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Cape Zero: the Fall
When social recluse and all round introvert, Peter Swart, manages to survive an attack by an insane homeless man, he soon discovers that Cape Town is not going to remain the holiday destination that it was previously regarded.
In the wake of a failed government state of emergency, society crumbles in South Africa as a virus turns people into violent cannibals. Within a day, the already compromised military collapses. Cape Town becomes a dark zone and its residents are forgotten.
With violent mobs roaming the streets, social anxiety and doubtable sanity thrown into the mix – will Peter be able to survive the apocalypse or, worse yet, the necessity to live with other people?
In the wake of a failed government state of emergency, society crumbles in South Africa as a virus turns people into violent cannibals. Within a day, the already compromised military collapses. Cape Town becomes a dark zone and its residents are forgotten.
With violent mobs roaming the streets, social anxiety and doubtable sanity thrown into the mix – will Peter be able to survive the apocalypse or, worse yet, the necessity to live with other people?
- GenresZombies
ebook
First published June 14, 2014
5 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Woode-Smith
158 books157 followersNicholas Woode-Smith is a fantasy and science fiction author from Cape Town, South Africa. He has been writing since the age of twelve, writing short stories, novels, and RPG campaigns. In 2013, he published his first book, Fall of Zona Nox. Five years later, he published it again after greatly improving his skills.
Since then, he’s written dozens of books in the urban fantasy and sci-fi genre. Notably, the best-selling urban fantasy series, Kat Drummond.
Nicholas has a degree majoring in economic history and philosophy, and minors in political science, international relations, and English literature from the University of Cape Town. He has been involved in politics, civic activism, and political analysis since 2014.
Since then, he’s written dozens of books in the urban fantasy and sci-fi genre. Notably, the best-selling urban fantasy series, Kat Drummond.
Nicholas has a degree majoring in economic history and philosophy, and minors in political science, international relations, and English literature from the University of Cape Town. He has been involved in politics, civic activism, and political analysis since 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 13, 2019
I guess I should congratulate the author for deciding on a bit of diversity by having the MC as a social recluse who hates having to interact with real people. The problem is that Peter became so easy to hate because of the attitude he had towards other zombie victims. He is glad that a woman is killed and turned by a zombie because she dared to accidently bump into him when fleeing for her life. He doesn't care about all the problems in his country until it starts affecting his cozy life. The apartment he hd in was selected purely on the basis of his political leanings to the right. He talks to himself and ends up in proper arguments with himself over his own mental sanity which had me seriously wanting to strangle him. He gets annoyed when he tells his hunger pangs to leave and they don't, the apartment owner is a greedy pig to have dared to flee for safety taking his food with him as he should have left it all for Peter, he puts on gloves to protect his hands from contaminated blood and all he can fret about is whether he looks stylish. He is a character that I just couldn't find anything sympathetic in and I wanted him to get bitten.
For me, the writing was really bad. It was over descriptive waffle in the early paragraphs, to the point of driving me crazy. We don't need several paragraphs of Peter debating with himself over whether it was a mistake to hide there or not. The point is, it didn't bloody matter because he was leaving anyway! ie Peter had made a bad decision coming here, he remembered how he felt at the time of his decision, he brooded over whether it was the wrong decision, he worried it was not right to be there and concluded he was still alive so he must've done something right. JEEZ! WHO CARES??? It also takes an age to describe the weather on apocalypse day which had my mind wandering in the opening lines of the book.
The descriptions of what was going on were weird. He has to eat cat food to survive and this is how he ate it...'after staring longingly at the cat food, he pounced. The feeble plastic packet was no match for his superior ripping abilities.' His thoughts on being hungry were 'damn my desire for sustenance!' Oh give me a break! The characters he met all talk like something out of the Middle Ages meets Monty Python which was offputting and annoying. There are plot gaps that were confusing. Characters went missing and it was never explained why, where they went and what they were doing. Thetre seemed to be no reason for the zombie attack on the compound and the way the defences cracked just seemed a bit too convenient-that and the fact that only Peter was smart enough to save himself. It was strange and disjointed and even though I finished it, I can't say I enjoyed it.
