Turning

by Melinda Chapman

"The emotional challenges raised by the plot kept me reliving the story long after I had finished reading this fast-paced novella." - Aviator

For the past year, Mari has relentlessly fought the undead. Australia - if not the entire world - is devoid of electricity, running water, and 99% of the human population. All Mari has to live for is the good fight. But a year is a long time for a woman who won't slow down, and the only peace she allows herself is fraught stillness.
Now Mari is stopped dead in her tracks. Stranded from her small crew of survivors, she finds herself alone, injured, and infected. Over the next eighteen hours, she will transform. As an infected, she is considered the enemy and has no rights. Anyone she comes across has license to kill her, and there are no laws yet about how her death should be dealt.
But finding survivors has always been her priority, and the bite hasn't changed that. Her incredible urge to seek out humans, to rejoin her group, is dangerous and illogical. Insanity. Cam, Gordon, and her friends are out there somewhere. She just needs someone, anyone, to look her in the eyes and tell her she’s still human.

TURNING is a dystopian story of human transformation. Sometimes our greater humanity is found when we face the monster within...

*This book contains occasional strong language.

Genres: Zombies, Horror

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2012

About the author

Hi! My name is Melinda, and I'm a 3D artist and illustrator with a background in the computer games industry. Through games, I gained experience in creating worlds and characters. With my love for reading rich storytelling, I developed a passion for writing.

Reviews

[Kriss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last night someone mentioned a zombie book with a twist A novella to be exact. I didn't expect this. I'm stunned beyond happy....sad... feeling fully satisfied and am wondering if I should start an email campaign to force the author into writing hre pandemic world build into a novel.

It's the perfect punch in the gut. As one reviewer say, no words wasted. Many writers try to puff up their piece to get to 50K words by adding a bunch of who gives a crap discriptions. Everything that is needed is in this piece. Every little scrap of dirt, every smell, stain, blood drop, feeling... everything. The eye color, the dilation, the thoughts, EVERYTHING. I rarely will say a story is perfect, and this one hits it at about 99.9% because nothing is truly perfect, but.. man, i really cannot find anything wrong!

Novella's are not a novella because they are a short piece of writing with a specific length of words they are novellas because of using a prescribed format of story structure. BAM! Plus, Zombies? It is so hard to write a good zombie story that actually comes across as originality. This is the the allegorical content. Like most well written zombie books it is a story within a story, a tale veiled as a zombie or pandemic psychological horror that tells another story! I highly recommend grabbing it today and finding out what it is!

Bravo for blowing this zombie lover away!!

[Nichole Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time I read a zombie novella that was written from this particular point of view. (What point of view? Read it and find out!) It was refreshing and interesting...one of those books that has you asking "What if? Would I make the same choices?"

The prose is descriptive and readable. Chapman created an engaging narrator and focused more on the character than the zombie apocalypse, as good zombie writing should do, I think. That being said, there is still credible zombie action, including a disturbing encounter early on in the story.

A recommended read, and one that leaves me hoping she plans a follow-up that focuses on two other characters mentioned in the story and in her notes afterward.

[Ciara Ballintyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced, well-written story. The premise isn't necessarily original, but that's true of a lot of zombie fiction I think, and the subject was well-handled. I started and finished this in the same day, so it definitely kept me turning the pages. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but it was consistent with the genre - the two of which combined are the primary reason I don't usually read in this space. Despite that, this was still a thoroughly good read.

[Lisa Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella was exciting from the first page. Zombies and end of the world viruses - everything one could hope to find between the covers of a book. Well written, skillfully edited - I highly recommend to anyone - even those readers like me, who usually don't enjoy this type of story. I did. You will too.

[King Tut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Very clever unravelling of the story. I liked that it was a different take on the zombie genre but still with lots of action. Quite an emotional ride, I was unexpectedly moved. Thoroughly recommend it.

[Jess Moris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great indie novella!! Loved reading it. Kept my attention from beginning to end. Looking forward to reading more from this author. :)

[Marita Hansen]

Sounds like an interesting concept. I'm adding it to my list.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Short but very enjoyable story. Would love to see more of the story continues into a full novel. Recommended to read

[S. A. Joo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, action packed. Just wish it was longer.

[Dionne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first foray into the zombie camp and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book was fast paced with the character constantly on the move. This would have been too much ordinarily, but it adds to the intensity of the book and conveys the fear of the characters, also it's not a super long book so I wasn't burnt out. The ending had a bit of a twist, which I always love, and the writing was well done and as the book as been edited, the grammar and punctuation were good (which I can't say about a lot of indie books unfortunately). If you are a zombie fan already, this is one worth reading and if you're not, it is a great introduction to this genre.

[Lucy Pireel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 54 pages novella has a very nice story premise, but at times reminded me of I am Legend and World War Z. I guess it’s hard to write a zombie flick that is new and exciting. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it and couldn’t find too much fault in it. Here and there a bit tell instead of show and a bit of an info dump, but not that much that it completely drowned out the story. There were a few inconsistencies and the semi-open end with explanation by the author I could have done without too. But, if you are looking for a quick and easy zombie read, and you’re not too demanding, this is the right choice.

[BK Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. I can't say I saw that ending coming. I don't want to talk about this book, because it's short as it is and I don't want to give anything away.

But it's good. Read it.

[R.G. Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turning is a quick but enjoyable read. Mari is bitten by a zombie at the beginning and begins her countdown to when she will turn. She goes through a litany of symptoms and stages and brings tragedy to whoever has the misfortune of meeting her. In the end, the book becomes predictable and then gives you an unexpected twist. For a good quick read you get to see what it’s like becoming a zombie. I recommend it to all.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank goodness it was short, it was rather boring.