Rhys is an average guy who works an average job in Summit City—a purpose built government complex on the outskirts of London.
The Alpha Tower stands in the centre of the city. An enigma, nobody knows what happens behind its dark glass.
Rhys is about to find out.
At ground zero and with chaos spilling out into the street, Rhys has the slightest of head starts. If he can remain ahead of the pandemonium, then maybe he can get to his loved ones before the plague does.
The Alpha Plague is a post-apocalyptic survival thriller.
The Alpha Plague - Book 2
Equipped with nothing but a baseball bat and his wits, Rhys enters Summit City for a second time. His son wants his Mummy, and Rhys is the only one that can save her.
If he can get to The Alpha Tower, he can release the shutters on all of the buildings in the city. Maybe then he can get his ex-wife and best friend out of there.
However, to open the shutters will release chaos into the already wild streets.
The only advantage Rhys has over the thousands of other people that will be fighting for their lives, is he understands what he’s up against. Hopefully that knowledge will be the difference between life and death.
To make matters worse, an order to incinerate the city has been switched on. In five hours’ time, the complex must burn to a crisp.
To give his son what he needs, Rhys has to risk everything. But there is no stronger love in his life than that which he feels for his boy.
One final deep breath and Rhys re-enters hell.
The Alpha Plague 2 is a post-apocalyptic action thriller.
The Alpha Plague - Book 3
After having found and successfully rescued his ex-wife from the diseased Summit City, Rhys drags himself to where he should be meeting his son and discovers he isn’t there.
Armed with nothing but hope, Rhys and his ex-wife set off on what they believe to be their boy’s trail.
With just enough breadcrumbs to keep them going, they follow the path of their son and his protector in a race against both the spread of The Alpha Plague, and a crazed psychopath hell bent on their destruction.
The Alpha Plague 3 is a post-apocalyptic action thriller.
Michael Robertson is an author and blogger. He has had several short stories published, including one with HarperCollins. He is the author of Crash - http://michaelrobertson.co.uk/crash--...
I read lots of Zombie books. This is set in a future I don’t like. Not only is it sad to listen to the daily life, the government control is awful. The characters are all flawed humans that have to reach inside and pull hard to get through this day. I already got the next three in the series. I’m interested enough to see what happens next.
Robertson condenses and stretches time, appropriately and necessarily, to capture the first minutes, hours and days in a zombie apocalypse. Falling within the broader category of zombie apocalypses, this take is toward the rage spectrum of "28 Days Later" rather than the lumbering Walking Dead variety, which makes it all the worse for protagonist, Rhys. The entire trilogy barely clocks in at 2 days in character time. Wonderfully, the narration style morphs as time goes on and characters have moments to consider their complicated pasts that overshadow their decisions and actions of the present. I've reviewed each book separately, too.
The Alpha Plague is an apocalyptic survival thriller that covers just the first few hours of a viral plague: Rhys and his kick-ass partner-by-circumstance Vicky in his quest to escape Summit City, the apocalypse epicenter, and save his 6 y.o. son, Flynn, who’s at school some miles away.
The Alpha Plague 2 picks up minutes after the end of the first book. Rhys promises his son to try to save his wife back in Summit City, thus launching this sequel which focuses on Rhys’ efforts while Vicky stays safely outside the containment zone with the boy. Rules for the behavior and spread of zombies start to emerge as Rhys logs more interactions and analyzes more without Vicky’s smarts to guide him. Also, the political intrigue storyline at the heart of the infection develops, broadening the world-view while layering on mysteries.
The Alpha Plague 3 keeps the frenetic pace of the previous ones, while weaving in back story for Vicky as Rhys and Larissa try to find Vicky and Flynn. In alternating chapters, over a year of backstory infills Vicky’s tale while only Rhys and Larissa’s tale furthers the present everchanging predicament. The unspooling of multiple time lines and shifting character relationships in Vicky’s political thriller thread reminded me of All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer.
A bit reminiscent of Resident Evil, but not by a Corp, but by the UK government this time, to win a Cold War. The characters are believable, although they seem to have horrible luck most of the time. None of the characters are white knights or high ladies, but the author succeeds in making you get behind them, and cheer their survival on.
. . . Sam Sisavath had a death grip (pun intended) on the zombie story line, I’m delighted to say I was wrong. I’m loving these stories and I’m thrilled at having found another wonderful author to enjoy. Here’s to the zombie apocalypse! May it never happen.
Very interesting spin on Zombie Apocalypse. Read entire series besides the first three in the box set. It keeps you very interested in finding out how it will end. Ending took me by surprise, never thought it'd would end the way it did with one of the main characters. Definitely recommend reading.
A zombie read that I enjoyed and it took me some time to get through it given hospitalization etc. The book had some very interesting characters who seemed to have seen a lot of good times but mostly bad, down on your times. Lady Luck only spent enough time with some of these people long enough to give them a kick in the teeth. A 4 star story for sure
Rys is a strong man who loves his son dearly. He is learning what the infected are doing and he is afraid they are getting smart. The first three books are great. I will be getting the next three.
This book is a fun read... it's my kind of summer reading, at least. It's not life altering or anything like that, but it's a fun read that you can tell the author put his thought and live into. I enjoyed it!
Zombies is what makes the world go round, and this was no surprise. It took a little bit to get to them but once the story did, it was a bit different than the regular zombie story. And what was it with Brenden?
The characters draw you in. At first I was disappointed at how slow the plot moved, but that quickly changed. Suddenly I found if hardly put the book down
The first book takes a few pages to introduce the main character, Rhys, and then -- all Hell breaks loose! The first two books are non-stop action that doesn't let up. The third book slows a bit to give some backstory for Vicky, who showed up in the first book.
If you want a lot of thrilling action, then this series is for you. The major plot arcs are resolved for each book, but all of them end on a cliffhanger that paves the way to the next book.
There were a lot of interesting developments, and wild twists that keep the stories exciting page turners. There was also some good character moments for Rhys.
My problem was that maybe there was a little too much action, some of it pushing my ability to suspend belief. Rhys is not an athlete, yet he does things that would give an athlete qualms -- or at least a charley horse! Running up and down flights of stairs, making nearly impossible jumps... no amount of determination is going to make that possible if you're not in good shape.
This is a post-apocalyptic story unlike others in that we get to see its origins. Although, throughout the story, there are some flaws in the present/past/present jumps, I found the story intriguing and engaging. The interplay between the characters of Rhys, Vicky, Larrisa, Dave and Oscar/Branden is well crafted. I must say, however, how any of these screwups manage to survive any part of this saga is amazing to me.
The premise of this story is really unique in that I could really see this scenario happening! With the powers that exist in government these days we could well find ourselves in just this world. God help us should that be. Having said that, I 'm not sure I can wade through another few (or several) books in this series because these have taken such an emotional toll!
The high expectations I had for this series have been fully fulfilled so far.
It's raw, shocking, and incredibly human in all the worst humankind has to offer. It hooked me right on the first scene on book 1 and kept my interest until the last scene of book 3. In fact it's keeping my interest way beyond that, as I'm looking forward for the next installments in the series. (And I'd been so sure I didn't like stories with zombies!)
The characters are engaging and really well brought to life. There's action, horror, mystery. And each new book has been shedding some light on other sides of the story. Or characters.
Note: I read the 3 books separately, not the box set.
Couldn't put it down till the end and immediately bought the next one. The story is intense and very riveting. Amazed that it all happened in one day. Will definitely continue to read this authors work.
Unlike many stories, this one does not try to reach to far. The concept and plot are good, and the characters believable. Not a long timeline for the story though, so dont expect that. Still, entertaining read.