like a worm! I devoured C.S. Lewis before moving on to Tolkien, and reading has been a huge part of my life ever since.

Nowadays, I’m drawn to alternate realities by authors like S.M. Stirling, and my guilty pleasure is zombie novels. I just can't seem to get enough of them.

I love exploring how ordinary people rise to meet extraordinary challenges — how the struggle to survive can harden, break, or ultimately forge something stronger within them. I enjoy the journey of flawed heroes: those who once worried about paying the phone bill, now fighting to keep themselves and others alive when civilization collapses.

These stories speak to something primal within us all.

I’m excited to share these journeys with you. Thanks for reading!

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
1,480 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoy the book's imaginative storyline and find it a fun read with well-developed characters and fast-paced action. They appreciate the scariness level and the engaging family dynamics, with one customer noting how it starts like a normal family story. Customers praise the author's storytelling ability.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

47 customers mention "Story quality"47 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the imaginative and fleshed-out storyline of the book, with one customer describing it as an off-the-beaten-path adventure.

"I love the way the zombies are portrayed in this book. It's original and very different from all the other zombie books I love...." Read more

"...It’s super interesting. I started it a few hours ago and I’m almost halfway through the book but I’m a fast reader." Read more

"This is the series for you. I would give it 10 for violence, gore, and action...." Read more

"Unique to the genre. A little too much on the constant battle scenes, but good character development & plot surprises." Read more

43 customers mention "Readability"36 positive7 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a fun and great read.

"So, overall, I really enjoyed this book. The concept of the zombies in this book is totally unique to the others that I have read and watched...." Read more

"...Fast paced and well written. Now moving on to book two!" Read more

"...A worthy read even if there were some typos. So Thank You Merritt, Yue earned a fan with this series! Moving on to Zombies!" Read more

"...right now is leading us in that direction, but this one was pretty good. Definitely read more of the authors books." Read more

25 customers mention "Character development"22 positive3 negative

Customers appreciate the well-developed characters in the book, with one customer noting that three of the main characters are teenagers.

"...This is on my list of favorites! The character development and story is top knotch!..." Read more

"...This story is like a horror movie with a better cast of characters. I know it goes on an and on because there are several books in the series...." Read more

"...A little too much on the constant battle scenes, but good character development & plot surprises." Read more

"...I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. Character development continued till the very end...." Read more

10 customers mention "Pacing"10 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, finding it fast-paced and different from other works, with one customer describing it as an action-packed follow-up.

"...It's original and very different from all the other zombie books I love. This is on my list of favorites!..." Read more

"...Fast paced and well written. Now moving on to book two!" Read more

"Fast paced, exciting and entertaining...." Read more

"...It’s fresh, new and not the same old same old. Starting book 2." Read more

5 customers mention "Family dynamics"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the family dynamics in the book, with one review noting how it starts like a normal family story.

"...With an extended family and enough action to hold your attention." Read more

"...A bit different end of the world scenario. I got very involved with the main family and their struggle to find someplace safe...." Read more

"...I liked that it started out like a normal family story. You got to read/listen to the way the family came together and truly loved one another...." Read more

"I liked where it kept a focus on one particular family to follow. Curious how they’re going to get out of the bunker." Read more

3 customers mention "Author's ability to tell a story"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's storytelling ability, with one noting their original approach to writing.

"...The author can tell a good story. Now it is time to polish the craft and skill involved in writing correctly." Read more

"...It’s truly an original way to write a book about a zombie apocalypse." Read more

"Original idea!..." Read more

3 customers mention "Scariness level"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book frightening.

"...the story of the zombies is told from the beginning and that makes it frightening - how one family deals with a world wide zombie plague,..." Read more

"...Definitely a different take on zombies. They are scary as possible and fasttttt. The 3 teenagers have definitely grown on me...." Read more

"What a good read, fast paced, scary, caring. I read this on about 6 hours. Can't wait to read more!" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2023
    I love the way the zombies are portrayed in this book. It's original and very different from all the other zombie books I love. This is on my list of favorites! The character development and story is top knotch! I absolutely adore the family in this story, and my heart broke at some parts as well as swelled with pride at others. I got all the feels! Great story. I can't wait to read the next!
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023
    So, overall, I really enjoyed this book. The concept of the zombies in this book is totally unique to the others that I have read and watched. I love how the zombies are actually still sort of alive and that they evolve. I would have given 5 stars, but I had a couple of issues. The first issue is that I didn’t like the way the author stigmatized women as being overly concerned about makeup and their appearance. Also, the way the author talked about people who struggled with addiction rubbed the the wrong way. Granted, it was just a few sentences but it bothered me.

