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Surviving the Evacuation: Life Goes On #1
Surviving the Evacuation: Outback Outbreak: Surviving the Evacuation
The outbreak changed everything, but there are some bonds even the undead can’t break.
It’s been six years since Pete Guinn last saw his sister, Corrie. He always hoped to see her again, but feared she was dead. When an elusive billionaire reveals Corrie is living under an assumed name in the Australian outback, Pete unquestioningly jumps at the chance of a reunion. But you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket, and billionaires don’t do favours for free. Corrie is in hiding from her old employer, and from the Rosewood Cartel. Now that they’ve both found her, only a miracle can save the two siblings, and what happens in Manhattan can’t be described as miraculous.
What begins as a viral outbreak soon turns into an impossible horror. People are infected and die, only to rise up and continue transmitting the infection. Even as the army is mobilised, the virus spreads beyond the borders of the United States. Nowhere is safe from the living dead.
As Australia is quarantined, the mining town of Broken Hill becomes a transit hub for the relief effort. Tourists are evacuated while civilians are conscripted, Pete and Corrie among them. Together with a bush pilot, a flying doctor, and an outback cop, the struggle to maintain civilisation begins. Supplies run low. Looting is rampant. Laws are forgotten, especially by the cartel who haven’t abandoned their search for Corrie and their quest for revenge.
Set in Broken Hill and beyond as the Australian quarantine begins.
As this book returns to the beginning of the outbreak, it can be considered a good entry point for readers new to the series.
It’s been six years since Pete Guinn last saw his sister, Corrie. He always hoped to see her again, but feared she was dead. When an elusive billionaire reveals Corrie is living under an assumed name in the Australian outback, Pete unquestioningly jumps at the chance of a reunion. But you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket, and billionaires don’t do favours for free. Corrie is in hiding from her old employer, and from the Rosewood Cartel. Now that they’ve both found her, only a miracle can save the two siblings, and what happens in Manhattan can’t be described as miraculous.
What begins as a viral outbreak soon turns into an impossible horror. People are infected and die, only to rise up and continue transmitting the infection. Even as the army is mobilised, the virus spreads beyond the borders of the United States. Nowhere is safe from the living dead.
As Australia is quarantined, the mining town of Broken Hill becomes a transit hub for the relief effort. Tourists are evacuated while civilians are conscripted, Pete and Corrie among them. Together with a bush pilot, a flying doctor, and an outback cop, the struggle to maintain civilisation begins. Supplies run low. Looting is rampant. Laws are forgotten, especially by the cartel who haven’t abandoned their search for Corrie and their quest for revenge.
Set in Broken Hill and beyond as the Australian quarantine begins.
As this book returns to the beginning of the outbreak, it can be considered a good entry point for readers new to the series.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 7, 2019
403 people are currently reading
431 people want to read
About the author
Frank Tayell
55 books487 followersAuthor of post-apocalyptic and near-future science fiction, with a focus on democracies struggling against dystopia.
For more information, or to join the mailing list, please visit; www.FrankTayell.com, facebook.com/FrankTayell, or facebook.com/TheEvacuation
For more information, or to join the mailing list, please visit; www.FrankTayell.com, facebook.com/FrankTayell, or facebook.com/TheEvacuation
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 16, 2019
How has Pete survived?
After 15 books of survivors Pete has made me laugh, useless in a panic, good job he's surrounded by capable people. Good new perspective into the outbreak, some government somewhere has to have made some decent decisions surely.
Another great book, thoroughly enjoyed it.
After 15 books of survivors Pete has made me laugh, useless in a panic, good job he's surrounded by capable people. Good new perspective into the outbreak, some government somewhere has to have made some decent decisions surely.
Another great book, thoroughly enjoyed it.
April 9, 2019
Loved it
Love this series and this book is no exception. Nice to meet a whole new crew and hopefully a government who had the people’s best interest at heart looking forward to the next instalment be it with Bill & co or with Corrie &Pete
Love this series and this book is no exception. Nice to meet a whole new crew and hopefully a government who had the people’s best interest at heart looking forward to the next instalment be it with Bill & co or with Corrie &Pete
April 22, 2019
Great story
As ever, Frank Tayell’s story grips from the start. Now we find out what was happening in Australia, during the early days of the outbreak. Can’t wait to find out what happens next!
As ever, Frank Tayell’s story grips from the start. Now we find out what was happening in Australia, during the early days of the outbreak. Can’t wait to find out what happens next!
April 17, 2019
Yet another amazing, gripping and all round action packed book from Frank Tayell!
April 22, 2019
It is amazing. Tayell has refreshed the whole series by going to another location and starting from the beginning of the outbreak from there. I absolutely love it when he does that!
April 25, 2019
Great series
Love this series and can’t wait for the next book to come out. A great story to read along with all the other books from Frank Tayell
Love this series and can’t wait for the next book to come out. A great story to read along with all the other books from Frank Tayell
March 25, 2024
Great characters and settings. I'm excited to see where the story goes and how this ends up fitting with the main series.
June 19, 2021
This was just another zombie apocalypse story which could have been okay but let down by a lack of either primary research or good editing. The story follows Pete the carpet salesman on an improbable journey to the Australian outback just before the release of a zombie virus that basically shuts down civilisation as we know it. My curiosity was piqued by the prospect of a zombie story in the outback and how it would play out.
It was all interesting enough and I could see that the author had probably visited those parts as a tourist but little things started to annoy. Lets get a few things straight. There are no wombats at Menindee. The saying is Fair Dinkum, not Dinkum oil. The military in Australia does not have any division known as Marines. There were plenty of other things that were just not right or likely and I found myself looking for errors rather than enjoying what was an okay sort of story.
I see this is part of a series so the aim was probably to tag onto an existing success story so the author was probably just looking for a new angle. I'm afraid that I won't be looking up the rest of the titles though based on this experience.
It was all interesting enough and I could see that the author had probably visited those parts as a tourist but little things started to annoy. Lets get a few things straight. There are no wombats at Menindee. The saying is Fair Dinkum, not Dinkum oil. The military in Australia does not have any division known as Marines. There were plenty of other things that were just not right or likely and I found myself looking for errors rather than enjoying what was an okay sort of story.
I see this is part of a series so the aim was probably to tag onto an existing success story so the author was probably just looking for a new angle. I'm afraid that I won't be looking up the rest of the titles though based on this experience.
March 4, 2024
I downloaded this on Kindle Unlimited.
I rated it 3.5, so gave it 4 on Amazon and 3 on here. It's a good 3.5, though!
Frank Tayell has written extensively about the same zombie apocalypse, a main series (Suviving The Evacuation) that started about ten years ago and is up to Book 21, and the other related collections, set in different places. Kind of like The Walking Dead with all its spin-offs!
This first book of the Surviving The Evacuation: Life Goes On series is set in Australia, in which a carpet salesman from Indiana called Pete Guinn goes on a mission to find his oddly elusive sister, where she works mending fences in the Outback. The events of the first chapters were labelled as '18 hours before the outbreak', etc - the suspense building even though Pete didn't know it! As well as breakdown of civilisation and the zombies, rich evil cartel type people provide Pete, Corrie and their friends yet more headaches.
I very much liked going back to the beginning of the apocalypse (I've only read up to about Book 8 of the original series), and enjoyed Pete's shock at the reality of trying to exist in the Outback, even before the zombies appear. It's a good story and I did like it, but my interest waned with the original because the characters' conversations became too information-dump-ish, as though the dialogue was being used as little more than a vehicle for giving information to the reader, rather than as an expression of character and development of the story, and I felt the same creeping in here. It results in the characters coming across a bit one-dimensional, particularly the women. This wasn't the case in the earlier books.
Anyway, I still liked it! Mr Tayell is a fine judge of pace, creator of plot, builder of suspense, etc - and, in case you ever read this, Frank, I laughed at this: 'He didn't know much about hotels, motels or any variation in between, but he knew carpet and the one beneath his feet was expensive. A hard-wearing, two-ply, eighty per cent wool mix with a polyester coating to ease cleaning.' I used to know a chap who sold carpets, and he was not dissimilar. We'd be watching telly and he'd point at the screen during a really dramatic scene, and say, "That's a nice bit of Worsted fibre bonded. Made by Danflor, if I'm not mistaken'.
I rated it 3.5, so gave it 4 on Amazon and 3 on here. It's a good 3.5, though!
Frank Tayell has written extensively about the same zombie apocalypse, a main series (Suviving The Evacuation) that started about ten years ago and is up to Book 21, and the other related collections, set in different places. Kind of like The Walking Dead with all its spin-offs!
This first book of the Surviving The Evacuation: Life Goes On series is set in Australia, in which a carpet salesman from Indiana called Pete Guinn goes on a mission to find his oddly elusive sister, where she works mending fences in the Outback. The events of the first chapters were labelled as '18 hours before the outbreak', etc - the suspense building even though Pete didn't know it! As well as breakdown of civilisation and the zombies, rich evil cartel type people provide Pete, Corrie and their friends yet more headaches.
I very much liked going back to the beginning of the apocalypse (I've only read up to about Book 8 of the original series), and enjoyed Pete's shock at the reality of trying to exist in the Outback, even before the zombies appear. It's a good story and I did like it, but my interest waned with the original because the characters' conversations became too information-dump-ish, as though the dialogue was being used as little more than a vehicle for giving information to the reader, rather than as an expression of character and development of the story, and I felt the same creeping in here. It results in the characters coming across a bit one-dimensional, particularly the women. This wasn't the case in the earlier books.
Anyway, I still liked it! Mr Tayell is a fine judge of pace, creator of plot, builder of suspense, etc - and, in case you ever read this, Frank, I laughed at this: 'He didn't know much about hotels, motels or any variation in between, but he knew carpet and the one beneath his feet was expensive. A hard-wearing, two-ply, eighty per cent wool mix with a polyester coating to ease cleaning.' I used to know a chap who sold carpets, and he was not dissimilar. We'd be watching telly and he'd point at the screen during a really dramatic scene, and say, "That's a nice bit of Worsted fibre bonded. Made by Danflor, if I'm not mistaken'.
May 17, 2019
Yet another instalment of Tayell’s prolific Surviving the Evacuation series, this time a sort of tie-in volume charting the initial viral outbreak in Australia. There are a few links to survivors in the U.K. and the storyline is being set up for many more I suspect. The worldwide conspiracy exposed in earlier volumes is also present, with the arch villain, billionaire Lisa Kendrick, asserting her power once again.
Carpet salesman Pete Guinn is suddenly plucked from his life in small town America and sent to find his estranged sister, a former employee of Kendrick, in the Australian interior. Just why she is in hiding is only partially explained. When the viral infection is unleashed in the States, it doesn’t take long for it to find it’s way to the Southern Hemisphere with arriving airline passengers.
This eclectic bunch of new characters have to deal with not only the severe outback heat but with criminal cartels, hitmen and, of course, the living dead.
A continuing tale that constantly leaves you wanting to know what happens next. Much in the way those Saturday morning cinema club Children’s Film Foundation series did in the 60s. Looking forward to the next volume.
Rob D
Carpet salesman Pete Guinn is suddenly plucked from his life in small town America and sent to find his estranged sister, a former employee of Kendrick, in the Australian interior. Just why she is in hiding is only partially explained. When the viral infection is unleashed in the States, it doesn’t take long for it to find it’s way to the Southern Hemisphere with arriving airline passengers.
This eclectic bunch of new characters have to deal with not only the severe outback heat but with criminal cartels, hitmen and, of course, the living dead.
A continuing tale that constantly leaves you wanting to know what happens next. Much in the way those Saturday morning cinema club Children’s Film Foundation series did in the 60s. Looking forward to the next volume.
Rob D
dnf
July 18, 2022The most uneventful blase take on a zombie outbreak. No one seems to think it’s a big deal. The actions everyone takes don’t make sense either. Why would the cop be so focused on why a billionaire sent a brother to reconnect with a sister in the middle of the end of the world rather than dealing with the zombies? People fleeing - to where? You’d think the Outback would be the safest place given its remoteness. Just utter nonsensical blather. And for the life of anything home STOP USING “SAID” as the only indicator. And it doesn’t have to be used every single time someone speaks. If you’re having a conversation between people you don’t need to indicate every single time. I was so bored by the absolute nothingness that happens I had to DNF this junk.
October 6, 2021
Finally a zombie story most of us can relate to
My secret weakness is zombie/ apocalypse stories. This is the best I have read on years. Pete is just a carpet salesman suddenly stuck in a nightmare. NOT a prepper, ex SEAL, or even ex military. Our of shape and overwhelmed but still plods on. To hit his zombies in the head on the fence, he has to stand 1 meter away. Forgets to check his ammo supply and even to reload! Just an everyman doing the best he can in a nightmare situation. Great read!!!!!!!!
My secret weakness is zombie/ apocalypse stories. This is the best I have read on years. Pete is just a carpet salesman suddenly stuck in a nightmare. NOT a prepper, ex SEAL, or even ex military. Our of shape and overwhelmed but still plods on. To hit his zombies in the head on the fence, he has to stand 1 meter away. Forgets to check his ammo supply and even to reload! Just an everyman doing the best he can in a nightmare situation. Great read!!!!!!!!
July 16, 2023
It was a fine book. Apparently is part of a bigger set of books. I wasn't interested in it enough to want to read the surrounding books. About halfway through I just stopped caring and had to push myself to finish the book. It was a short read, written pretty well. There is good action in the book but it feels pretty standard as far as zombie stories go. This other part of the plot had to do with the cartel and felt out of place. If it blended better I think the book would have been more interesting.
September 20, 2023
Not bad. Seemed like it could have used an editor or a better editor. It's an indie work. It had a side plot which is how the apocalypse started but after it was clear things had gotten out of hand the plotline was still being followed with no clear reason as to why. It was a fine zombie story but there weren't any new ideas like Girl With All The Gifts or Monster Island both of which were pretty unique for the genre. This was standard zombie fare. But I'm a sucker for zombie stories so I did enjoy it.
April 26, 2019
I pre-ordered this book, but put off reading it as an Aussie I have seen so many authors make a hash of anything to do with Australia, Huge wonderful surprise, this was slick fast-paced and besides the fact we do not have sheep ranches lol he even handled the Australian slang perfectly, something some might consider easy when in fact 99% make a complete hash of.
Well done, I so hope more exploring with this group will happen and look forward to the next.
Well done, I so hope more exploring with this group will happen and look forward to the next.
July 9, 2019
Outback Outbreak takes the Evacuation series to the other side of the world in Broken Hill, Australia. The story starts a couple of days before the initial outbreak in Manhattan and features the first appearance of the mysterious Lisa Kempton. The new principal characters whilst seemingly new, have links to Sholto and members of the former Anglesey community. A good addition to the story and the expanding "Evacuation" universe and an early entry for the Cartel.
June 28, 2021
The plot of the story is twisty and enjoyable enough as a zombie novel. You get what you expect! I found the characters all fairly bland, however. They all speak with the same sort of voice and there is never a point or conflict among them. There is rarely a surprise (character wise) or interesting piece of character development. As a result I found the story rather bland as a whole. It is very readable, and a good quick mindless sort of read.
February 16, 2022
Another good zombie book
I have been extremely lucky lately. Every Zombie book I have obtained has been very enjoyable reads. I am amazed that with all the books I read? The authors have new ways to describe the few similar situations. They also come with varied characters. This one brings in a conspiracy theory that is fun. I will continue with this series and hope the unanswered questions will be resolved.
I have been extremely lucky lately. Every Zombie book I have obtained has been very enjoyable reads. I am amazed that with all the books I read? The authors have new ways to describe the few similar situations. They also come with varied characters. This one brings in a conspiracy theory that is fun. I will continue with this series and hope the unanswered questions will be resolved.
May 29, 2019
Having read the other 15 books I felt this book lacked a little something maybe the storline was a little thin , I enjoyed looking at the places mentioned in the book on Google maps and there were a few links into the earlier books that appealed to me, but not sure I would read another one based on this new series.
July 8, 2022
I really, really enjoyed this! A great British zombie end of the world! I liked it all, the main character & the ideas & general plot line! A really good, well written & thought out apocalyptic adventure! A little different which is great if you read quite a bit of zombie stories! I hope to read more in this series & do recommend! You will not be disappointed!
March 21, 2023
Horrifyingly believable vision of the outbreak
From the mundane to inevitable end of the world,the story is entwined around two very believable ordinary people with some very unordinary bad guys, politics and money that in the end adds danger but becomes meaningless as everything falls apart.
From the mundane to inevitable end of the world,the story is entwined around two very believable ordinary people with some very unordinary bad guys, politics and money that in the end adds danger but becomes meaningless as everything falls apart.
May 24, 2019
Outback outbreak
It was good to get back to Tayell's zombie apocalypse. An entirely new group of people but still a familiarity to make you invested in their story. Now there are two more locations I'm needing to know what's happening. Once again, can't wait for the next book.
It was good to get back to Tayell's zombie apocalypse. An entirely new group of people but still a familiarity to make you invested in their story. Now there are two more locations I'm needing to know what's happening. Once again, can't wait for the next book.
June 23, 2019
Likeable new characters, but much less in the way of terror and revelation; we get another jigsaw piece in the way of Lisa Kempton and what came before but it’s very much tell rather than show. Still. V readable. Three stars.
June 27, 2019
Great addition to the series
Great to see what was happening elsewhere in the world while the first London and America books were happening.
Likeable characters - well written, looking forward to the next one.
Great to see what was happening elsewhere in the world while the first London and America books were happening.
Likeable characters - well written, looking forward to the next one.
June 29, 2019
Worth the wait!!
A fantastic read as always. Brilliant storyline, relatable characters, amazing attention to detail, as always.
I'm looking forward to reading more about Pete and Corrie
A fantastic read as always. Brilliant storyline, relatable characters, amazing attention to detail, as always.
I'm looking forward to reading more about Pete and Corrie
September 7, 2019
Brilliant.
Was worried that I would not be able to get into this new branch of the series. It wasn't a problem. Characters well described, and got into it quickly. Enjoyed it immensely, awaiting the next installment,!
Was worried that I would not be able to get into this new branch of the series. It wasn't a problem. Characters well described, and got into it quickly. Enjoyed it immensely, awaiting the next installment,!
May 2, 2020
A new location and some semi-new characters, demonstrating the truly global nature of the pandemic. Interesting to see another dimension of the conspiracy in more detail, looking forward to the next one.
April 5, 2021
The End Of Life As We Know It
Set mainly in Australia this a march of the undead with a vengeance and with a small group of survivors fighting against tremendous odds with the threat that they pose.
Les than credible in many aspects, it does however provide some entertainment.
Set mainly in Australia this a march of the undead with a vengeance and with a small group of survivors fighting against tremendous odds with the threat that they pose.
Les than credible in many aspects, it does however provide some entertainment.
May 26, 2021
Billionaire Lisa can't hire helicopter to dog fence ?
Billionaire Lisa can't hire helicopter to dog fence ?
Telegraph poles ?!?!
Carked?
Telephone poles = utility poles. Telephone line run under electric lines.
Billionaire Lisa can't hire helicopter to dog fence ?
Telegraph poles ?!?!
Carked?
Telephone poles = utility poles. Telephone line run under electric lines.
June 27, 2021
Outback Outbreak
Good mixture of suspense and zombies starting in Australia which I know nothing about. I am interested enough to read on. Found it to be well written and maintained the interest.
Good mixture of suspense and zombies starting in Australia which I know nothing about. I am interested enough to read on. Found it to be well written and maintained the interest.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews