Solstice: a novel of the Zombie Apocalypse [Kindle Edition]

A good effort. The story was exciting and I was engaged with the characters and interested in finding out what happened to them. A few quibbles (and some minor spoilers) though:

There were quite a few typos (words run-together, punctuation mistakes etc.) and text errors that should have been picked up: for example, 'Owlsbury' changes to 'Owlsburg' at one point. There's also a major malfunction in the first paragraph of Chapter 31 where text seems to be missing. Also, in my copy, the left margin on the contents page is all over the place (I was reading on an iPad, perhaps it's okay on a Kindle).

The point of view lurches around quite often, so in some scenes it's hard to tell who's doing what. There are also a few POV errors, for example, there's one scene described in 'Third person-inside' where a man crashes backwards through a windscreen, but somehow knows that the sharp pointy thing cutting into his back is the jagged edge of a broken steering wheel.

[Spoiler] There are more than a few occasions where it would have been better to show and not tell. For example, there's a scene in the first chapter where a man is attacked in the street that cries out for 'show'.

[Spoiler] Some moments of strange behaviour are jarring. For example, one mild-mannered character throws a man out of their refuge to be torn apart by zombies after he attempts a sexual assault. Which seems harsh. And harsher still because he also throws out the man's two innocent companions. Mr Mild is then congratulated for his forbearance in not shooting anyone - as if being eaten alive was somehow the soft option (?!).

Zombies, humm. Are these zombies? I don't mind 'fast zombies' (though I prefer mine slow), but when your fast zombies retain their memories and intelligence and can organise themselves, I think we've strayed pretty far into a 'grunge vampire' territory. Still good, but too zombie-lite for me.

I did enjoy this book, and have read worse from some more established authors, but the text would have benefited from at least one more significant re-draft.

If there's a sequel I'll pick it up.

On the day before Winter solstice, Earth is hit by a huge flash of light and then darkness..... The horror has only just begun as most of the population seems to have become ravenously hungry zombies.

In Gothenburg, Sweden, Tomas and his estranged wife Leila and his son Christopher are joined by Melanie a university student from Stockholm, they barricade themselves into their remote house until they can stand it no more and then decide to take the perilous journey across Northern Europe to France and then attempt to cross the English Channel to England and what could be salvation as they hear a radio announcement begging survivors to travel to sanctuary in Southampton, England for boarding an ocean liner to take them to America.

In London, Stu an American High School teacher and his students are in England on a study trip and find themselves suddenly dropped into a horror movie as the zombie ragers storm through London attacking the living. Stu along with some friends find shelter in a supermarket and also hear the radio message from sanctuary in Southampton.

Can these disparate bands of survivors make it to Southampton and why is it still dark?

I loved this book, a zombie novel with a bit of an attitude and I especially loved it that the zombies or "ragers" in this book have the ability to talk, this adds a whole new dimension of horror. Brilliant and highly recommended.

Don't normally go for these kind of books, zombies aint my thing but this book was going for free and I fancied a change, absolutely loved it, It was a totally different take on zombies where the zombies still had memory of there lives they knew who they were, they just had a hunger for flesh and they were pure evil. It was gruesome and dark but the stories of the people were so good, the characters all had depth and I felt like if this kinda thing ever happened this is how it would be. It was also very sad, I did cry, I know what your thinking " crying to a zombie book?" haha that's how good it was, read it you will love it.