by
Frank Tayell
200 Pages
Self-Published, September 26, 2013
Genre: Horror, Zombies, Apocalyptic
Reviewed by Shay Festa a.k.a. The Bookie Monster
The outbreak started in New York. Within days the infection had spread to every corner of the world. Nowhere is safe from the undead...
Bill watched from his window as London was evacuated. His leg broken, he is unable to join the exodus. Turning to his friends in the government, he waits and hopes for rescue. As the days turn into weeks, realising inaction will lead only to starvation and death, his thoughts turn to escape.
Forced to leave the safety of his home he ventures out into the undead wasteland that once was England, where he will discover a horrific secret. This is the first volume of his journal.
Bill watched from his window as London was evacuated. His leg broken, he is unable to join the exodus. Turning to his friends in the government, he waits and hopes for rescue. As the days turn into weeks, realising inaction will lead only to starvation and death, his thoughts turn to escape.
Forced to leave the safety of his home he ventures out into the undead wasteland that once was England, where he will discover a horrific secret. This is the first volume of his journal.
There's a certain something about this book that had me intrigued from the moment it showed up in my submission list. I can't tell you if it was the cover or the title because, frankly, I think they're both captivating. So, maybe I'll just say it was the combination of both. So intriguing, in fact, that I had a hard time ripping it out of another team members cyber hands!
Surviving the Evacuation begins with Bill, aid to Jennifer, his childhood friend and now politician, having broken his leg and recounting his story via a journal. Armed with damning information from his very own version of Deepthroat, Bill watches from his window as neighbors and would-be rescuers are downed by the infected. The phones and electricity are down and Bill's only means of communication is a satellite phone given to him by Jennifer before things turned ugly. The only problem...no one is answering the phone anymore. Bill fights against time as his food supplies dwindle, counting the days until his leg is healed enough to travel to someplace safer.
I enjoyed the book, but felt at times as if some of the situations had been done before. Take, for example, waking up in the hospital and not knowing what had happened. Reminiscent of Resident Evil and 28 Days Later. While well constructed, there wasn't enough pizzazz to put his own stamp on and make his own. For this reason, I awarded the book 4 out of 5 stars. I did, however, enjoy the origins of the infection and wish there had been more time spent on this story line. This part showed some real originality. Kudos to Tayell on this, because let's be Frank (lol, sorry, couldn't resist), There is only so many ways to write a successful outbreak to allow for it to be believable. I believed.
Surviving The Evacuation has a conclusion, but definitely leaves readers with questions that must be answered. This reader absolutely has to find out what became of his friends and confidant. Luckily, the second book, Wasteland, was released a couple days ago. Here's to hoping that one gets submitted for review as well so I can get those answers!
This is definitely a book I would recommend to add to your libraries.
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About the Reviewer:Shay Festa A.K.A. The Bookie Monster reviews horror and paranormal books, with an emphasis (but not limited to) zombie fiction. With a background in Psych Nursing, Shay brings her unique perspective to the online reading community. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook. And keep an eye out for the future release of her debut novel, Time of death.