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Autumn: The London Trilogy #1
Autumn: Dawn
WELCOME TO LONDON
Population seven million • 99.9% of them dead • the survival of the rest balanced on a knife-edge
THE WORLD IS DEAD
Two months ago, billions of people were killed by a deadly germ. Days later, they rose up again in massive numbers. Since then, cities worldwide have become corpse-filled, rat-infested, germ-choked hellholes.
A group of people are trapped in central London, hopelessly outnumbered by the dead. They hear rumours of a safe haven in the north – a self-sufficient community where people from across the country have gathered to try and rebuild their lives. But the decaying ruins of the capital are vast and sprawling, and they’re going to need an army to get away from this place.
There are other people here, waiting in the shadows to be found. Can enough of them band together to make a difference, or has the country – maybe even the entire world – already been lost to the dead?
The first book in a new trilogy set in the nightmare world of David Moody's international best-selling AUTUMN series.
PRAISE FOR THE AUTUMN SERIES:
“As demonstrated throughout his previous novels, readers should crown Moody king of the zombie horror novel” —Booklist
“The best survival horror since Richard Matheson's I am Legend.” —Wayne Simmons, Author of FLU and PLASTIC JESUS
“If you only read one book this year, read AUTUMN.” —Suspense Magazine
“By the end of the book, you will be waiting impatiently for the next instalment.” —Dread Central
Population seven million • 99.9% of them dead • the survival of the rest balanced on a knife-edge
THE WORLD IS DEAD
Two months ago, billions of people were killed by a deadly germ. Days later, they rose up again in massive numbers. Since then, cities worldwide have become corpse-filled, rat-infested, germ-choked hellholes.
A group of people are trapped in central London, hopelessly outnumbered by the dead. They hear rumours of a safe haven in the north – a self-sufficient community where people from across the country have gathered to try and rebuild their lives. But the decaying ruins of the capital are vast and sprawling, and they’re going to need an army to get away from this place.
There are other people here, waiting in the shadows to be found. Can enough of them band together to make a difference, or has the country – maybe even the entire world – already been lost to the dead?
The first book in a new trilogy set in the nightmare world of David Moody's international best-selling AUTUMN series.
PRAISE FOR THE AUTUMN SERIES:
“As demonstrated throughout his previous novels, readers should crown Moody king of the zombie horror novel” —Booklist
“The best survival horror since Richard Matheson's I am Legend.” —Wayne Simmons, Author of FLU and PLASTIC JESUS
“If you only read one book this year, read AUTUMN.” —Suspense Magazine
“By the end of the book, you will be waiting impatiently for the next instalment.” —Dread Central
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 31, 2021
138 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
David Moody
77 books1,257 followersDavid Moody first released Hater in 2006, and without an agent, succeeded in selling the film rights for the novel to Mark Johnson (producer, Breaking Bad) and Guillermo Del Toro (director, The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth). Moody's seminal zombie novel Autumn was made into a movie starring Dexter Fletcher and David Carradine. He has an unhealthy fascination with the end of the world and likes to write books about ordinary folks going through absolute hell. With the publication of continuing Hater and Autumn stories, Moody has cemented his reputation as a writer of suspense-laced SF/horror, and "farther out" genre books of all description.
Find out more about his work at www.davidmoody.net and www.infectedbooks.co.uk, and join Moody's mailing list to keep up with new releases.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 21, 2022
David Moody never disappoints, and 'Autumn: Dawn' is one fantastic start to the Autumn: London Trilogy. The characters are all interesting and dynamic. While there is a lot of zombie action, you really get to know the characters - their anguish, plights, and determination to survive at all costs.
Narrator Aubrey Parsons really gives you the sense of being in England as he voices all the characters with his delightful English accent. He also does a tremendous job bringing the plot to life - making it easy to visualize every detail in my imagination.
Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys the zombie genre and would like to try something very clever and different from the norm. Looking forward to beginning book #2, 'Autumn: Inferno' soon.
Narrator Aubrey Parsons really gives you the sense of being in England as he voices all the characters with his delightful English accent. He also does a tremendous job bringing the plot to life - making it easy to visualize every detail in my imagination.
Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys the zombie genre and would like to try something very clever and different from the norm. Looking forward to beginning book #2, 'Autumn: Inferno' soon.
January 6, 2023
3ish? No worries. It's Moody. It will only get better.
August 23, 2021
David Moody’s AUTUMN: DAWN breathes new life into my favorite undead series.
In the grisly world of AUTUMN, a deadly germ strikes 99.9% of the population dead in their tracks. The dazed and shocked survivors struggle to make sense of it, some of them grouping together for comfort and survival and to try to keep hope alive. Then the dead rise from where they fell. Rotting and feral, they are attracted to the living, creating a new threat of total extinction.
I was totally impressed with Moody’s vision of an undead world back in the 2000s. He gave the undead a totally originally spin, not the least of which was by focusing heavily on character and realistically portraying the horrifying physical and emotional landscape of a world filled with zombies. His zombies are truly horrible, practically rotting off the page. His characters have a strained, stubborn agency, remarkable not for any heroic qualities but simply because they’re able to function and fight among so much horror and hopelessness.
Enter AUTUMN: DAWN, the start of a new trilogy to extend the series. This time, the setting is London, where there are plenty of survivors but the dead number in the millions. A community of people have gathered and find themselves under siege. A short distance away, another group has formed, though it might as well be on the Moon. And other survivors wait in the shadows. Can they unite and survive among an ocean of feral undead? Can they hold out and survive in London? Or will they strike out of the city to an alleged sanctuary up north?
The first book delivers everything you want in a Moody novel, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to the second.
In the grisly world of AUTUMN, a deadly germ strikes 99.9% of the population dead in their tracks. The dazed and shocked survivors struggle to make sense of it, some of them grouping together for comfort and survival and to try to keep hope alive. Then the dead rise from where they fell. Rotting and feral, they are attracted to the living, creating a new threat of total extinction.
I was totally impressed with Moody’s vision of an undead world back in the 2000s. He gave the undead a totally originally spin, not the least of which was by focusing heavily on character and realistically portraying the horrifying physical and emotional landscape of a world filled with zombies. His zombies are truly horrible, practically rotting off the page. His characters have a strained, stubborn agency, remarkable not for any heroic qualities but simply because they’re able to function and fight among so much horror and hopelessness.
Enter AUTUMN: DAWN, the start of a new trilogy to extend the series. This time, the setting is London, where there are plenty of survivors but the dead number in the millions. A community of people have gathered and find themselves under siege. A short distance away, another group has formed, though it might as well be on the Moon. And other survivors wait in the shadows. Can they unite and survive among an ocean of feral undead? Can they hold out and survive in London? Or will they strike out of the city to an alleged sanctuary up north?
The first book delivers everything you want in a Moody novel, and now I’m eagerly looking forward to the second.
May 31, 2021
Autumn: Dawn is technically the seventh book in David Moody’s Autumn series; however, it runs parallel with book one, with a completely new cast of characters. Moody has created a fantastic world with the Autumn series, filled with so many different stories to tell.
What sets Autumn: Dawn apart from the other books in the series is that this one is set in the heart of London, a hugely diverse city with an extremely dense population. This just ups the ante on the Autumn concept where 99.9% of the population suddenly dies and comes back looking for blood.
At first, I had problems connecting with Autumn: Dawn. The story didn’t revolve around one protagonist for me to connect with; this book was a complete cast of ever-changing focal points, much like what I imagine a city like London must be like. This story isn’t about any one character, the city is the protagonist; the characters simply personify different aspects of it. Moody reveals the good, bad, ugly and beauty of the city.
As I kept reading, the story built up steam like a double-decker bus rolling down a hill. I found my place amongst this city teaming with death and decay. Moody is a master of detailing the hordes, while at the same time keeping them nondescript. After all, the story is never about them, it is about us and what we do when faced with a mass of decaying undead.
What sets Autumn: Dawn apart from the other books in the series is that this one is set in the heart of London, a hugely diverse city with an extremely dense population. This just ups the ante on the Autumn concept where 99.9% of the population suddenly dies and comes back looking for blood.