    The thing that drove me the most insane was the horrible grammar the kindle version used. I have never seen so many grammatical errors in a book before. I know that kindle books usually tend to have more errors but I think it was just poor editing in general because all of the errors were in sentence structure. To give you an idea, I’m 42% done reading the book and have already counted at least 22 sentence fragments. There are more but I didn’t start keeping track until I was well into the first few chapters. I don’t know why I am keeping track, but I am a stickler for grammar and I was blown away by how many incomplete sentences there are. It’s not even just people talking in quotes, it’s the actual narration.

    I will definitely read the other books in the series, especially since they’re all part of kindle unlimited. It’s super interesting. I started it a few hours ago and I’m almost halfway through the book but I’m a fast reader.
    12 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2024
    Just finished book one. Definitely different than some of the other zombie apocalypse genre. Fast paced and well written. Now moving on to book two!
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2023
    This is the series for you. I would give it 10 for violence, gore, and action. The family of characters are likable, even without any background stories. Unfortunately, through the story some of the characters are lost. This story is like a horror movie with a better cast of characters. I know it goes on an and on because there are several books in the series. However, I am a sci fi reader and do not like horror at all. I am not at all sure how horror got in my recommended book list. So I won’t be continuing on with the series.
    This story would easily be five stars for horror enthusiasts. There were enough visuals to give me nightmares for years to come. Happy reading.
    9 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2021
    Da*n just when I thought double-tapping to the head would kill a zombie, but these crazed, sugar-hyped, jumping, underground crawlers are a whole new bunch of scary.
    On the flip side, nature does offer clues on how to defeat unknown enemies...and that is sunlight!
    When the sun comes up, there is hope for a new day for survival.
    A different type of family unit that's common as apple pie, and the beauty is that Yue, Drew and LeBron are a close knit family that will defend each other to the end. I like that this story kinda indicates that parents may not be able to save their children (scene in books where the group was thinking about helping the little girl into the top of the bus).
    As a reader, that's feeling of hopelessness is the strongest emotion I felt reading that scene, yet I have to move on, you know....survive!!

    P.S...what's up with the character name LeBron? Haven't quite figured out that thread yet. 😐
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2024
    Unique to the genre. A little too much on the constant battle scenes, but good character development & plot surprises.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2022
    Has anyone noticed the bad reviews where people complained about the editing, yet they have mistakes in their own review? Yue should be more careful calling the kettle black.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series. Character development continued till the very end. The depiction of how these new zombie-like creatures are created and transform themselves gave a whole new spin to the genre. Kind of like what “Dawn of the Dead” did for movies in making Zombies fast as hell! A worthy read even if there were some typos.

    So Thank You Merritt, Yue earned a fan with this series! Moving on to Zombies!
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2023
    I'm not usually a big fan of apocalypse type books, mainly because our government right now is leading us in that direction, but this one was pretty good. Definitely read more of the authors books.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Thomas A. Jervis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2024
    First zombie book I've ever read. Thought it would be a load of rubbish, but I found it very interesting. Reminded me of how Covid started. Already ordered book 2.
  • Laura
    4.0 out of 5 stars Of your a zombie apocalypse fan.. This is worth reading..
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2021
    I'm so glad I ignored the handful of negative review's regarding grammar and spelling, because I really enjoyed this book.. Good characters, good storyline, good zombies...
    I'm definitely going to be reading book 2!
    I read a ridiculous amount of dystopian/apocalyptic/zombie genre and so much is repetitive, boring stereotypical mush.. This has a cool, new twist and I got right into it.
    Great writing..fun read!
  • Karen Edgar
    5.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANT
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2021
    Fantastic storyline. Would highly recommend these books to fans of dystopian literature. Can’t recommend it to friends as none of them enjoy the books I read BUT would highly recommend it to all those fans of zombies and end of the world apocalypse lit
  • mo bluemel
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2024
    Not a bad read
  • Sharky Summers
    5.0 out of 5 stars zombie apocalypse
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2023
    I really enjoyed this zombie book, it was better than I thought it would be. Surgers and crawlers are terrifying and the human race are not to be trusted. I’m ready for the apocalypse.

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