The Survivors Book I: Summer

Could've been more, started out really well, but became very predictable and sometimes even boring. I found myself skipping entire paragraphs toward the end. Not enough action (way too little action for a postapocalyptic book!) and too many words: the author keeps repeating things and drones on about feelings and emotions unnecessarily. I just didn't feel it... Some actions/events/emotions are really just not realistic. I feel like the last half of the book is like a fairytale where the author wants to make everything well again... Too bad, because the first part was really good!

It started out interesting. A woman recounts how civilization as she knows it fell apart following a plague, to which she was immune. Her thought processes as she made a life for herself were absorbing and realistic. Then, the book transitioned abruptly and it almost seemed like a completely different book. From being quite a realistic take on life after, it became the exact opposite. The narrator undergoes a rapid change in personality that transforms her from a independent,strong woman to whiny and annoying. I'm almost done but I can't bring myself to finish it. It's gotten that lame.

Great twist of a story. Interesting and unsettling at the same time. The characters are well developed. I enjoyed this book,very much. I wish I didn't have to wait for the second book. Also, no typos. Thank you.

This was a great story with great characters. I like the saddness over the zombies. I read ALOT of shtf books and so many of them are similar but not this one it's a different twist on it all. Please hurry up and get book 2! No just kidding take your time and give us another great read.

This is a well written start to an interesting story concept. I was drawn into the story and the characters, and I am looking forward to the next installment. If you like the post apocalyptic concept, give this one a try.

By reading the reviews I was intrigued. I started this book and was drawn in and actually enjoyed it for a few chapters. Then it went downhill rapidly. I am aware that it is a work of fiction but fiction is supported by fact. Research the material you write about and take a few liberties if you must but leave it with enough fact to make it seem, at least remotely, possible. Make me believe or want to believe your story. I try hard to find redeeming qualities in all books but this one I could not.

I was very disappointed with the book. In general the survival depicted wasn't well thought out but the worst part was it ending in the middle of a scene. It wasn't a book. It was half a book with the intent to get the reader to buy the second half.

I was very disappointed with the book. In general the survival depicted wasn't well thought out but the worst part was it ending in the middle of a scene. It wasn't a book. It was half a book with the intent to get the reader to buy the second half.

Good story line but lacking, to me, in some realism. For example, after all the years of growing threats children are still allowed to roam at will by themselves. Also, after so many years since the event people are only now thinking about creating gardens. The few Kiwis I have met have always seemed very down to earth to me. I sieve they would have done much better earlier.

If you want realistic, post-apocalyptic fiction, this book and series is NOT for you. If you want the romance genre, unrealistic relationships, weak attempts at political correct inclusiveness, and cloying tedium, this book is for you. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring. The reader keeps hoping it will get better and instead it disappoints with each addition. Of appropriate length, good editing for the most part, at least give it the one star. Next author please.

Ok, I understood that this is not the standard zombie story but come on! First of all, how did the infected humans aka zombies even survived for 10 years without any sustenance? And I am not talking about the ones that became only now, after 10 years, aggressive. A little more background would have been welcomed.
The love story...sucked. I mean its like a 7 years old write it: dry. We get that Sandy was alone for almost 10 years, no human interaction, brutalized and so on and that makes her hard and believable. I cant say the same thing about Michael....one moment he is a strong male character and the next one he's acting like a pussy. Really? The author should work more in making him more believable.
I will not read book 2.

I kept waiting for something to happen. 10 years after the apocalypse and the survivors have water and electricity somehow but are still raiding houses for can foods...REALLY? I decided to pass on books 2-4.

First off, I hate to write bad reviews. This book was SO disappointing. The first third of the book was outstanding. I loved the sample. Ten years after the event we meet Sandy. At the moment, she's alone. It was very interesting and captivating as she's scraping her survival. Her inner thoughts, her reasoning and having survived horrible events in the past kept me turning pages.

Okay, carrying on, the book then turns into really bad romance novel. Complete with smokey eyes, husky voices, reddening of cheeks constantly and the hero carrying Sandy around in his arms. I don't know. It's PA fiction.... I wasn't expecting this. To make matters worse, there's a TOTALLY unrealistic "twist" in the book that just leaves me without words.

I really liked the zombies in this book and their evolution. I wish more action was given to them. Purest Romero fans will not like them but, I thought they were cool and inventive.

Lastly, the ending was just deplorable. Terrible. Rip-off. Sorry. This book is obviously ending in a bad, bad way (in the middle of a scene?) to garner more money for a sequel. I will not be reading it. Sorry.

Aside.... I notice the author is responding to each and every review. I gave specifics here and, just my opinion, you shouldn't comment. Pet peeve of mine.

Sandy rocks. Let’s establish that. A young woman who spent her transition years of teenager to adulthood in the midst of a undead apocalypse. It’s a touch of I am Legend meets Castaway. Yes, I said Castaway, because Sandy is resourceful. She doesn’t rely on schooling or brains, she relies on instinct and that is what got her to survive for ten years.

