I was gifted a digital copy of this book prior to its general release in exchange for my feedback and opinions.

To start off with, I don’t “do” Zombies. The only film I’ve ever seen that hasn’t made me crap my pants is Shaun of the Dead but generally, me and zombies just don’t mix. I find the genre unnerving and frightening and all too possible given current circumstances, so I was sceptical but not one to turn down either a free book or a challenge, I dived right in, not expecting too much. However; I read this in two nights and couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop, even.
The book itself is well written and when it does (but not often) allow you to partake in past occurrences, it’s easy to understand the time jump without the need to re-read and re-find your place in order to figure out where you are in the timeline. Which I like. A lot.

The characters, at first, seemed a tad flaky as the first chapter we see a what is portrayed as an unhinged young criminal in the back of a police car having not long been arrested and then leaving the confines of the car with difficulty in order to escape custody (and find keys to the handcuffs) and then witness a zombie attack (I hate that word! And I’m glad that Rendel changed it to Ailing further in to the story) without giving too much away, our criminal ends up in the run from the apocalypse with his boyfriends little sister, a teenage girl and her babe-in-arms.
This, for me, is when the characters gain real substance and come in to their own (something which a survivor would do) and it’s only during these flash-backs you gain full understanding in to them as individuals and silently a acknowledge how they interlink with other survivors and how well they just fit together). The end had me wondering about the struggles of containing mental heath issues alone, the possibility of new infants and challenges, but then shocked me with a death (actually I’m pretty peeved about that one, I liked this character!) and the most immense cliff hanger.
Halfway through the book I would have declined reading further instalments, however I’m desperate to learn what happens next and will most definitely read the next book!