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Becoming a zombie was much more painful than he had expected.

Ten years underground. 900 survivors in Antarctica. One impossible rescue mission.

When Bunker One discovers survivors at McMurdo Station, David Blake volunteers for a globe-spanning rescue that uncovers dark secrets, hybrid walkers, and weaponized prions. From Antarctic ice to American Samoa, *Interval* expands the zombie apocalypse with "no fluff or filler, but tons of destruction, carnage, love, hope, and zombies." Book two of the completed Dying of the Light trilogy delivers military action, psychological horror, and the rare Antarctic setting that sets it apart in zombie fiction.

Fans of The Walking Dead and Maberry's Dead of Night will love this award-winning series!

380 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2012

17 people are currently reading
284 people want to read

About the author

Jason Kristopher

17 books42 followers
Jason Kristopher is the award-winning author terrifying readers with zombies in The Dying of the Light , thrilling them with 1940s noir in Loco Moco , and harrowing them with boy-meets-gryphon-meets-robot adventure in When Iron Wakes . With the love of his life and the dog that rescued him by his side, he plots his next traumatizing stories from Florida beaches.

Read more about Jason on his website and get exclusive early access to snippets, behind-the-scenes cool stuff on Patreon.

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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for myreadingescapism.
1,274 reviews15 followers
October 1, 2025
Honestly, this is just a heavily saturated storyline, so if it doesn't stand out or make it more interesting than the standard way.... it's just mid.
Profile Image for Katie Barber.
Author 5 books8 followers
February 7, 2014
3 Stars for The Dying of the Light: Interval

I’ll begin with the positives. The book is well written, as in the sentence structure is clean and easy to read. The premise is excellent. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by zombies, and what remains of civilization lives in bunkers or in remote parts of the world like Antarctica. The survivors stay tucked away in hopes of outliving the prion-based disease that caused the zombie “infection” and are finding out that humankind, when face with adversity, can be just as monstrous as the zombies.

The negatives are numerous and sadly it took me six months to read this book, because I kept putting it back down on my nightstand after just two or three pages. The first book of this series, The Dying of the Light: End, I did enjoy a good bit, which made second installment disappointing. The beginning of the book, where the location switches at a rapid pace and many new characters are introduced, lost me very early on. I didn’t get to know any of the characters well enough in the short time they were on screen, and the characters I did remember from the first book, namely David Blake, I didn’t get to see much of either in the first third of the book. The first few chapters either needed a lot more fleshing out or removed entirely, which would have helped the book start up better in my opinion.

I kept getting frustrated with almost every protagonist being a beautiful, bad-ass amazon-like chick or not described at all. I couldn’t tell you what David Blake looks like. Sure there are some pretty people out there, but perfect people are not relatable; frankly, they don’t exist. Not just the monsters are ugly or even just plain-looking. There is nothing wrong with being normal, flaws and all. I would have liked to see some of the protagonists a little less attractive, and I don’t just mean that in a physical sense.

The lack of detail is probably the most troubling to me, while reading this book. Rooms were described in the barest sense; offices, bunkers, rooms with chairs… and not even what color or material from which they were made. Not that I wanted to know detailed information about the bunkers’ chairs, mind, but I had no idea what these places really looked like. There was more thoughtfulness put into the novel’s guns and aircraft types, so at least some research and description was given in that regard. What really turned me off were the “intimate” scenes, which garnered the most detail. To give those scenes so much attention, and others none, came across as a little creepy (as a woman reader).

The one scene that seemed unreal was David Blake briefing his team on the helicopter at the start of a mission. I would think he’d bring his team up to speed in a briefing room before heading out on the mission. For some reason, that detail really stood out and bothered me.

I really enjoyed the McMurdo rescue and the ending of the book. Minor spoiler: Although, I did wonder why Bunker One hadn’t thought to ambush its attackers from behind before Blake’s return? Clearly, they had the resources.

Kristopher seemed to find his rhythm after a time, during the last two thirds of the book, and the story did improve. I finished the last third of the book in just a couple of weeks.

