Saturday 12 March 2016

Deadlocked by A.R.Wise - this apocalypse is only just begun...

A few years ago, I read one of the finest zombie books I have ever had the pleasure to read. 
That book was Deadlocked, part 1.
I always swore I would pick up further instalments, but for various reasons I never did.
Until now...



Recently I decided to finally catch up with the rest of the 'first season' consisting of books 1-4 and available in an omnibus edition - book 5 being the start of a whole new story set in the same worlld - and in hindsight, I'm glad I did.
I only wonder now what took me so long. 

The first book begins with David.
David has just been told devastating news. 
He has cancer and he is going to die.
He has very little left to live for and then, from out of nowhere, a series of random attacks on people travelling on the subway suddenly seems to start off a zombie apocalypse!
Stuck at work, David only knows one thing for sure - he has to get back to his family, no matter what!

This opening book in the series sets everything off the way it is destined to continue throughout the whole of the next three instalments. David, the lead character, at times seems faced by insurmountable  odds but his determination to reunite himself with his family somehow always manages to see him through - right up until the shocking and unexpected climax.

Book 2 begins from the viewpoint of David's wife. 
Like him, she is determined to keep her family safe and together and very much like her husband, is prepared to stop at nothing to protect all of those whom she loves.
As the story continues, we get our first hints about how the virus started - but in the end, this book isn't really about all that. It's about one woman's quest to survive, to protect her family, no matter what the cost.

Book 3 begins by changing the perspective once again. 
This time we follow Billy and learn for the first time how his story connects with that of Laura, David's wife, and their two daughters - all caught up together in what can only be described as a living nightmare. 
As tension mounts, the threat level increases and it soon becomes apparent that there is more going on here than at first meets the eye, and that there are certain people out here in this new dawn who are determined to kill, torture and even maim in their bid to protect all of their secrets. 

The series and this particular story arc ends with book 4 - and finally we, the readers are given some answers. Told this time from several different perspectives, this final chapter brings a fitting end to this part of the series - at the sane time still managing to leave the reader hungry for more.

The above is just a broad overview of the series to this point and doesn't really give any of these books either enough credit or justice. From the very beginning of this 'season' the story erupts with a bang, and throughout the course of the next three books, the action never lets up for a second.
Though there are some who might accuse this author of recycling old ideas, he does so with his own unique, indomitable style whilst never letting up the pace for a single second and creating what soon becomes a highly believable and credible world.

Zombie books are a dime a dozen.
Even now, with the market currently flooded due in large part to the success of such shows as The Walking Dead and Z Nation, more and more zombie books are released each and every day, and yet, somehow, Deadlocked still manages to bring something different to the table.  
I have read more than a few zombie books over the last few years, and yet to find one as compelling and as difficult as this to put down is very rare indeed!

Certainly I know I will be looking out for more by this either in the future - and certainly won't be leaving it so long this time, before I start picking up further books in the series...

4/5 stars 


 



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