Allison Hewitt is Trapped [Kindle Edition]

With Zombie books all the rage they tend to be either out and out hard-core slay fests or a comedic version set to entertain. Whilst this title by Madeleine does has the qualities of a Romero film, the overall arc of this title is about the survival of the titles female lead as she seeks to help her friends find a safe location to wait out the days that the undead walk the earth. Unlike other titles out there, the undead have a certain lifespan and as such, if no feeding occurs they weaken and die. I like that in a title as it demonstrates that there are some realistic tendencies with this work. Add to that additional blog posts from readers of the blog and you know that it's got all sorts of arty touches that really will strike a nerve with many readers the world over.

Finally, what Madeleine does well is present a story with a great lead, has a decent support cast and clearly demonstrates throughout that she plays for keeps as the events unwind. That said however, my only real problem with the book is that at the beginning you know that what occurs within is looked back upon in hindsight and as such means that during a lot of the story the tales lead is in very little danger until we creep towards the end which is when the tension, to quote Spinal Tap, cranks right up to 11.

It is definitely something new, it has some great prose and when backed with realistic dialogue and an author who will deal in the unpleasant (Bucket Toilet duties) then you know a great deal of thought and planning has gone on before which will make this title definitely one for the Urban Fantasist out there and a title that will threaten as much as engulf the reader's imagination.

'Allison Hewitt is Trapped' is just fantastic. I was absorbed after just a couple of chapters and didn't want to put the book down. Allison is a great character, she's spunky and real - a woman I would like to be if the world was overrun with the undead. She's scared of everything going on around her but she's brave, not afraid to fight and put her life on the line for others.

Allison is locked inside the break room because it has the strongest door in the department store, which means They can't get in. There are also surveillance cameras which are used to keep an eye on what's going on in the store, it's a helpful tool to be able to see where the zombies are, especially when you have to do a food run. Allison is not the only one in the break room. There are five other people who she's sharing the small room with and they are all very different, but all very realistic, personalities.

The relationships between the characters is as close to real-life as you would imagine in such a situation, there's no gun-ho stud with a shotgun over his shoulder, instead it's a skinny chinese guy with broken glasses and a baseball bat. It's a store manager and his golf clubs, it's Allison who's weapon of choice is an axe.

The novel is actually the content of Allison's blog, which she updates regularly, and uses to connect with other survivors. And although I was a little skeptical of this format at first, wondering how the flow of the story would be and how the dialogue would work etc, but I needn't have worried. It's brilliantly written and I couldn't stop myself from reading chapter after chapter - it was very addictive reading.

Eventually Allison and her co-survivors have to leave the break room. Lives are lost, friends are killed and she is longing to know if her mother is safe or one of the undead. I really went on Allison's journey with her and felt every emotion of despair, hope, anger, and complete bewilderment of the circumstances.

From the moment I met the characters in the break room until the end of the novel, which sees Allison far from where she began, it really feels like a long pilgrimage. I could feel Allison and the other survivors become weary, harder, jaded, and their actions and decisions reflect all those feelings. Although Allison does some very bad things I understand why and don't judge her for them.

There is love between certain characters, including Allison but it's written with sensitivity. It's understated romance - there are no sexual scenes and hardly any kissing, it's all shown through Allison's words on her blog and it's believable, tender and heartwarming. There's a lot of heart to this book and I enjoyed it immensely.

VERDICT:

'Allison Hewitt is Trapped' is an emotional rollar coaster and the ending was so perfectly bittersweet it brought tears to my eyes. It's a fast-paced read with believable characters and convincing story that will move you and because of this you want Allison, and the other characters, to succeed and survive. This is no ordinary zombie novel. It's fresh and original and I just loved it.

This book is a must read for fans of horror, urban fantasy and zombie fiction. It's a story that stayed with me for many days after I'd finished it, and a book like that stays on my shelf forever.

I gave this book 9/10 on[...]

Wow!

Okay, apparently I needed 19 more words for this review before it would be published. So, I repeat. Wow!

There. 20 words. That's all you really need to know. You should be hitting the Add to Cart/Buy with 1 click button already, but if not maybe I'll continue.

As a reader, it's very easy to stick to the same authors. You read a book, you enjoy a book, you get a new book by the same person - but where's the fun in that really? At some point, someone has to try the new authors out. So that's what I've been doing for a while now; scrolling through the recommendation pages on here (and also at librarything) for similar reads. I've found some pretty amazing stuff by people I wouldn't normally look at.

This book was recommended based on the absolutely amazing Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy 1) by Mira Grant. if you've not read that series, you should. It took only a couple of paragraphs of the sample of this book for me to know that it would be a hit. A full price book, from a new author - it's a gamble in a world where so much rubbish exists.

I read this in 3 days. I couldn't put it down. I'm just about to buy the sequel: Sadie Walker is Stranded (Zombie Novel 2), and I hope there will be more after that.

This book is written in a very similar style to Mira Grant's series, which is great as I'm really struggling to be patient waiting for the third in that series to be released.

The characters are likeable. They draw you in quickly and quietly and before you know it you don't want to see anything bad happen to them. There are twists and turns aplenty, and lots of blood.

The only thing I didn't notice, which you expect to see on all blog posts - is someone commenting "First". Without that, it just didn't seem convincing :)

I cannot recommend this book enough. I tried to give it to you in one word. I then tried 20 words. I've now written my own book length review. If you are still here, why? Go now, buy the book, read the book, enjoy the book.