Nearly finished my short story for another anthology my writers and reviewers group is compiling. It is rather a dark story about a man being trapped in purgatory. Luckily also had some time for reading. Even though this is not my favourite genre, I could appreciate this Zombie novel and didn't mind reading it at all.
No pun intended, but the Zombie genre has been done to
death, so you will need to add something special to make it stand out from the
crowd. I think Ian Moore has succeeded. He stays in familiar territory with a
virus being released from a top secret laboratory, created by a group of
scientists that really should have known better. Soon the North English country
site is overrun by blood thirsty Zombies. I loved that the author has taken a controversial
local issue such as fracking and made it the cause of the accident. It nicely
puts the novel in a local contemporary setting.
There is a strong cast of characters with strong emotional
attachment. The main focus is on Nathan and his budding romance with Evie as
they try to reach a military base and safety. It’s hard not to care for this
scrappy couple and the two children they have taken under their wing.
I cared less about the very detailed descriptions of various
military hardware and the zombie-human ‘encounters’ were very gruesome. But
then again, I’m a forty something female that loves fluffy kittens, so not your
target audience. I did think it firmly belonged in this type of novel. The occasional
limb will need to be separated from its owner and if you’re preparing for the
Zombie apocalypse, it might be useful to know that a Remington pump action
shotgun, might be the easiest to master in a hurry, and will make a fine mess
of an approaching Zombie.
If I had one complaint about this novel, it would be that
the pace dropped now and then. I would have liked a bit more action. What put
the icing on the cake for me and made me decide on 5 rather than 4 stars was
that there has to be an idiot that breaks the 1st rule of Zombiedom:
Always, no really
ALWAYS! Check the back of the car for Zombies, before you drive off.