I read this as I love Cape Town and it was nice to recognise where the apocalypse took place but I just felt a bit disappointed by all aspects of it.
For me, the writing was really bad. It was over descriptive waffle in the early paragraphs, to the point of driving me crazy. We don't need several paragraphs of Peter debating with himself over whether it was a mistake to hide there or not. The point is, it didn't bloody matter because he was leaving anyway! ie Peter had made a bad decision coming here, he remembered how he felt at the time of his decision, he brooded over whether it was the wrong decision, he worried it was not right to be there and concluded he was still alive so he must've done something right. JEEZ! WHO CARES??? It also takes an age to describe the weather on apocalypse day which had my mind wandering in the opening lines of the book.
The descriptions of what was going on were weird. He has to eat cat food to survive and this is how he ate it...'after staring longingly at the cat food, he pounced. The feeble plastic packet was no match for his superior ripping abilities.' His thoughts on being hungry were 'damn my desire for sustenance!' Oh give me a break! The characters he met all talk like something out of the Middle Ages meets Monty Python which was offputting and annoying. There are plot gaps that were confusing. Characters went missing and it was never explained why, where they went and what they were doing. Thetre seemed to be no reason for the zombie attack on the compound and the way the defences cracked just seemed a bit too convenient-that and the fact that only Peter was smart enough to save himself. It was strange and disjointed and even though I finished it, I can't say I enjoyed it.
I read this as I love Cape Town and it was nice to recognise where the apocalypse took place but I just felt a bit disappointed by all aspects of it.
June 13, 2019
A terrible book with an annoying, narcissistic ignorant main character.
All I could think about the whole book as, I hope he gets bitten and dies.
Don’t waste your time or money.
All I could think about the whole book as, I hope he gets bitten and dies.
Don’t waste your time or money.
November 21, 2014
I read this as part of BookVetter.com
The reason I could only rate this a 2-star, is because the only thing I enjoyed was the **potential** for a good story.
Unfortunately the story is plagued with pacing, diction, grammar, and editing issues that made it extremely difficult to read.
There is an excess of details in places where their need not be any, and there's a nearly criminal lack of detail in places where there should be A LOT.
I didn't find myself feeling for any of the characters, and the main characters sudden development of a multiple personality disorder after only 7 days alone made no sense. It would have made A LOT of sense if there was reference to him having developed the disorder years before, given his anti-social behaviour.
Too much of the book felt rushed, like there was a timer on how long could be spent on each sentence, and it wasn't very long.
There were various moments where story elements became incongruent. Something would be plainly stated, and then mysteriously retconned one paragraph later.
All-in-all, I think the story has/had potential, but needs several more drafts through the editing process. The vocabulary is often strong, and diverse, but inconsistent at times and used incorrectly in some other instances.
I hope the author further develops his process for future books so we can see his unbridled writing blossom.
The reason I could only rate this a 2-star, is because the only thing I enjoyed was the **potential** for a good story.
Unfortunately the story is plagued with pacing, diction, grammar, and editing issues that made it extremely difficult to read.
There is an excess of details in places where their need not be any, and there's a nearly criminal lack of detail in places where there should be A LOT.
I didn't find myself feeling for any of the characters, and the main characters sudden development of a multiple personality disorder after only 7 days alone made no sense. It would have made A LOT of sense if there was reference to him having developed the disorder years before, given his anti-social behaviour.
Too much of the book felt rushed, like there was a timer on how long could be spent on each sentence, and it wasn't very long.
There were various moments where story elements became incongruent. Something would be plainly stated, and then mysteriously retconned one paragraph later.
All-in-all, I think the story has/had potential, but needs several more drafts through the editing process. The vocabulary is often strong, and diverse, but inconsistent at times and used incorrectly in some other instances.
I hope the author further develops his process for future books so we can see his unbridled writing blossom.
June 22, 2014
This book isn't my normal genre and the thought of zombies, weaponry etc was not something I would usually read, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
Peter, the protagonist, is, despite being on the autism spectrum in my opinion, an appealing character. His peculiarities and eccentricities make him more believable. The plot is fast-moving and kept me engaged throughout. The fact that the story is set in Cape Town is also a plus as, although the landmarks etc have been adapted to suit the author, there are various places that are recognisable and it makes it easier to become involved in the relentless slide into chaos.
