I came across this as it was posted up on a Facebook page I like as being free for a few days. When I read the blurb for it I though it looked OK so I’d give it a shot.
The outcome? I really enjoyed it!
It’s one of those books that are a bit like a juggernaut and they rush you along for the ride. You get a few minuets here and there to catch your breath and then it’s off again. It’s a bit like reading a Simon Kernick book or watching a Die Hard film. You just have to jump on for the ride and hang on tight.
Anyway, on to the story itself. Budd Ashby is an American living in the UK. He’s a pilot, ferrying people and packages around for a big company. He drops off a scientist and as it’s an overnight job he gets to stop in London;s most exclusives and expensive hotel. It’s there he hooks up with a French pop star and they wake up to all the power in the hotel being off, and then realise it looks like the whole of London. When they eventually work their way down the hotel they realise there are a lot of dead bodies too. Finally they meet up with some survivors, a mix of staff and guests, all trying to work out what’s happening. That’s when things really take a turn for the worse. The dead bodies start to rise and attack the living.
It’s typical zombie stuff here. The living try to escape and fight off zombies and pick up other survivors on the way, and of course lose a few of the living to the walking dead.
I really like Budd. He’s an honest character, with plenty of background and flaws, and certainly doesn;t want to be the hero. He’s more than happy to let others take the lead. His relationship with the other character, especially Juliette, the French pop star. Some of the other characters didn’t build too well and I found myself getting them a little mixed up from time to time., but I prefered the fast-moving story to having lots of slowing downs explaining characters in more detail.
It’s pretty much written in the 3rd person, with the odd interjection here and there from Budd with his thoughts at the time. I’ve got to say that I did actually quite like the fact that he would sooner turn tail and run!
The only niggle I had was with the character from Yorkshire. All his dialogue was with the ‘the’ being replaced by ‘t’. Now coming from North Nottinghamshire myself I know that very often ‘the’ is completely missed from a sentence or sounds like it’s been shortened th ‘t’. But not every ‘the’. I found it irritating. I know Juliette was French and she used the title ‘monsieur’ all the time but her words weren’t chopped around to sound French. Likewise with Budd – clearly American from his phrasing and choice of words. Small niggle I know…
The story kept me gripped the whole time and I found myself constantly thinking “I’ll just read to the end of this chapter” and found that I still couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for book 2!
Quirky Zombie 