She is a loner and we know through her attitude and narrative that she has learned the hard way not to trust. She’s been used and abused and pretty much said, “heck with it, I’m taking this world alone.’ Which she has done quite well. She carries empathy for the undead, even using names to remind, perhaps herself , that they were human at one time.

When we meet her, Sandy has her survival needs down pat and a routine. Even to the point of being anal retentive about cleanliness. Ms. Dreyer does an excellent job of characterization. We get to know her, vision her, care and often cringe for her. I loved the flashbacks of how it all went down. I really liked when the flashbacks started, because Sandy was so darned normal. She’s not a military genius nor does the author feel the need to impress us with weaponry knowledge. The story stays true to what the character knows and has learned. Kudos. A good job by Ms. Dreyer. The story is strong and it focuses on the human side instead of the events. That makes a good, strong story in my opinion. I quite enjoyed it.

So why did I give it three and a half stars?

Ms. Dreyer has a gift of gab, and while she can pen well what she writes, sometimes she will over write. I don’t mean deeply describing a scene. I mean there were times where it took a bit of time to reach a point, writing about every little thing the character witnessed. Some things were not important. A good example was the cleaning of the apartment. Although, I believe that’s a matter of taste. Some readers enjoy that much information; personally it was a tough for me. Where she could have written more, she didn’t. Like the flashbacks.

My other reason – She dated herself. I don’t mean, Ms. Dreyer dined alone and went to see a movie. Her novel is full of current references of today. Yes, the book takes place in ten years, but she is specific about ten years from now, right now. Even giving the date of this year (2013), that alone takes away from the fear aspect. December, 2013 is here and almost gone. Just like no one really cares about the movie, 2012 anymore (If they ever did) or likes being scared of anything with 2012. It lost its appeal. I know her book was aimed to move, more than scare, but I want that realistic fear instilled into me, that can only happen if I am looking at a ‘what if’ situation with no dates. Stephen King has once said the worst mistake he made was putting a date of 1984 in The Stand. Something he has since gone back and changed. While Survivors is ten years in the future, I strongly believe this novel can be read long past ten years from now and into another generation who may not know what Zombieland is.

That being said, I personally enjoyed the novel and even more so as it went on. There are a couple of things that transpire that are awesome, but I can’t divulge them because it would just ruin it for you. Her foreshowing is so nicely done, you don’t see it coming. I will say this, Sandy meets up with a group of survivors that completely changes her outlook. The character of Michael is brilliant.

Ms. Dreyer does an awesome job of crafting an original story. And it really is a solid, original story. She adds a twist with the zombies that I personally loved. This is a book I would recommend and look forward to the sequel.

Visit [...] to read the full review. Review by TBM team member Jacqueline Druga.

Finally, the Zombie Apocalypse story I've been waiting to read!! This is an incredibly well written story that is not all about slashing zombies to live. There are zombies, and zombies as you have never seen before, very awesome, creepy and scary. But they do not take center stage and overpower the story for once. This amazing book follows the emotional journey of a young teen into her adulthood showing HOW she survives. What she endures, encounters, the real nitty gritty of what would happen next that is lacking in most apocalyptic tales. There is a realism in the characters in the book that is so often lost in apocalyptic storytelling. This girl/woman is not a superhero nor does she have paranormal powers. She is a real, believable quirky 'heroine' made strong through her having to face the end of the world as a high school senior and grow up or die. It was very easy to become emotionally invested in this story. I admit, I do not remember having ever cried so much in a zombie book before. This story has something that will appeal to all readers, not just fans of zombies, there is true drama, some romance, thrills, terror and of course the apocalypse. This book has become one of two Apocalypse books that are my favorites.
I cannot wait for the next installments to come out !

A gifted copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Rundown:
In 2013, Ebola-X decimated the human population, presumably worldwide.

After losing her father and sister, her mother and grandmother, Sandy's left to live on her own at the young age of eighteen. After weeks of solitude, she ventures out of the secluded beach house where she buried her family, seeking desperately needed food and provisions.

This story starts ten years later in Ohaupo, New Zealand.

Sandy, one of the immune, has survived the apocalypse, the fall of humanity and even barbarous human acts over the last ten years, ever since a deadly virus stamped-out most of the worlds population and turned the majority of society into zombies. The world is a much different place and the small portion of civilization who remain due to an immunity, are no longer governed by the laws and rules once enforced, now washed out of existence.

Escaping horrific circumstances, Sandy has decided being alone is the way she wants to live out her days. So scavenging, hunting and pilfering from one town to the next until supplies run out, keeps her days busy and though her life isn't a good one or even a fulfilling one, she prefers the loneliness to the barbaric humanity thats scorned her.

That is until an accident sends her out of her hiding place and she meets a small group of people who revive her faith and hope as they hold civility close and exhibit a human kindness she thought long dead.