With Kristopher’s third book in the series on the horizon, I’d implore of him to spend more time on it than he did with book two. Interval could have been a four star, even five, with some additional fleshing out.
Profile Image for Anthony.
Author 29 books199 followers
December 14, 2025
The Review

This is a fantastic follow-up to the first book in this series, END, and capitalizes on the brutality and horror of the first book’s events by delving into the freezing depths of the Antarctic and the lengths humanity must go to survive. The balance the author finds in utilizing military protocol and language with the personal storytelling of the characters and their lives was as astounding as it was in book one, and the way the author explored how different militaries around the world responded to their own bases in the Arctic and how things advanced as the years wore on was so engaging from a reader’s perspective.

The world-building and action are so visceral and alive on the page, and the imagery in the author’s writing is so compelling. The exploration of the effects the virus, aka the prion, has on the dead, mainly the reasons some become “runners” rather than “walkers,” is so enthralling. The way the author writes allows the pacing to feel punctuated and engaged in a fast-paced action thriller, keeping the reader invested throughout the entire novel.

The Verdict

Memorable, action-packed, and thrilling, author Jason Kristopher’s “Interval” is a must-read action horror thriller and a grand entry in the Dying of the Light series. The story is entertaining, the characters are relatable, intense, and emotionally driven, and the heartfelt, open-ended ending allows the reader to become fully immersed in this world and eager for the next entry in the series.
9 reviews1 follower
April 20, 2024
Excellent read

I was hoping that Book 2 would live up to the fantastic Book 1 and it did not disappoint. It was enthralling and I look forward to reading Book 3. Excellent author, excellent series.
Profile Image for Dawn Lofink.
45 reviews1 follower
November 27, 2018
A great follow-up to the first book! I can't wait to devour the rest of the series!
Profile Image for chucklesthescot.
3,000 reviews134 followers
June 9, 2017
Word of the superflu reaches Antarctica along with the last supply flight in and a zombie, showing the scientists what a dangerous situation they are in. Seeing the news broadcast where the President tells the nation about the zombie apocalypse is a shock and they realise that they are now on their own and must join with other research groups to survive. A plan is also made to send their final plane to New Zealand to their supply base to try and find somewhere safe to evacuate their people to. The people left behind have to wait and watch their supplies run low...

At the bunker Beoshane's people are constantly on the attack to try to find a way to get at the supplies inside and the bunker defences are beginning to look a little shaky. The other bunkers are having a mixed time too with one falling under the command of a madman, one falling to the zombies and others no longer willing to cooperate in the joint ventures. Mary also has mixed news about Kim and David's blood tests which causes a rift between the couple over the prospect of having children and whether they will be immune or infected.

Bill leads the team to Christchurch and they plan to try and use the terminal building as a base inside the fences. However there are already people living there who have turned to religion to survive though they offer to help Bill's people. But their help is going to come at a terrible price when Bill discovers the secret to the food that these people are eating.

The bunker is surprised to intercept a message from Antarctica, sent out by a Russian agent seeking extraction by her people. Knowing that there are more survivors motivates them into planning a complicated rescue which will take the combined efforts of several bunkers. Is the rescue worth risking to save these people?

I loved the first book in the series which followed the military as they set up zombie task forces to deal with small outbreaks and then start building the bunkers when they realise that they are losing the war. This second book starts with the people safely in the bunker and a few groups of scattered survivors in Antarctica and New Zealand, trying to survive in different ways.

What I liked was the idea of the Antarctica story and especially the plans for the rescue teams going there. The rescue plan was the best bit of the book actually. I was less keen on the power struggle in Antarctica by corrupt men and the Russian agent sleeping her way through the communications men until she was able to persuade one of them to send her message over the radio. The men involved were extremely dumb and broke every rule in the book for her but in the end it did cause a rescue attempt. It just wasn't an entertaining plot device. I also liked the bunker being under attack in different ways from Beoshane's people which kept things tense for a while.

My issue with the book was the way it was written. It moves from the as it happens narrative that I liked so much in the first book, where we followed the military teams on and off the bases as they dealt with the various outbreaks and prepared the bunkers for the chosen people. In this book we would get a chapter on the Antarctica group then time would jump ahead to what was happening in the bunkers or the supply run in New Zealand. There would be a very dramatic story like Bill's and the next chapter would jump 2 years ahead to the starving people in Antarctica then a year on to the latest attack on the bunker. The time jumps I found irritating because I wanted the story to flow and see what happens to each character instead of jumping years ahead each time. I get that the author was trying to cover a big period of time but I just found the whole thing clunky, disjointed and lacking the tension and cohesion from the earlier book.