I am really looking forward to the next book - what happens to Peter and does anyone else I like die?!
Peter, the protagonist, is, despite being on the autism spectrum in my opinion, an appealing character. His peculiarities and eccentricities make him more believable. The plot is fast-moving and kept me engaged throughout. The fact that the story is set in Cape Town is also a plus as, although the landmarks etc have been adapted to suit the author, there are various places that are recognisable and it makes it easier to become involved in the relentless slide into chaos.
I am really looking forward to the next book - what happens to Peter and does anyone else I like die?!
July 7, 2017
Got a free copy that the author was giving out as a promotion. In general, Zombie stories are not my cup of tea. I like my zombies cute and functional like on the TV show iZombie. So I approached this with a little bit of skepticism. Still, I thought it would be interesting to try something new.
Zombie culture (except for the above mentioned iZombie is that zombies are mindless unthinking creatures who just attack people. The author here introduces classes of zombies. Some are blind and do not seem to be as intelligent as the others. Then their are sighted ones. They seem to be able to reason things to some degrees. Why are some different? We are never told why, we just have to accept it. And that becomes a stumbling block for me when all of a sudden, some of the sighted ones figure out how to use tools including weapons to accomplish their goals. How? Why?
We follow Peter, a lone wolf, who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Zombies start to over run the area that he is in and he takes sanctuary in abandoned apartment that he finds. This could make for a boring book a large part of the book deals with a fish out of water story. He realizes he needs others to survive, and though he is a lone wolf, he joins a group base on knights and squires. He seems to move quickly up the ranks.
I can forgive a lot of that. What I do not like, is s story that ends but does not end. I realize the author is trying to get me to buy the next book (might be why I got this free one), but I just hare that we are left with mini-cliff hanger. The story does wrap up and there is a completion, but it is set up for the next book.
If you like Zombies and survivalist stories, then you will enjoy the book most likely. I thought the book was OK. You will have to decide.
Zombie culture (except for the above mentioned iZombie is that zombies are mindless unthinking creatures who just attack people. The author here introduces classes of zombies. Some are blind and do not seem to be as intelligent as the others. Then their are sighted ones. They seem to be able to reason things to some degrees. Why are some different? We are never told why, we just have to accept it. And that becomes a stumbling block for me when all of a sudden, some of the sighted ones figure out how to use tools including weapons to accomplish their goals. How? Why?
We follow Peter, a lone wolf, who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Zombies start to over run the area that he is in and he takes sanctuary in abandoned apartment that he finds. This could make for a boring book a large part of the book deals with a fish out of water story. He realizes he needs others to survive, and though he is a lone wolf, he joins a group base on knights and squires. He seems to move quickly up the ranks.
I can forgive a lot of that. What I do not like, is s story that ends but does not end. I realize the author is trying to get me to buy the next book (might be why I got this free one), but I just hare that we are left with mini-cliff hanger. The story does wrap up and there is a completion, but it is set up for the next book.
If you like Zombies and survivalist stories, then you will enjoy the book most likely. I thought the book was OK. You will have to decide.
August 13, 2018
Has some very good points
Why three instead of four? Well, it seemed the author could not make up his mind how he wanted his main character to appear, snarky or superhero. The other characters were just blips on this story. The actual plot was very sketchy and hard to stay with. What was good were the idea of someone behind the attacks, guiding the zombies to their task and the types of zombies, except for the way things would pop up just in time to save the day for the zombies. I have read another zombie series where zombies had "muscle memory" but firing weapons, a two step process, seems too far out. I believe if it were thought out and expanded, the author might have a very good story.
Why three instead of four? Well, it seemed the author could not make up his mind how he wanted his main character to appear, snarky or superhero. The other characters were just blips on this story. The actual plot was very sketchy and hard to stay with. What was good were the idea of someone behind the attacks, guiding the zombies to their task and the types of zombies, except for the way things would pop up just in time to save the day for the zombies. I have read another zombie series where zombies had "muscle memory" but firing weapons, a two step process, seems too far out. I believe if it were thought out and expanded, the author might have a very good story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews