Review: Read a sample first
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 08 31, 2012
I'm writing this review based on the sample. Not something I would normally do but I disliked it so much and had so many issues after reading just a couple of chapters, I have to.The book feels like it's been written by a robot about robots, albeit one with poor spelling. The family read instead like a military unit, the children (ok teenagers I guess) sweeping the area and providing cover fire for the parents, no compassion from the parent about the situation they're putting the kids into. There's no back story at this point so we have to assume this is their first foray outside since the infection and first interaction with zombies, yet they remain emotionless and - I can't shake the idea - like a military unit. The author tries to bring motherly tones by pretty much saying " ...She said in a motherly tone", but it just compounds the issue.We're hit with three unbelievable scenes upfront, the most off putting is the supposed hardened survivor dad stopping for petrol within what seems minutes of leaving the house (although obviously longer, there's no feeling of time), as they've used 1/8th of what they have. Cover fire from children ensues while the parents stubbornly (and unemotionally) try to get petrol from the underground stores of a gas station  under attack from a horde. Magically when about to be overwhelmed and the children have had to fight hand to hand once or twice, the lid pops off and... They're off, because apparently it only takes  a second to pull petrol up from the reserves, get it into their tank and fill up that 1/8th. Mum continues to seem uncaring never checking for bites or that the kids are just plain OK.Someone else explained it well - it's written like a video game. I know it's not quite right to review off a sample but I wanted to balance off the good reviews a little to encourage people to read the sample first. I strongly suggest you read the sample to see whether you can accept the writing style, before forking out money for this.