White Out

by Eric Dimbleby

An apocalyptic snowstorm sweeps the globe. Experts predict this freak storm will be "The New Ice Age." Electricity is gone, as are all forms of communication and road travel. As each member of a divided family tries to survive in their own way, they must deal with a snow-driven madness that has gripped the underlying evil in the hearts of men. In an epic struggle to get home and reunite, they will find that terror lies around every snow drift... and even in their very own backyard.

246 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

About the author

Eric Dimbleby writes stories concerning the underbelly of humanity and its perpetual misery. And for these crimes against his fellow man, in imagining their ultimate degradation, he has gone missing. Some say that he is “unstuck in time”, while others purport to have spotted him at the edge of a poorly dug grave on the side of a highway to nowhere in particular, takin' care of business.... feeding the worm. Feeding the demon.

Learn more at his website.

Reviews

[Dystopian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this zero stars if I could. Atrocious writing (he actually wrote a sentence "remorselessly killing without remorse"). The plot was ridiculous as well. I only made it through the book on hate and masochism.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the story, featuring several linked people trapped at home and work in a massive blizzard, trying to survive and escape. However the interesting concept was ruined yet again by a cast of dreadful characters that you couldn't care less about.

First there is the whiny, irritating Annie who got stuck at work when her car broke down. She moans about being stuck there with the guy she hates the most in the world-Tony-who is interested in her and won't back off. Then we discover that Annie has cheated on her husband with Tony so is it any wonder that Tony fancies his chances with her? Stupid cow. Why would you have sex with a guy you hate, a guy your husband hates for making it clear he likes you??? She despises her husband Christian for being suspicious about her and Tony (I wonder why!!!) and moans that he is a saint, a good husband and good provider! I wanted to slap this ungrateful bitch.

Then there is the sleazebag that is Tony. He is what he is and you can hardly blame him for thinking Annie likes him given the circumstances but he is the kind of guy that you would avoid like the plague if you had any common sense! Frankly Annie and Tony deserve each other and I hope they both freeze to death-but I didn't stay with the book long enough to find out.

[Rebecca Besser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eric Dimbleby enjoys twisting a sick web of horror for his readers that stays with them long after they read his tales.

The world is coming to a slow, frozen end. Few people are left alive to deal with it and the other survivors – the ones who don’t want to get along and play nice.

Violence and death fall upon those who aren’t prepared to do what’s necessary. Some are forced to…

A woman is trapped at work and wants to get home to her husband and son, but she can’t. Not without the help of a man who would rather keep her all to himself.

They manage to make it a few miles in the snow, only to be attacked.

She has to find the darkness inside herself to survive if she ever wants to see her son again.

Meanwhile…a man who has vile intentions takes up residency in her home, with her family.

Will anything be left if she does manage to make it home alive?

This book shows the twisted darkness that lives inside those we don’t want to think about – the bad people who are evil for no reason, or just for the pleasure of hurting others. In that way, it’s excellent. I would have liked to see more strength in the seemly bipolar, weak-willed female that is the center of this tale; it would have gone a long way in making her more interesting overall. There are many, many grammar issues with this title, but it’s still worth the read.

[Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this book in early fall, rather than mid-winter. It would have been much more creepy if I had read it while it was freezing out with snow on the ground. I liked the story overall; it held my interest. There were a couple parts that struck me as a little too unrealistic to be believable and so they sort of pulled me out of the narrative in places, but I will still look for more books from this author as I liked the ideas, characters and story enough to want to read more of his stories.

[Jeremy Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love a good end-of-the-world snowstorm and this book certainly delivered. Its starts right in the middle of the storm and the author does a great job of making you feel the cold and the utter hopelessness of this ice-age level storm. I noticed the editing (and maybe the writing too) got a bit sloppy towards the middle but seemed cleaned up by the end. And speaking of the end, I enjoyed the ending and the book.

[Leanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to a ice age snowy type book....but i just could not like it. I could not stand the little boy Paulie....what 4 year old talks like that. I also felt like some of the scenarios - which I am sure are quite plausible for an apocalypse(people can do sick things any day)but I felt they were just in the story to satisfy the authors fantasies... I felt he could have made a story without so much of that stuff.....

[Shell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sought out this author on the basis of a short story (Oatmeal Cookies) I read in a holiday zombie anthology and I'm really glad I did. I found picking it up whenever I had a spare minute throughout the day because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Great, fast-paced story. I'll be looking for more by this author.