At first, I had problems connecting with Autumn: Dawn. The story didn’t revolve around one protagonist for me to connect with; this book was a complete cast of ever-changing focal points, much like what I imagine a city like London must be like. This story isn’t about any one character, the city is the protagonist; the characters simply personify different aspects of it. Moody reveals the good, bad, ugly and beauty of the city.
As I kept reading, the story built up steam like a double-decker bus rolling down a hill. I found my place amongst this city teaming with death and decay. Moody is a master of detailing the hordes, while at the same time keeping them nondescript. After all, the story is never about them, it is about us and what we do when faced with a mass of decaying undead.
August 12, 2021
A fantastic and highly anticipated follow up to the original Autumn series. It did not dissapoint!
I loved the new characters, which were from all walks of life and so diverse, as we've come to expect from Moody.
I love the Britishness of this series and how meticulously planned out the routes around London are. This is well thought out from beginning to end.
Don't even get me started on the final 3rd! My heart was in my throat for about 50 pages!
Literally could not put it down.
A triumphant return to the zombie genre.
I loved the new characters, which were from all walks of life and so diverse, as we've come to expect from Moody.
I love the Britishness of this series and how meticulously planned out the routes around London are. This is well thought out from beginning to end.
Don't even get me started on the final 3rd! My heart was in my throat for about 50 pages!
Literally could not put it down.
A triumphant return to the zombie genre.
June 2, 2023
I would love to read the rest of this trilogy
December 16, 2022
Autumn Dawn By David Moody
A new book and announced trilogy in the Autumn series from the master of this genre.
A strong start to a new trilogy with the setting My beloved London, If you have read his previous works you know what to expect if you haven't your in for a wild ride.
The writing is on point with all the set pieces superbly executed some new interesting characters to cheer for.
Moody returns to the start of the plague and tells the story of those that have survived in the city of London and there attempts at survival in the opening few weeks of the madness that the world has become.
I look FWD. to what he has in store for all our new survivors.
A new book and announced trilogy in the Autumn series from the master of this genre.
A strong start to a new trilogy with the setting My beloved London, If you have read his previous works you know what to expect if you haven't your in for a wild ride.
The writing is on point with all the set pieces superbly executed some new interesting characters to cheer for.
Moody returns to the start of the plague and tells the story of those that have survived in the city of London and there attempts at survival in the opening few weeks of the madness that the world has become.
I look FWD. to what he has in store for all our new survivors.
October 5, 2021
I absolutely love this author! I'm very glad to have returned to the Autumn world once more with this book. A good mix of characters and excellent storytelling. If you've enjoyed this book and haven't already read the original Autumn series, I highly recommend them. (You don't have to have read any other Autumn book, this is the start of a whole new trilogy, with no character crossover from previous books, it just happens to be set during the same worldwide "situation"). Looking forward to reading the next instalment.
June 8, 2021
Moody returns to his undead creation that is Autumn. This time its been after a good few years absence and in that time Moody, as a writer, has matured and improved from his initial indie hit; his writing is more potent, his characters better defined and the book, a first in a trilogy set in London, feels tightly plotted & nips along at a good old pace. There's a dark humour underpinning the whole thing that only can be done by the Brits, though that's not the only thing that makes Autumn unique. In this universe a large amount of the human population drop down dead and the few living survivors are lulled into a false sense of calm until the dead rise. This quiet before the storm always stuck with me in the first Autumn and years on it still feels like an original and unique concept.
No prior knowledge of Moody's Autumn series is required and I pre-ordered this thing on Kindle for four quid, books shouldn't be judged by on price but it's worth mentioning as I reckon you'd be stuck to find something else of the same calibre this year in the genre. Recommended reading for undead junkies or anyone that has been looking forward to a good horror novel set in the UK.
No prior knowledge of Moody's Autumn series is required and I pre-ordered this thing on Kindle for four quid, books shouldn't be judged by on price but it's worth mentioning as I reckon you'd be stuck to find something else of the same calibre this year in the genre. Recommended reading for undead junkies or anyone that has been looking forward to a good horror novel set in the UK.
August 23, 2021
Having enjoyed the Autumn series I was delighted to discover that David Moody had written another series, this time based in London, starting in the same time period as the original series. I did like the brief mention of the covid outbreak, which may have been put in to placate newbies to the world of Autumn or to annoy fans of the series. Either way it made me smile.
Fans of David Moody, like myself, will love this. For those not familiar, treat yourself to a new gory twist in zombies.
Fans of David Moody, like myself, will love this. For those not familiar, treat yourself to a new gory twist in zombies.
October 27, 2021
It's good to be back to David Moody's world of post-apocalyptic England. Of course, after COVID-19 it's somewhat scarier.
July 2, 2021
Love this book series. I was so bummed when I finished the original series. When I received an email saying that there was a new book out, I ordered it right away. This one takes place in the heart of London, and after Covid.
November 1, 2021
~Disclaimer: I received a free audiobook copy of this book. ~
Fans of the Autumn series won’t be disappointed
I was excited to get my hands on the new addition to the Autumn zombie universe. David Moody was one of my earlier forays into zombie novels. Which means, I’m familiar with the zombie world this story is set in. However, don’t take this to mean that the story assumes you know. In multiple perspectives the early days of the zombiefication are observed. The different reactions to the slow changes of the zombies and the world the survivors found themselves in were varied and realistic. You aren’t following a singular protagonist; rather you get to view the story from different viewpoints and life experiences. You don’t have to have read the previous books, but why not do so if you have time?
David Moody continues to describe the gory reality of this new world with detailed descriptions. The zombies are a fitting horror and the setting of London is a solid setting (advantages and disadvantages are addressed).
The narrator does an amazing job of bringing this story to life. I very much enjoyed listening to this story.
Read
December 9, 2025David Moody’s novel, Autumn Dawn, is a solid zombie story set in London after an outbreak that killed 99.9 percent of the population. In a city as vast as London, that’s a lot of dead - or undead. The living band together in small groups, gathering supplies and comfort as they can, while contemplating whether they should stay put or seek a reported community up North.
July 5, 2021
Brilliant
I read the original trilogy a while back and really enjoyed it this book is just as enjoyable may not be the longest of books but the author sets a brilliant pace which makes the book feel like the perfect length awesome for anyone who is a zombie fan
I read the original trilogy a while back and really enjoyed it this book is just as enjoyable may not be the longest of books but the author sets a brilliant pace which makes the book feel like the perfect length awesome for anyone who is a zombie fan
December 26, 2021
“No medication or masks or social distancing would have made a single iota or difference this time around. You got it or you didn’t; you died on the spot or you were spared.”
I always enjoy David Moody’s zombie/apocalyptic reads. I personally prefer the series before this more but I still liked this!
I always enjoy David Moody’s zombie/apocalyptic reads. I personally prefer the series before this more but I still liked this!
March 2, 2023
Not up to his normal standard
I've enjoyed Mr Moody's other books, but in this one he's managed to make the zombies boring and the actions of the characters are implausible.
I've enjoyed Mr Moody's other books, but in this one he's managed to make the zombies boring and the actions of the characters are implausible.
March 15, 2023
Many talk this book up. London is small and the places iconic. Brit zombie authors use the same ones in the same ways. I see no reason to Perdue the other books
Read
March 17, 2023Ripper of a read. A fast ride into the Zombie apocolypse. A great start to the ending trilogy of Davids Autumn series.
October 3, 2023
3.5 stars !!!
Starts well then gets a bit boring in the middle but picks up in 5th gear in the last 80-100 pages.
Starts well then gets a bit boring in the middle but picks up in 5th gear in the last 80-100 pages.
September 24, 2024
I wanted to love this more than I did but it was just the same as many others I’ve read. Saying that it was well written and a decent read just not what I was wanting from it.
July 21, 2025
Strong characters and a huge sense of place. This one kept me hooked and immediately moving to the next book.
June 30, 2025
Even by zombie standard, pretty poor. Far too many adjectives. Boring people and even more boring zombies.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews