Posts Tagged ‘UK zombie’

Book review – Surviving the Evacuation : Frank Tayell, books 4 and 5

Posted: August 10, 2015 in Book reviews
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Surviving_Evacuation4I’ve previous reviewed books in this series, having already read and reviewed book 1-3.

These latest book books have some new and some old characters in it. Book 4 starts with a new lead character, Nilda. When the evacuation is announced she decides to stay in her small town with her son.

The start of this book would feel a little rushed and a little glossed over if you hadn’t read the previous books. There’s not a lot of depth and detail around the events leading up to the evacuation but as part of a series I guess that doesn’t matter too much. I think you could also read this as a standalone book too.

Survivng_Evacuation5It’s a really good book with likeable characters and enough depth to the main characters. It features mainly on Nilda and along the way she meets up with a few characters from the other books in the series. You feel that Nilda is believable in her thoughts and actions and that the resources available to her are believable. Too many books I have read, have main characters that just happen to have a bazooka in their back garden! Book 5 follows on nicely where 4 leaves off. I won’t do any spoilers, but as the title suggests, there is a reunion. The newer characters from book 4 meet up and so do some from the previous books as they move towards London.

I really like this series. I like the fact that it’s set in the UK which makes it completely different from the multitude of zombie apocalypse books set in North America. There’s a more claustrophobic feel and it’s not all gung-ho guns!

I’ve just spotted that book 6 is now out, so I’d better crack on with reading my current book and get it downloaded onto my Kindle!

Book Review – Surviving the Evacuation by Frank Tayell

Posted: September 2, 2014 in Book reviews
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Surviving the Evacuation bookI came across this whilst looking for a new zombie book to read, after having a bit of a break and reading some sci-fi. It was on my Kindle Owners Library list to borrow for free. Yeah, I know that isn’t always a good recommendation…I had a quick look at the blurb and thought I’d give it a try – mainly because it said it was set in the UK. I’ve read all three books in the series now:

  • Surviving the Evacuation: London
  • Survivng the Evacuation: Wasteland
  • Surviving the Evacuation: Family

OK, I’ve read all 3 books so it can’t have been too bad? Yeah, actually that’s about right.

The first book starts quite slow really and is based on the diary of Bill. As the outbreak, which started in New York, escalates and Britain is quarranined, Bill breaks his leg and is confined to his home. At first he has regular contact with the outside world via his friend Jennifer who is an MP. Then the evacuation starts and he is alone. Then the power  goes out and the streets start to fill with zombies. He realises that he must leave as soons as his cast can come off.

I hope I’m not spoiling too much by saying that he does leave his house, otherwise there wouldn’t really be books2 and 3….

It’s a series of books that is really easy to get along with as it’s based around a fairly small cast. Bill’s quite troubled (I won’t say why) but he’s quite a likeable character. Kim’s pretty ballsy and it’s not that unusual to have children in a zombie book, but these books include a baby too. Quite cool when you consider how much noise a baby makes!

This review is for all three books and I have to say the writing is strong throughout and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next. There’s a few twists in there but theywould be complete spoilers if I mention any of them. I did find one of the twists a little bit hard to swallow, but went with it and the extra character fitted well.

I quite like the way it is lead by the journal, which means it’smainly seen from one person’s point of view. I liked the way the story unfolded and they way it dealt with zombie encounters. It’s not a graphic “eat ’em up” book but much more about the situation and the people. It’s also very refreshing reading a UK-based zombie book 🙂

I would deffo recommend it. Such good value too!

BBC’s In the Flesh – how good does this look?

Posted: February 28, 2013 in News
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I’ve just been doing a few searches to try and see what I can find out about BBC3’s new zombie drama – In the Flesh.

Here’s a trailer for it –

Looks good doesn’t it?

Basically it tells the story of zombie teenager Kieren Walker  and his reintegration back into both the local community and the heart of his family.

