The first novel in the Amazon UK #1 Post-Apocalyptic & Amazon.com #1 British Horror series “Surviving The Evacuation”. (74,000 words)
Synopsis
The outbreak began in New York. Soon it had spread to the rest of the world. People were attacked, infected and they died. Then they came back. Nowhere is safe from the undead.
As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The press was nationalised. Martial law, curfews and rationing were implemented. It wasn’t enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the UK would be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast, in the Scottish Highlands and in the Irish Republic.
Bill Wright broke his leg on the day of the outbreak. Unable to join the evacuation, he watched from his window as the streets filled with refugees, he watched as the streets emptied once more. He watched as they filled up again, this time with the undead. Then the power went out.
He is trapped. He is alone. He is running out of food and water. He knows that to reach the safety of the enclaves he will have to venture out into the wasteland that once was England. On that journey he will ultimately discover the horrific truth about the outbreak, a decades old conspiracy and his unwitting part in it.
"I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. Readers of horror, survival horror, and the dark side of speculative fiction should give it a look. "
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
This is another story in Frank Tayell's Evacuation series. I thoroughly enjoyed Zombies v the Living Dead, so when I saw this up for review I grabbed it, hoping this one was as good. I certainly was not disappointed.
A diary novel told in first person by Bill, campaign manager for an MP during the Evacuation crisis. Trapped in hospital after an accident, Bill is not evacuated when the rest of the country is. He chronicles the descent as the infection spreads, first marshall law, then the breakdown of civilisation and then finally evacuation - which fails, leaving him to make his own way out of a London full of the living dead...
It is beautifully written, moving and in places a disturbing read. Bill's slow realisation that there is no help coming is realistic and unpleasant, and the author never shies away from presenting the hard choices to be made in survival situations. The plot holds together well, and I can't fault the author's use of foreshadowing: in my notes I complained halfway through about something I picked up on, but it turned out to be a plot point. The ending has a nice, if slightly, predictable twist, bringing the story full circle.
I will admit that I did skip a few pages early on - as a reader of the survival horror genre, I've read several trapped diaries, and this was fairly similar. This wasn't really wise as there are a lot of clues as to what is really going on scattered through the pages. Once Bill left the flat the plot immediately picked up, and from there on I was hooked.
I actually prefered Zombies v. The Living Dead, if only because it had a dark humour this lacks. However I'd still have to give this is a four, verging on five. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down.
This is an excellent book, highly engrossing, and anyone who likes the zombie genre should definitely pick it up. Readers of horror, survival horror, and the dark side of speculative fiction should also give it a look.
