Zombie Britannica

by Thomas Emson

In 2009, Canadian researchers warned that a zombie plague would wipe out civilization unless we were ready. We weren't!

As temperatures reach unprecedented levels, the dead rise and eat the living. There is no warning. There is no time to prepare. And with tens of thousands dead or infected, another waking nightmare comes to terrorize the survivors.

As the nation teeters on the edge of extinction, those who survived the onslaught fight for their lives, and for the lives of their loved ones ?

CARRIE ASHER must battle her way across the blood-soaked streets of London to save her six-year-old daughter who is locked in the basement of their home ? with her zombie-infected father upstairs.

VINCENT MASKELL is trapped in a Welsh castle with the girl he loves. But how can he be her knight in shining armour with a zombie army besieging the medieval fort and the humans inside slowly losing their minds?

CRAIG MURRAY and his family are stuck in a traffic jam in Scotland when the zombies attack. But when his younger sister is kidnapped, he is forced to confront a human monster as well as the undead hordes.The odds are against us. The zombie throng is growing. Our numbers are dwindling.

WELCOME TO ZOMBIE BRITANNICA

Genres: Zombies, Horror, Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction, British Literature, London

440 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

Thomas Emson is a British horror author. He has written eight novels, all published by Snowbooks in the UK. They include Maneater, Skarlet, and Zombie Brittanica. His Jack The Ripper novel Pariah was published by Tantor Media in the U.S.
His collection of stories The Trees And Other Stories was published on Kindle and CreateSpace. He has also written How To Write A Novel In 6 Months, a how-to guide for would-be novelists, which is available on Amazon.
He is represented by Mariam Keen at the Whispering Buffalo Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Iris Post · Rating 2 out of 5]

the characters were very flat and the plot was too monotonous and the writing was too average

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked Skarlet by Mr Emson so decided to give Zombie Britannica a go when I happened to be putting stock out at work. Now I am only really starting to read horror - its not a genre I really thought I would like, but this was amazing. I guess as I haven't read anything like this before I have nothing to compare it with but it gave me everything I wanted; thrills, edge of your seat suspense, action and relationships - people discovering themselves, heroism, life and death situations and apocolyptic world.

So Zombie Britannica - your are introduced with Carrie (one fo the main characters in this book) who is working at Westminster Abbey as a cleaner when hundreds of people...or what look like people rush in and start attacking everyone, and not just attacking but biting and eating and ripping to shreds anyone they can find. So ensues a run for your life story. But its not that simple. You don't just follow one character ,there are about three main characters and their battle to survive in 'Zombie Britannica' as it is coined in the book. You have Craig and his family - Craig a 15 year old youth who has been on the wrong side of the tracks most of his life, due to his poor parenting (alcoholic and abusive father, and a mother who deserted her first born and resents her husband)going on a family holiday to spain, only to be attacked in traffic by thousands upon thousands of dead things.
You also have Vincent - living in Anglesey and smitten for a girl, trying to impress her with the Beaumois castle, to then become trapped ad afraid with hords of zombies attack the island and mainland, swarming over and eating everything in sight.

If that wasn't bad enough, Carrie's daughter Mya weas at home with her father, and Carrie is desperate to get backand save her. Craigs sister Sam is snatched by a sick man called Art, intent on raping her, and Vincent, in his bid to save Holly and the others trapped is forced to see them slowly be picked off by Zombies and for humans to kill humans, because 'God' said so.

This book was amazing. Very similar to The Enemy by Charlie Higson, but this was for adults and focusing on older characters. And things take a turn for the worse, if that is even possible...those that are bitten or mauled to death rise again as Zombies, so soon it isn't just the dead, dead but the new dead, millions out to get the remaining survivors in the safe areas..but they aren't safe.

The proofing errors were fewer, but there were some that just niggled me because they were just SO simple to spot. But overall very impressed. He also didn't hesitate in killing main characters off, which is alwyas a shock but makes everything unknown. Sawyer, a very central character in Carrie being able to find her daughter is fine and there and heroic, and perfect (I actually would loved to have met him in that situation lol)and then the last page, he confesses that hje has been bitten, that he has been changing and Carries hope to survive with him and her daughter are shattered, and she is left to fend for them on her own. Just when she accepts that she loves him for who he is...yes the situation helped but still, it was emant to be. I cried a little because he was just so good.

But I don't want to keep going, its meant to be a review!

Thomas Emson in my personal opinion excelled himself with this book, the suspense, the situation the detail, everything, from the situations people got into to the attitudes of those who survived....especially those in the castle. Not to mention the new cults forming. It was believeable and very enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Not to mention the characters were strong, they developed and what they were felt real and substantial not flakey and unrelatable. Very well done! It also left me wanting more...but could there really be another...its Zombie Britannica and those still alive have little hope of surviving much longer....

[Celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a great page-turner! Zombie Britannica starts with Carrie, who discovers that there's a zombie outbreak in London. The rest of the book describes the different main characters and their battle against the zombies. I really loved the story, because it was action-packed and creepy at the same time. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed by the ending of the book: it was too abrupt for me. Another downside were the typos in this book: there were a lot of sentences without punctuation marks, which was really annoying. I'd have given this book 4 stars if there weren't so many typos and if the ending wouldn't have been so abrupt.

[Shaitarn · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the back cover:

In 2009, Canadian researchers warned that a zombie plague would wipe out civilization... unless we were ready -
We weren't
As temperatures reach unprecedented levels, the dead rise - and eat the living. There is no warning. There is no time to prepare. And with tens of thousands dead or infected, another waking nightmare comes to terrorize the survivors -
The undead's victims rise up, a new wave of zombies hungry for human flesh

This zombie tale sets firmly in the 'horror' category, not urban fantasy. If you like your non-humans to be cute and sparkly or potential love interest, look away now - you will not enjoy this book. We are not dealing with conscious, self-aware undead filled with angst or bad-boy cool here - instead this is a story of ordinary people trying to survive the hell of living corpses clawing their way out of the grave and trying to eat them.

Like almost any zombie film you may have seen, it is bloody, it is violent and it is visceral (quite literally); people are eaten alive, and the author spares no punches in his description. The human involved are no heroes or secret agents with heavy weaponry or special powers: they're just ordinary people caught in a really shitty situation.

Another thing I appreciated was this book being set in the UK - it may be masochistic to appreciate a book this horrific being set in your own country, but it was nice having areas I can relate to - the commuters trapped on a tube train driving back and forth with zombies clinging to the outside and the undead thronging the streets of London resonated with me in a way that books set in the US or Canada just don't: I've been there so I could picture exactly how it looks.

Some people will probably dislike the author's writing style: Emson writes in big bold flourishes: his characters are drawn with broad strokes that possibly border on caricature at times: there's not much subtle nuance here, and people who prefer more complex, involved characters may well be disappointed. And one final word of caution: there may not be a happy ending for everyone...

I'm giving it 3 and a bit stars. It was very nearly 4 but not quite.

[Romi || Romi Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Zombie Britannica volgen we een aantal mensen tijdens een zombie apocalyps. Op een bloedhete dag wordt Groot-Brittannië uit het niets belaagd door duizenden zombies. Ze zijn overal en ze hebben honger. Ontsnappen is vrijwel onmogelijk.

Ik hou ontzettend van dystopieën en verhalen rondom een mogelijke apocalyps. Zo ook van zombieverhalen. Wie weet op welke plaats je je bevindt wanneer een zombieplaag toeslaat en waar, maar vooral met wíe, je vast komt te zitten op die plek. Voor wie weet hoe lange tijd! Niet alleen het spannende effect wat automatisch bij wezens zoals zombies naar voren komt, maakt het voor mij leuk om te lezen. Vooral de psychologie van de mens interesseert mij op zulke momenten: mensen gaan zich anders gedragen. Hoe zou ik mij gaan gedragen?

Ondanks dat Zombie Britannica een heel vermakelijk verhaal was, voelde het toch alsof ik iets miste. Ik denk dat dat 'iets' vooral wat meer diepgang was. De emoties van de hoofdpersonages kwamen niet zo hard bij me aan als ik gehoopt had. Ook had ik wat meer willen zien van hoe het na een paar dagen was geweest. Het hele boek heeft een tijdspanne van slechts één dag. Heel knap - het gaat om een boek van meer dan 400 pagina's - maar de hoofdpersonages hoefden nog niet écht te overleven.

Desalniettemin was Zombie Britannica een leuk boek om te lezen in oktober. Het is zeker een aanrader om te lezen tijdens Halloween!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, there's absolutely no build-up with this book, we're straight into the zombie flesh-munching action from the word go, and it never really lets up. We are told the stories of a few survivors from various locations around the UK, some of whom are connected with one another.

Characterisations were wonderful, some characters were utterly loathsome, some flawed, but who ultimately redeem themselves through heroics and self-sacrifice, others well-intentioned but weak, and some actually more terrifying than the hungry zombie hordes - a very real and detailed demonstration of how the worst aspects of humanity flourish in times of crisis and societal breakdown. In fact, if there is ever a zombie-apocalypse type situation, I'm factoring that into my contingency plan - avoid most other humans!

Although not the most original premise ever, and a little disappointed at the lack of a definite conclusion (though I suppose this paves the way for a sequel), the excellent characters and detail given of fraught, tension-inducing situations more than makes up for it. I hungrily anticipate reading more of Emson's work ...

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say if this is anything to go by I will definately be reading the rest of Emsons novels!
As previous reviews have stated the book throws you straight into the action. There is no chance to know the characters in their normal lives before the zombie apocalypse. The story follows survivors who are dotted in various locations around Britain, their stories intertwine at points and each group have traumatic experiences and try to survive them. I love the fact that the characters were not perfect, they all had their flaws. Some of the characters made me extremely angry and some were utterly disgusting. The fact that my feelings for these characters were so extreme speaks volumes about how the author created them and moulded them into heroes and despicable humans you would never want to meet. The only disappointment I felt was that the link between Carrie and her mother was never followed up or linked any more than the reader realising the link. I think this book is a must read for zombie fans and anyone who like myself has their zombie apocalypse survival plan clearly etched in their minds!

[Vicki Warby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would've had 4 stars if there wasn't about a billion typos in this book!! So frustrating!

[Pirkko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

eview and General Opinion
As you know I love zombie books so When I find a new one I want to read it. This one has been sitting on my desk for almost a year. Unfortunaly the book wasn't that great. Why? Well there are several flaws that I will come back later.

Spoilers inside
In this tale we follow three main characters. Vincent in Wales, Carrie in England and Craig in Scotland. Each one is related in some way (check the name list). Carrie battles through the street of london to save his daughter. Vicent is trapped in a castle in wales with the girl he loves and must coop with zombies outside and crazy people inside and finally Craig a problematic kid who are stuck in a traffic jam and when his baby sister is kidnap by a crazy human he must battle himself, humans and the undead. This sound good but the concretization of the novel was not that good. So what fail?

When the zombies enter the fray right from the first chapter they hit so hard that humans start dwinling rapidly. Each chapter (all 80 of them) change from one character to another. They each try to coup with the adversities thrown to them be that zombies or other humans. Vincent tries to save himself and his girlfriend and after several incidents featuring zombies and some crazy fanatics he leads them to the sea to a boat. But unfortunally his sweetheart is transformed into a zombie and the book ends in a clinfhanger as she is currently transforming into a zombie inside a ship. Carrie with the help of a noawadays knight that could have been taken out from a XIII world tries to help her rescue her child. They battle zombies, a group of kids who are playing "Sacrifice-a-person-to-a-zombie-and-laugh-out-loud", and even a bunch of religious fanatics who imprisions them. After many battles mainly won they arrive at the house where she kills her dead-husband and saves his young girl. Meanwhile she is saving her child she have sex with her knight (who does it when all hell is breaking loose?) They hide inside a house as the army battles the zombies. They fvck as the battle is going on... (Talk about disturbed minds). After leaving the city the knights reveals that he is changing to a zombie and mother and child are trapped inside a church with zombies outside. Another clifhanger. The third character is a problematic kid with no regard to humankind or property. To me that's not problematic because this character should be the more fun to read but the author doesn't do a good work. This boy and his family are trapped in a motorway and after the rescue by a truck driver they escape the zombies. when he and his sister climb to the truck to ride there (Which father and mother would let that) they are kidnapped. He beats him and take the girl. After some adversities the boy arrives where the truckdriver his and after releases some zombies and his sister. The zombies take care of the humans and they escape to find their mother with a group of survivors. Between these story we get a view into the mother and father of Craig.
In the end we left with two cliffhangers and one half close story.

Criticism
- All of this happened in one day (remmember this)
- Within several minutes the zombies start sweeping across Britain. Interesting was that no warning was given and they seem to arrive everywhere, all at once
- After a couple of hours there was talk of forced breeding, acts of brutality, religiou fervour and cannibalism. It's a propestorous the situation. I Know they are some crazed people but it's too much.
- One character is so desperate to cross London to get to her child, she gets into a car with people who are clearly violent cannibal rapists. And every scenario she makes the a lethal choice, only to be rescued by a criminal guy with a Knight Syndrome.
- The stupidity of all characters. No redeemable characters.
- Psycological was very, very bad. The author clearly think so low of humans that he gave that way. People not believing what is happening, yes that can be. Religious fervour, yes. Cannibalistic person after two hours.. nope. Talks of cross-breeding after two hours.. no. Sex as battle rages on and as they are in a quest to find the daughter.. No. (I believe that people whould act very differently from what they are normally but there is a limit of course. Maybe after days of more time there could be some thoughts that I said before but not after one hour or two).
- Link to the above. Apart from the main characters (and Gavin the gay guy from wales) nobody seems to be thinking straight and only thinking about their escape?
- Every kind of stereotypes from other zombie novels are presented here. This was like a russian salad (that's the name?)
- Huge plot holes. If the main characters know that a zombie bite turns into a zombie why leaving them with them? Why does Vincent leave Holly in the back with only a half-turn zombie behind her? WHAT? Who does that? The justification is "He doesn't want to other group members to find that he is favour her..." What a heck man?
- People in an impregnable castle open the doors... WHAT? WHY? Not once but several times... They deserved to die!

Good Things
- The zombie idea that the sun gives them strenght and the night makes them letarghic. But a not so good thing is the skeleton guys... they are not zombies after centuries and centuries.
- Nobody can say that the book wasn't fast paced. Because it was.
- The first line as it says that this was based on a scientific warning. Very nice.
- Lord of the flies meet Mad Max meets Zombie movie
- The last chapter from the point of view of holly as she turns into a zombie.
- Some Lines like "Bert: This happen very often in england? - Vincent: We're not in England - Bert: PAh like it's important... (This happens a lot in portugal as they confuse with Spain).
- The mother of craig as all mayhem unfolds around her she tells to the husband " Stop swearing in front of the children". Who says that in that situation? - Another line "They must be kids on drungs" (As she tells the zombies attack the cars and people)

Cast
Scotland

Carrie Asher
Boyd - Husband of Carrie & Brother of Vincent - Zombie - Killed by Carrie.
Mya - Daugter of Boyd and Carrie
Sawyer - Knight & Robber - Turn to Zombie
Daddy - Robber - Turn to Zombie
Sonny - Robber - Turn to Zombie
Kaylee - Gang Victim (dead by policeman)

Wales
Vincent (brother of Boyd)
Holly - girlfriend of Vincent - Turn to zombie by Roger
Oswyn - castle supervisor - Escaped Castle (Presumly dead)
Bert - Typical american - Turn to Zombie
Patty ( Typical Devout American Christian ) wife of bert - Turn to zombie
Gavin (gay) lost it's partner - Turn to zombie
Andrew - killed - Dead
Penny - Turn to zombie,
Roger - Turn to zombie in the sewers - Dead
Simon -bodybuilder bit by Andrew - Dead

Scotland
Craig Murray - Troublemaker
Samantha - Sister of Craig
Art - Driver, Cannibal (?) kidnapped Samantha
Terry - Father of Craig - Drunk, sacrificied himself to kill zombies
Mother - Mother of Carrie (long time ago), Craig and Samantha) - Typical Denial of Truth...

Conclusion
Would I recommend this book? Only to the die-hard fans of zombie fiction and even them dont' expect nothing new or original or good. Read to your own peril. You will want the zombies to eat the humans. That's what I wanted.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

 ***Disclaimer***
This review might contain minor spoilers and spelling errors because English is not my native language.

The story dives right into action from page 1. There is no mystery surrounding what we're dealing with, considering the title already has the word 'zombie' in it and that's the only name given to the walking dead in this book (which can get quite dull after a while).
There are alot of characters, mainly because we follow 3 basic stories (a woman in London trying to get to her daughter. A man trapped in a castle in Wales while the dead are closing in. The third starts with a family who's stuck in a traffic jam in Scotland).
It's fast paced, maybe a bit too fast considering the whole book takes place in under 24hours, and some events happen as if the zombie apocalypse has been going on for months. And you don't really care for most of the characters who are being introduced at high speed.

Usually when I read books about zombies (or watch a movie with zombies), I'm eager to find out 2 things: 1. What brought the dead back to life? And 2: How will it end?
Mainly because usually it's some sort of nucleair or biochemical exposure which causes the dead to rise, so I want to know the author's creative alternative. And how his story stands out amongst the dozen of other zombie apocalypse stories.
I'm not a fan when zombie stories (book & film) end without actually 'solving' something. They don't need to solve the apocalypse, but at least give us a hint whether there's going to be a cure, or just mass genocide (or should I say zombiecide?) to save the living.

Without giving too much  away I can give the following answers to my previous questions: As for the answer to 1: While it's not specified in this book, the writer has come up with an alternative which has to do with sunlight. It's mentioned that it was a very hot day in Brittain and the dead become more active during the day and slower when night falls. Which I think is an original twist to the zombie origin.
And 2: There is being hinted at a solution but it's not actually carried out well enough, which leaves the book with an open end.

All things considered, this was a solid fast paced zombie apocalypse novel without many in-depth characters.
Overall I would rate it 3.5/5

[Andy Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll read any book about zombies and this one falls pretty much in the middle of the quality spectrum. It features three groups of people in different parts of the UK during a zombie outbreak. A lot of aspects of the story are pretty standard and the characters are not particularly well developed or distinctive, but it's not a bad book and there is a lot of action and a few original bits.

Mild spoilers follow!


Complaints:
1) Where did all the zombies come from, simultaneously all over the UK, in groups of thousands? There aren't that many intact corpses in the country.
2) How did they get loose? As most are buried how did they claw their way out of the ground? This is especially true in this story where they are very weak when not in direct sunlight.
3) Why are the zombies really strong? I bet a living person couldn't pull off someone's limb or extract their spine in one piece so how does a decayed zombie do it?
4) Why do people behave in such stupid ways? Some of their actions are really dumb.
5) Why do people behave in such unrealistic ways? For example, would they really be talking about eating each other within two hours of spotting the first zombie? Would religious cults with hundreds of followers spring up the same day as the outbreak?

