In the Book Nook Reviews Safe Zone by Terry Tyler
Ten years into the apocalypse, nowhere is safe
In the Book Nook Reviews Safe Zone by Terry Tyler
Ten years into the apocalypse, nowhere is safe
How did I hear about this book?
I’ve been a fan of indie author Terry Tyler’s books for years and read each one when it comes out!
Who is the author?
I’ll let Terry Tyler speak here, so here’s the author’s own Amazon Biography:
“Terry Tyler is the author of twenty-eight books available from Amazon, the latest being the post-apocalyptic thriller, Safe Zone.
Other recent publications include the SFV-1 rage virus trilogy: Infected, Darkness and Reset, also 'Where There's Doubt', the story of a romance scammer and his prey, and 'Megacity', the final book in the dystopian Operation Galton trilogy. Happy to be independently published, Terry is an avid reader and book reviewer, and a member of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team.
Terry is a Walking Dead addict, and has a great interest in history (particularly Saxon, Plantagenet and Tudor), along with books and documentaries on sociological/cultural/anthropological subject matter. She loves South Park, the sea, and going for long walks in quiet places where there are lots of trees. She lives in the north east of England with her husband.
Terry can be found on X @TerryTyler4”
Why this book?
This was Tyler’s latest release and I’ve been devouring (excuse the zombie pun) this series so far.
What’s it about?
This book is part of Tyler’s zombie apocalypse series SFV-1. Safe Zone is set ten years into the apocalypse as humanity attempts not for the first time to regroup and rebuild. The population of the UK is confined to one corner of the South East and the newly recognised state of the UK Safe Zone is protected by a vast wall around the entire landmass, and by patrol boats around the coast.
The main trouble with this new Safe Zone is that it is in many ways a fiction. Some people have been rounded up and forced there, and inequality is rife. Many people living there have been damaged psychologically from a decade of horror, and many others are in denial, simply trying to recreate the world they knew, and ignoring all that has altered.
Then comes news from Europe, a deadlier strain of the virus has broken out and is on its way to the UK.
How I read this book
I read this on Kindle Unlimited, but it’s available to buy for kindle too.
(Always remember, if you want to read kindle books you don’t need a kindle. You can download the app for phone, tablet or computer and read there!)
Any gore, or horror themes?
Yes, yes and yes! The series is about a rage virus which turns people into zombies, expect gore and scares and the odd massacre.
Scare or suspense?
All the way through, from the harrowing beginning to the disturbing end.
Spice or Romance?
There’s romance, but no spice.
Excitement and Adventure?
Absolutely!
What I found interesting about the book
I love this series and have been following the characters since the start of it, several books ago. This one, ten years into the apocalypse, is interesting as whilst humans struggle to survive some people are trying to reform government and bring things back to how they were (complete with inequality and class systems based on a person’s past or origins) and some are trying to forge ahead with a new world. Of course the two ideologies are bound to clash, with the better stocked, soldiered and supplied one winning at first, the reformed government in other words, and yet the fragility of power is perfectly represented in this book of Tyler’s, as just one person, or one small slip can bring the whole structure down, one chink widened in the wrong place and everything built is destroyed by zombies who act on the simplistic emotion of rage.
That anger is an emotion which has the potential to alter the world and destabilize governments is quite interesting, and has proven true in the past. What, after all, are people acting on other than anger when they stand up for their rights, or against inequality? Anger may be a destructive emotion at times, but it can be constructive as well, leading to people standing up for themselves and refusing to accept bad behaviour or treatment from others anymore, whether that be on an individual basis or in society at large. I therefore find Tyler’s rage virus which destroys the world to be an interesting metaphor and as the series develops we see the author play with it in many ways, showing that anger might be destructive, but has the power too, to create something new. It depends on the people wielding it. Many people are angry in this book, disturbed by the past and the present, by the zombies who have destroyed their world and other humans who try to control them, but some learn to use their anger to do something about their situation, just as some use their anger to destroy, and some, the zombies, act upon it blindly.
I look forward to more books from this author. Tyler always leaves me with more to think about after I’ve closed the book.
I rated this book five stars on amazon, and would have happily given ten.