After his death four years ago, his friends and family thought they’d never see Kieren again. But then, shortly after his funeral, thousands of the dead were re-animated; and now, after months of re-habilitation and medication, the zombies are gradually being returned to their homes.

There’s a whole load of zombie resentment going on. Well who wouldn’t resent them after the bloody battles that ensued after the rising of the dead? Kieren is also getting flashbacks about what he did in his untreated state.

It’s a three-part drama and it looks like it start on Sunday, March 17 at 10pm.

I love the Government information film – Keep Calm and Avoid the Dead. It’s just how it would be done. THink about all those cheesy government information films we get about drinking too much, or not doing enough exercise. Here it is – In the Flesh – Avoid the Dead

Here’s the BBC3 page for it –In the Flesh

I can’t wait – what about you?

Book review – Last Hope, Book One: Onslaught by Drew Brown

Posted: February 8, 2013 in Book reviews
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Last HopeI 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!

Book review of Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Posted: January 29, 2013 in Book reviews, News
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Warm BodiesThis book was on my Kindle wish list for about a year. Why you ask? Well, I liked the blurb for the storyline and though it might be a quirky take on the usual zombie storyline, but it was the bit in the blurb about it being a ‘zombie Twilight’. I don’t like Twilight…

I realised that the film of the book was coming out this year, so I thought I’d better get my skates on. Here’s the trailer for the film –

The world is now overrun with zombies and ‘R’ is one of those zombies. The zombies are a pretty mindless bunch, but ‘R’ knows he was once human and had a name but he can’t remember what it was. He knows it began with an ‘R’. The zombies just mill around all day in the airport hoard, occasionally riding the escalators when they come on or herding off to feed on the remaining humans. They follow a sort of parody of their old living lives, even creating zombie family units with the zombie children.

On one of these raids, ‘R’  eats a male human called Perry and instantly starts to get flashes of his life, including his girlfriend Julie, who us also about to be eaten. Instead of eating her, ‘R’ masks her with zombie blood and saves here, taking her back to the airport.

At the airport their relationship starts to develop, with Julia starting to trust ‘R’ and ‘R’ becoming more human-like with words and thought. It is a sort of black comedy Romeo and Juliet story. I don’t want to go into the storyline anymore in case it creates some spoilers or people.

I’ve got to admit, the thought od reading a book with a zombie as a romantic hero just seemed kind of wrong, but believe me, this story and the characters really work. I even loved the other zombies! Go with the flow and you’ll be pulled into this postapocalyptic world so easily. You won’t want to leave…

Are you prepared for a zombie attack? Well, Britain is!

Posted: January 24, 2013 in News
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zombie apocalypseI was idly looking around the web today and couldn’t believe that I’d missed this story on the Telegraph. Actually I can, as it was Boxing day so I was probably eating chocolates and watching trash TV.

Anyway, a Freedom of Information request was put in and the British government responded. This is the full article here.

Apparently if we were to be invaded by hoards of zombies, “civil servants would co-ordinate the military’s efforts to return England to its pre-attack glory”. It would be the Cabinet Office that had to deal with the aftermath if attacks from the undead and not the MoD. Well, most zombie books I’ve read always have the army coming to rescue survivors, not a bunch of civil servants. Quite a strange though that some pen-pushers would be the zombie attack force coordinators!

Similar FoD requests have been put into local councils.

For example, Leicester doesn’t sound like it has any preparations for a zombie apocalypse – you can read an article about it here from the BBC.

Then again, Bristol sounds a lot more clued up the possibility of being over run by zombies. The guardian reported details here.

A similar request was put to Nottingham council and they came back with the following response – here. Personally I would have thought Nottingham council may have been a bit more aware of the potential of attacks from hoards of the undead as Zombie Hood has been in film production for a couple of years and has seen lots of extras playing zombies around the city.

Anyway, how are you zombie apocalypse plans progressing??