[Krystle · Rating 2 out of 5]

And that's me being kind. Don't get me wrong, the plot was ok and everything, but what brought it down was the constant grammatical and punctuation errors. I don't mean to sound harsh, but honestly? It says that the author is an 'award-winner', but I'm seriously wondering how the hell that can be, judging from this book.

It also gets me wondering what on earth the proofreaders were thinking. Sure, I understand that a typo or so here and there are inevitable, but the ENTIRE book is FILLED with them. Unless of course, he didn't have a proofreader.

'Quiet' was spelled as 'Quite'. Question marks are absent where they should be throughout the book. And this may be just me, but certain names of the characters have such 'unique' spellings, that it makes me think that the author might not have known the correct spelling, and just cooked up his own spelling for it (Kathrine/Catherine = Catrin, Dana = Dayna).

The story has quite a few 'revelation' points when the author reveals how they're connected to one another. The story also ends in suspense, leaving the reader to contemplate the ending on their own.
It has it's other good parts as well, and it's an absolute shame that the bad outweighs the good.

He would've been a good author otherwise.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een erg pessimistische visie op de mensheid. Binnen de 24u nadat zombies het VK overspoelen heb je al religieus geïnspireerde mensenoffers en sektes die vrouwen als broedmachines willen inzetten. En degenen die wel willen helpen zijn niet erg bekwaam. Hoe kun je urenlang in een middeleeuws kasteel zitten zonder op zoek te gaan naar de pieken en zwaarden die daar vast wel tentoongesteld staan. Zelfs gewoon water uit de kraan tappen komt niet in hen op. Eventjes wel maar dan doen ze het niet. Maar wel lekker spannende lectuur.

[Amz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and how all the characters are connected, from London, to Scotland and then an island ( cannot remember which). The story is fast paced, exciting and just wants you to keep reading!

[Kemill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I picked this up. So I was pleasantly surprised and actually quite enjoyed it. It's a lot better than some of the other zombie books I have read or late. Solid, but not spectacular.

[Gav Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood, guts, violence and brutal zombies. Happy days 😊

[Zara Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! Loads of different stories going on in different places at same time, fast paced, loads of gore! Perfect Halloween/October read! One of my favourite books of the year!

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off excellent but then in my view the author tried to do much having too many locations and characters and was there really the need for all the vomiting scenes??

[Michelle Greathouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombie Britannica is a novel of Fiction by Thomas Emson from Snowbooks.

Book Blurb:

In 2009, Canadian researchers warned that a zombie plague would wipe out civilization...unless we were ready -

We Weren’t

As temperatures reach unprecedented levels, the dead rise - and eat the living. There is no warning. There is no time to prepare. And with tens of thousands dead or infected, another waking nightmare comes to terrorize the survivors -

The undead’s victims now rise up, a new wave of zombies hungry for human flesh.

As the nation teeters on the edge of extinction, those who survived the onslaught fight for their lives, and for the lives of their loved ones...

Carrie Asher must battle her way across the blood-soaked street of London to save her six-year-old daughter who is locked in the basement of their home.

Vincent Maskell is trapped in a Welsh castle with the girl he loves. But how can he be her knight in shining armor with a zombie army besieging the medieval fort and the humans inside slowly losing their minds?

Craig Murray and his family are stuck in a traffic jam in Scotland when the zombies attack. But when his younger sister is kidnapped, he is forced to confront a human monster as well as the undead hordes.

The odds are against us. The zombie throng is growing. Our numbers are dwindling -

Welcome to Zombie Britannica.

My thoughts:

Zombie Britannica is an amazing read. :)

Mr. Emson has somewhat of a different take on the zombie lore - inasmuch as what causes the dead to rise.

Now I love me some zombies and I was happy as could be reading about the brain munching and leg chomping - but that is not all that Zombie Britannica is about.

This book is more about how the survivors deal with the unexpected attack. Where some band together to help - others are out only for themselves. Still more set themselves up as judge, jury and executioner - to the humans they deem unworthy as well as the undead running the streets. Others still, finally see the potential in themselves and rise to the occasion. And finally - some just go mad.

I was riveted by Zombie Britannica and truly hope for a sequel.

I give Zombie Britannica 5 out of 5 stars. :)

M

[Felicity Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uh-Uh! I've made a mistake. Lots of graphic, gratuitous scenes of zombies feasting on humans, over usage of the 'F' word, the plot jumping around; alternating between the various UK locations and four main characters, I've not just made a mistake, potentially I've made a big mistake.

Oh! Hang on a minute ...

Graphic, gratuitous scenes of zombies feasting on humans lessening or certainly becoming less graphic/ gratuitous, not as much use of the 'F' words. Yes, the plot jumps around but as it turns out, not too confusing, if anything it actually serves to heighten the sense of peril that prevails throughout and its interesting how the four main characters are connected in someway or other. Maybe this wasn't such a big mistake after all.

Surprisingly thought provoking at times, the more gruesome elements tempered by some genuinely funny moments that actually had me laughing out loud on occasion.

The cast of characters, truly memorable if a tad cliched at times, nevertheless it was interesting getting to know them, to learn of their foibles and, in most cases, grow to care what became of them.

Refreshingly different. As with so much zombie fiction here there is no mention of the army/police or any self styled survivalists coming to the rescue. There is no arsenal of weaponry that just so happens to be at hand, it really is a case of every man, woman and child for him/herself, their only defence, whatever comes to hand.

As mentioned previously, at times gory (it could just be me but on occasion stomach churningly gory), the thing that really set Zombie Britannica aside for me however is that, far from being about the obvious monsters, it is the not so obvious monsters; the gang of youths who think it funny to feed their friends to the zombies (that is of course after they have firstly dangled their terrified victims above the clawing hands of the undead), the gang of paedophiles who use the ongoing carnage, chaos, lack of law enforcement and, yes, fear to prey upon yet more youngsters that makes Zombie Britannica truly horrifying.

Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper

[Anji · Rating 1 out of 5]

As stated in my comments, as I was reading this, it seemed to have promise, but quickly descended into clichéd nonsense..why oh why did the Author think that he had to use every bad cliche there is to be had in horror novels? A great horror story can be written as intelligently as any of the great classics in other genres and just because it is yet another "zombie" novel, it doesn't mean that it has to be written like a straight to dvd second rate movie. There are many ways to present a novel of this sort without bringing the horror genre into disrepute. Stephen Jones' ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE series is one example, intelligently written and imaginative. indeed SOME of the characters did have promise for future development and held my attention enough to think that I could possibly read more about them, but some of the situations and the dialogues were just cringe worthy and farcical. The castle scenes had to be among the worse I have ever had the misfortune to read.

This guy has had several other books published..how? There does seem to be an element of imagination, but honestly it was as if I was reading a screenplay, that had to include every female character thinking about sex in a time of crisis...I can confidently say that sex would be the last thing on most, if not all women's minds, if there were zombies trying to disembowel them!

I have just read a far superior writer's first novel ie. J.G. Clay..."Tales of Blood and Sulphur" and one of his stories is focused on the survivor of a zombie apocalypse and the main protagonist is far superior to any of the clichéd characters in this novel. I am afraid that it is a case of great packaging and disappointing content. ....sigh!

[Nebula Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Britain is suffering the most extreme heat wave it has ever experienced when suddenly the dead dig their way out of earthen and watery graves and swarm across Britain, devouring and dismembering everything living in their path.

Emson is a contemporary British horror writer, born in Wales and currently residing in England. He writes both Welsh and English books, and in 2008 his first English novel was printed. Zombie Britannica follows half a dozen view points and jumps around Britain and the UK as it follows these groups in their fight for survival.

This is an action book – there is just enough character development to keep you invested and interested. The chapters are short and sharp, and by jumping frequently through the UK we can witness different viewpoints of the same event – a cleverly used device to maintain the momentum of a fast paced story. This pace begins on the first page and runs to the last page – a non-stop action ride filled with gore and viscera.

Read the rest of this review and other science fiction, fantasy and horror reviews and author interviews at my blog https://nebulabooks.wordpress.com/201...

[Richard Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't mean to read another Emson right after Prey, but saw Zombie Britannica on a UK shelf while on holiday, and snatched it up. With this one, Emson sets out his stall right away with a genuine quote from an actual scientist: "An outbreak of zombies will result in the collapse of civilisation, with every human infected or dead...". That's pretty much how the book proceeds. The zombies themselves aren't really the story here. Instead, they're a vicious backdrop for the end of the world, a device against which the stories (set in Wales, Scotland, and England) of three groups of survivors play out. As such, the book functions almost as three short novels set in the same world, each of which provides plenty of thrills and excitement. I didn't enjoy this as much as Prey, partly because I kept losing track of the supporting characters in each segment (three novels results in three casts), particularly in the Welsh story, but the tales rattle brutally along at such pace, with so many splendidly over the top set pieces, that I couldn't help but have a breathless good time.

[Keith Chawgo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombie Britannica is a rip roaring read which moves at a fast pace. The characters, although sometimes being annoying, seem to be well characterised in the situation that they are in. It is well written and an extreme page turner.

The characters do have a thread that does connect them all which was a nice touch and the apocolyptic view of the book is well handled.

It is a zombie book and although I found Skarlet to be a better rounded book, this book kept me glued through its 400+ pages causing me to finish it within two days, by reading it every chance I could. It does not let up.

The views of Wales, Scotland and London locations are well handled and I would highly recommend this book if you are into horror. For me, it was up there with Brian Keane's zombie triology. Give it a try.

[Kerri Selby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a massive fan of Emson's work, he's bold with the details, takes supernatural, myths & legends & puts a spin on them, throws in some history & religion (but not in a god bothering way and throws in character POV's brilliantly.

Zombie Britannica is packed full of gore and opens right in the middle of the action, typical Emson style.
It has a feel of 28 days later meets the walking dead.
I loved the twist on the zombies, feral & crazed in light but somewhat subdued in the dark.
I did enjoy the book but it's not one of his better ones. I felt that the action kicked off but then really slowed down in parts of some of the characters POV's and found myself quickly reading to see what happened next. However I did really rate the ending for Holly & Sawyer and there needs to be a book 2 so we can see if Carrie & her mum meet!

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, wouldn't call it a best-seller. But then, I don't think I am the target audience. It was really gorey, and the sex scene could've been written better (or left out all-together), but other than that fairly good book. I liked the author's take on the way people would react, very realistic! Really quick read too, easy and fun. I cringed in a few places, but I think that's more because while I love the zombie I'm not so keen on the graphic gore he described. It's more a book for my brother, who insists it be made into a film. Which, having read it, I would definately watch!

[Andrew Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book fantastic from the start with the survivors struggling to stay alive and not get eaten by the zombies. It's a very well paced novel and I couldn't put it down. The author could have done a bit more research into one part of the story however and that is the part when Carrie and Sawyer are on the railway and a train speeds past them with Zombies clambering over the outside of the carriages. Owing for when the book was published, the trains used at the time meant that no one or anything can climb on trains. 4/5.

[Gary Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

For action this is a good read. Stylistically the constant sentence and idiolect repetition became well too repetetive for me, it made the reading, the book, put-down-able which is not what I want in a read. However the scene changes helped keep the structure together and propels the plot along at quite a rate. I finished this book in three days so there must have been something to keep me interested. I would read others by this author, in this genre.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, quick read. With the very short chapters, it's one of those books that makes you say "Oh, alright, one more chapter before going to bed," only to find yourself reading 10 more before actually putting the book away! Pretty explicit and gory, just the way a zombie book should be. While it's told from several viewpoints, I never lost track of the story, perhaps due to the short chapters. When it switched viewpoints, it kept me reading cause I wanted to see how it would continue!