Z-Minus II - a review by Rosemary Kenny
This is an epic second part of the Z-Minus series; once you enter its pages you'll be whisked away to the recent past and dragged there kicking and screaming with equal parts of terror and excitement at the clever combination of characters, their emotions [which are so realistically expounded you feel every atom of their pain, joy etc] and every nuance of action set out here by master of apocalyptic
fantasy sci-fi Perrin Briar.
Moving smoothly on from book I, in a seamless transition, are our main protagonists - former cage-fighter Chris Smith and his 8 year-old daughter Maisie. We feel their sense of relief as they make a temporary but vitally safe domicile at the deserted Usher's Farm, where they see relatively few zombies and are able to start living self-sufficiently as small-holders in the barn and outbuildings.
In St Bartholomew's Hospital a vaccine-development centre has been set up to find an antidote for the zombie-virus before it's too late for Mankind. Lead scientist is Dr Victoria Kahn and we read for ourselves her diary of despair, as nothing seems to work and despite the army cordon protecting the centre, time is running out and the plague is overwhelmingly irresistible in the worst way they could have dreamed of.
Into the mix comes the surviving family of Chris' last cage-fighting foe, Tommy Jones...three generations, some of whom cannot forgive Chris for putting their son/brother/uncle into a coma and thus being effectively dead! Grandfather George rules the clan and eventually both families agree to fight for survival together against their mutual enemy.
Will the Smiths and Jones' make a new life without the peril of zombie attacks in the countryside? Can they work together long enough to teach the younger generations that co-operation and community spirit is the only answer if they want to live united in harmony and strength?
How will the zombie holocaust ever end, when more succumb each day? If they escape to London will it be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire? When the end comes, will the vaccine be ready - and will there be enough to save those already infected?
So many questions, but you'll be so keen - as I was - to find out all the answers, you'll keep turning pages and wanting more - a winner of a series for an incredible author, Perrin Briar.