A short story from the #1 Post-Apocalyptic (Amazon.UK) & #1 British Horror (Amazon.com) series ‘Surviving The Evacuation’. This tale is set before the events of Book 1: London, featuring characters that appear in Book 3: Family (out now). (15,000 words)
From the reviews: ‘’Old Zombies!”, “*****”, “Believable characters and a gripping read!” “A refreshing change from the usual post-apocalyptic clichés.”, “Good read”, “Plenty of action”.“A good British post-apocalyptic read.”, “Five stars again!”
Synopsis:
The outbreak began in New York. Within days it had spread throughout the world. Nowhere is safe from the undead.
Britain is under quarantine. Curfews, rationing and martial law have been implemented, but it’s not enough. An evacuation of all the indefensible inland regions has been planned. The entire population will be relocated to enclaves being established around the coast. To get there, they will have to walk.
For George Tull, Mary O’Leary and the other residents of the Waverly-Price Retirement Home, walking to the coast is not an option. They wait for rescue, but when it becomes clear that they have been abandoned, George is left with a terrible choice; stay and fight to save the people he loathes, or leave and abandon the woman he has come to love.
"Fans of happy fluffy stories with happy endings should avoid this like the plague. Fans of drama, horror, possibly zombies, Shaun of the dead, and excellent writing should buy this book now."
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
A zombie outbreak takes over the world - written from the point of view of a elderly chap in an old-folks' home in a small British village.
George isn't your usual hero, or retiree. He's staying in an old-folks home, he's got a girlfriend, even if she's bedbound, is learning mechanics from a local shop owner, and has a plan. And then the virus epidemic starts, and the evacuations, and in a beautifully eerie scene the residents of the home find out they have been abandoned. I'm not saying more because I'm not spoiling the rest of the book.
This one has it all, horror, drama and a touch of black comedy for seasoning. It is a very British book - mentions of Bournemouth, Crewe, and lots of use of the word 'bloody' - I was right at home. The spelling and punctuation are also British.
Formatting, spelling errors? I didn't spot any and frankly by the second chapter I didn't care. The pacing is perfect, the characters are well drawn and believable, and the ending is absolutely heartbreaking.
Fans of happy fluffy stories with happy endings should avoid this like the plague. Fans of drama, horror, possibly zombies, Shaun of the dead, and excellent writing should buy this book now.
To the author (spoilers for British profanity): You made me cry, you bastard.
It has five stars on Amazon, and it's earned it. I would give five stars, but - oh why not, just this once. Five stars.
This one was a real page-turner for me, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of zombie or survival horror stories. Self-published ebooks don't have the best reputation, so I was pleasantly surprised to find one that was engaging, brilliantly written, well paced, and on a topic that I find interesting.
This is kind of like an 'I, Daniel Blake' for the vulnerable elderly, only with a few more lighthearted moments. I loved the character development, unexpected twists and, as was said before, the overall 'Britishness' that oozes out of every precious page.
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