It was still a decent book but the format did affect my enjoyment of it, along with the limited contact we have of favourite characters in other bunkers.
13 reviews3 followers
January 15, 2013
The Dying of the Light: Interval picks up where the first book ends and takes us into the dark and terrifying vision of a truly inhuman world. There is a *lot* of zombie literature out there - most of it bad, cliche and not worth the price of admission. And it's a real shame, because the glut of ho-hum zombie media does nothing but bury the real gems of the genre, like this one is turning out to be.

Instead of focusing on the zombies and the terrible things they can do a human, Jason Kristopher instead focuses on the human elements of the story, showing us characters that continue to live, laugh, love, hate, and fight in this new and sometimes alien world, all the while struggling to hold onto the very thing that separates them from this new threat - their humanity. The zombie genre may be overplayed and cliche at this point, but this series has proven that when used with the correct touch, it can be used to tell a riveting story of the human condition and provide a backdrop for compelling military fiction at the the same time.

That being said, Interval didn't feel quite as tight as the the first book in the series, but it wasn't a failing of the author or the story. I think the major problem that I had with this one was the scope of the story he told in this single volume. Taking place over 15 years and with jumps of several months to several years in between chapters... it can really be quite jarring. It really forced him to "tell" us a lot of what happened in the intervals instead of simply being able to "show" us. One prime case of this is with the character of William Shaw, who has the team he brought with him on a mission killed to a man and finds himself trapped in a airport surrounded by Walkers at the end of one chapter. By the time we see him again, it's been six years, and we're learning of his survival. At no point in between do we see the character again, and that made it a little bit "jumpy" at times.

The other issue that I personally had was the narration style. The chapters where David Blake was narrating were told in first person limited. Any time David wasn't center stage, the narration was all in third person. This was a little bit tough to get around at first, and while it did get easier as the novel progressed, it was an interesting choice that Kristopher made. I can't say that I would have done the same.

All the little flaws aside, this was an incredibly fun read. I really didn't want to put it down, and was more than a little bit surprised when I found I had plowed through half of it in my first sitting. Had I not needed to go to bed to get up for work, it probably would have been a "one sitting" book. And considering it weighs in at 400 pages, that's no easy feat and is a testament to Kristopher's craft.

No matter your feelings on the zombie apocalypse genre, whether your a fan of it, hate it, or are on the fence, I would strongly recommend this series. I've truly enjoyed it and can't wait for the conclusion.
Profile Image for Big Otter Books.
315 reviews
February 5, 2013
Recommend/4 stars. This book was not what I expected but in a very good way! Yes there are zombies, yes the world as we know it has ended and there is a rescue mission afoot, but-it was NOT your average horror/zombie story. The zombies were almost peripheral to the story.

The main story is how each group of humans is coping with day to day life. Every other zombie book out there is all about the first few days and how to kill the zombies before they kill you etc. This book spans several YEARS and goes beyond just the zombies climbing over the walls but the people inside the walls and how they do (and do not) survive.

Just that would have been a great book but Kristopher goes further and gives us a sub plot of a rescue mission to save a group of humans stranded (for years) on Antarctica. One of these trapped scientists could hold the key to stopping the zombies-but what could have been a tired old cliche' is given a couple of twists that lead to the rescue going awry in many ways I didn't expect.

I did have to go back and re-read a few times to keep the HUGE cast of characters straight-I should have read the first book first! There were also a few times I had to suspend my disbelief at the convenient way manpower, equipment and just plain old know-how was in the right place at the right time for the rescue mission but not a big deal. The story moves right along with no extras or fluff-it reads like a script, just start the cameras because this is ready to film and would make a terrific movie. I did feel like a few things that happened to main characters were glossed over in the interest of keeping the breakneck pace. Hopefully there will be a novella along that goes into more detail and gives us the rest of the story.

I really liked this book and will definitely get the next one to see how it all ends.

(I received a copy of this book to read & review, this is my own personal opinion)
Profile Image for Matthew Dever.
4 reviews1 follower
May 19, 2014
This is the first book about zombies I had ever read, and when I saw the description about it I was not sure this was something I would be tremendously interested in.

Having said that, this book is a riveting story of the world after a serious outbreak of zombies has begun to take over the world, with governments around the world building bunkers to house the most essential people to begin repopulating the world after the outbreak is over.

This is a long book, with many stories and locations woven in together. There is military intrigue, politics, romance, deception, mutiny, murder and a whole lot more.

