Keeping the momentum going is always a tricky task for the author of an on-going series. Not enough wellie and everything goes flat, too much and things can get out of creative control. What Peter Clines does well here is the continued action within the small portion of his world we get to see. An old enemy returns in an altered, far more interesting form, and there's a new threat in the person of an individual with a subtle yet devastating ability. Without giving too much away, fans of George R.R. Martin's fabulous Wild Cards series will recognise what may be an alternate take on the Envoy. We also get to learn more about the heroes of the Mount, who continue to develop at an easy pace. By way of contrast, the super-soldiers of the Unbreakables are not really Captain America material. They tend to come across as almost entirely brainwashed by their training. Except for Captain Freedom himself, who is allowed to show that he is capable of free thought. As a result he has more depth than the rest of his squad put together. Less great is the author's continued small world view, which ignores everything outside of the United States. Despite having a character who is able to fly intercontinental with ease. I was also disappointed to find that the accidental architect of the zombie plague, revealed and incarcerated in book one of the series, plays no part here. This book is almost a hundred pages longer than Ex-Heroes. So there was plenty of room to do more, had the author so desired.

If the question is whether Ex-Patriots was a fun read with mostly interesting characters, then my answer would be a resounding yes. But, I also felt frustrated that better progress wasn't made, and the world view stayed narrow. Instead of military flashbacks which added little, I would have preferred to glimpse outside the box. Perhaps the biggest problem is created by the author's adjustment of a character into a menace that is effectively immortal, and cannot ever be completely beaten while the undead walk. The moment they don't, of course, this series is done. Readers can only hope that Peter Clines has thought ahead concerning this issue, and has something in mind that is both ingenious and credible. In summary, Ex-Patriots moves fast and is worth the price of admission for the spectacle and the laughs. Eschewing its potential for the greatness that more depth could bring, it does what it does and no more. But sometimes good is good enough. Many readers are more interested in the traditional face of super heroics, and prefer zombies without the harrowing angst and relentless terror of The Walking Dead. That audience may find what the Ex series has to offer is just the job.