This book is the second in the series of three (which I did not know before I finished the book). It explains at times the seeming familiarity that some characters had with others, and the missing connection made it more difficult to get aquatinted with new characters as they came on the scene.

The author could have split this book in two, and then would have had a quadrilogy!

This book switches point of view a few times from first person when the book is centred on the action at Bunker One, and we are seeing things from the perspective of Dave Blake, the XO of Alpha Squad – the bunker’s elite attack/defence team. He is the main protagonist of the book, and all the other stories if different bunkers, locations and teams are all interwoven around the main storyline of Mr. Blake, his wife and his team at Bunker One.

For those of you put off by the idea of zombies, then imagine instead the world is infected by a biological agent that is contagious by exchange of bodily fluids… It’s like a really pandemic of rabies…

I quite enjoyed the tome, and I look forward to reading book 1 and 3 in the series.
13 reviews
February 24, 2016
The second book in series makes it a little hard sometimes, as the main characters sometimes interact with what apparently "old friends" that were new to me as the reader. That being said, the main story of the book was an enjoyable but sometimes frustrating read. While the story was action packed but would skip large chunks of time with certain characters only to return to them later. Being a zombie book, be prepared for lots of carnage and battles scenes, but there is enough character development to keep you interested and caring about the people in the story. Obviously there was another book setup with the ending, which I will probably read as well.

After writing this review I decided that I really wanted to know more of the store and went back and read the first book - highly recommend you start with book 1 - but read them both!
Profile Image for Lyle Hansen.
24 reviews2 followers
March 15, 2013
I received this book as an Early Reviewer copy and was very impressed. I had not read book one in this series but definitely will now! I love the Antarctica setting tied with zombie type outbreak! To me being stuck in Antarctica with the elements and having an outbreak of zombies on top of it, scares the living crap out of me! This book also does a good job of building the story. It has great characters and is very detailed orientated! The characters are well like able and the story to me is very believable. It has great suspense build up and also grabs your attention early on! I look forward to the next installment of this series!
Profile Image for RJ.
2,044 reviews13 followers
January 7, 2016
Book two for the most part chronicles the planning and execution of a rescue mission from one of the bunkers in the States to an isolated base in the Antarctic housing 900 survivors. A solar storm miraculously allows radio communication to the base after being cut off for the past ten years. The Antarctic survivors are comprised of scientists working on the infection since its outbreak. One scientist in particular is the best hope for a cure and must be rescued. The rescue attempt entails many difficulties in both going to and coming back. An exciting read with plenty of action and lots of surprises. I want book three to see how this turns out, but Audible is temporarily lacking as usual.
Profile Image for The TBR Pile *Book review site*.
1,840 reviews58 followers
February 7, 2013
http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/1/post/2...

Overall, this isn’t bad but don’t expect this to be quite as gripping as the first book in the series. A big revelation towards the end almost feels like a bit of an excuse to string out
the series to another book and though I am keen to read it to see how this all ends, still now I feel a bit skeptical about whether it will reach the high standards set by the first book! Like I say, I didn’t hate this ~ I just felt a little let down.
Profile Image for Courtney Cook.
7 reviews16 followers
February 2, 2013
Good reads winner!

I really enjoyed this book. I think the writing was more mature than the first one. It's nice to finally read a zombie book that is different from the rest.

I'm looking forward to more from this author!
Profile Image for Sydney.
91 reviews2 followers
March 19, 2013
This is a second book in a series that follows the survival of humans after Z Day, an outbreak of zombies. The concept of exploring the continuation of the human race after 15 years of life in underground bunkers is fresh but there are too many characters to follow.
Profile Image for Moon Light Amethyst.
318 reviews8 followers
February 2, 2015
because my daughter knows the author I read the first book which is very good.........but this book I couldn't even finish it. There were to many stories & time lines I couldn't keep up I put the book down MONTHS ago & have yet to pick it up.
4 reviews9 followers
October 22, 2016
This book was very exciting, adding a sense of urgency as supplies run low and new groups of survivors are introduced post Z-Day. It was also interesting to see how the characters dealt with the world after everything fell apart.
Profile Image for Ron Courter.
260 reviews6 followers
June 6, 2023
Thank Christ this series is over. It somehow turned into a slog. I’m never reading another Zombie Fiction book again? Why did I read any, you might ask? Why indeed.
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