The Review:
I love a good zombie versus human story, especially when the story is character driven and the zombies aren't brain starved, staggering corpses. V.L. Dreyer gives us that in this thrilling, sometimes scary, most of the time intense, and always entertaining read. I was warned by the author before starting this read that it was still in the editing stages and I have to say, if this is the unfinished product, color me seriously impressed. The writing was descriptive and flowed well, completely immersing me in the desolate, lonely world this author creates. It isn't bright and pretty, it isn't pleasant nor fun. This world is dark, dreary and grim yet when Sandy meets up with the rest of the cast, friendships and companionship is formed amongst the rubble of a once flourishing civilization. Its beautiful and wondrous to see humanity strive for life, holding tight hope, even after such hopeless defeat.

The Story...
We spend the first hundred pages alone with Sandy as she navigates through town and collects provision, but we are never bored. Through the use of internal thoughts, memory flashbacks and one persistent kitten, the author fills those pages with a graphic, daring story of isolation and dismal loneliness as Sandy tracks through deserted streets, buildings and a town no longer thriving as it once had. I could clearly picture the vacuity of her surroundings and I didn't need a constant interaction with other characters to fill the void. The author does a brilliant job delivering this. When an accident forces Sandy from seclusion and other characters are introduced, a precarious journey of survival begins along with the trials of a small group cultivating a future and re-gaining civilization.

The Zombies...
I really liked the authors take on the zombies in her story. They were unintelligent, unaware and for the most part, non threatening. If they were kind or monstrous in life, they were docile or fiendish after infected. Though we only really met one zombie pre-mutation, we get the impression they just roamed aimlessly without much cerebral function. What could be more terrifying than a human with no cognitive thought, being nothing more than a rotting shell, trapped and unable to feel emotions or to look at things you once loved and have no recognition at all?

The mutated zombies, thats what!! Scare-eeeeeee!

As if a virus wiping out most of the human populous wasn't enough, now the virus has altered and turned sometimes dangerous zombies into mutated, horrifying cannibalistic monsters who seem to have an intelligence their predecessors don't.

Oh, and crazed, rotting, rampaging pigs! Run!!!

The Humans...
I loved all the characters. The doctor, the child, the pregnant young woman and her fiance as well as the Maori survivors we meet later on but I especially loved Sandy and Michael.

Sandy was seriously haunted and broken after the harrowing events of her past, and rightly so. But she's independent, strong and brave. When she meets up with the other characters, she becomes this loyal, fierce leader who, along with Michael, lead their small band to greener pastures. She's a true fighter and her intelligence and common sense keep the family moving forward. I liked that she wasn't just someone to protect but did the protecting.

Michael and Sandy's romance was a sweet reprieve from the intense danger of the world around them. I really liked Michael and his need to protect the people he feels are now his charges. I do have to say though that he seemed much younger than his thirty-two years and less war-hardened than I would have thought given he's spent the last ten years surviving the apocalypse.

The Wrap Up:
This book gives the reader a constantly changing range of emotions to experience. From loneliness, to fear, from sadness, to happiness, to nervousness, the story never falters from entertaining. I can't wait for others to read this book and see their reviews! And I'm excited to see what happens next, in book two, The Survivors Book II: Autumn (The Survivors, #2), considering the cliffy we are left with.

This book was a solid piece of work. The editing was wonderful - I only found one spot that had a missing word and punctuation. I'm not too entirely familiar with British English spellings and word usages, much less the New Zealand English the author declares she uses, but it all seemed fairly well in order on the differing terms and spellings.

The rest of this review will contain some spoilers.

I enjoyed the start of this book. Like some other reviewers, I appreciated Ms. Dreyer's new take on the "zombies" left in this world. The start of the apocalypse was described well, exactly how a teenager would have remembered it. Not too much detail, because they are absorbed in their own world, not noticing what's going on around them.

I did find it funny Sandy's parents were worried about how contagious the new virus was, yet her mom went running out to the store to get supplies anyways, even though the dad was already staying home so as not to get exposed at work. He'd been home all day, they didn't go get the kids from school, and the stay at home mom waited until the time the kids were supposed to be getting home to go get food.

Then, they got split up riding out to the beach house. How? That helicopter mom was all over her kids. Like she wasn't going to be watching ahead or in her rearview mirror, and notice the instant her husband and youngest daughter pulled their car over. It just seemed convenient for the author to get rid of some characters that way. There was no explanation of traffic being horrible, other cars cutting in between them, or anything.

I, like another reviewer, am amazed the power is still on. The author's solution is to invent an invisible few people working hard in the electric plants to keep the power on. After 10 years. For the entire country. Disregard the fact that the one main character has been alone most her ten years since the apocalypse, and is having a hard time finding enough food to keep from starving, much less any other kind of supply. These few power plant workers are able to not only scavenge for themselves, but hold down a job that used to take hundreds or thousands of workers to do for the entire country. Ok.

And that makes me bring up the pitifully few supplies available. Really? I'm unsure if the author ever mentioned the death toll of this virus. But, seeing as how 10 years later Sandy is living all by herself in a town of at least a couple hundred, I find it hard to believe there aren't more supplies. Especially since that whole town killed themselves. Really, let's say they lived a few weeks past the day Sandy and her family evacuated. Sure, there are a few people that buy their groceries daily, eat out everyday, and don't keep much on hand. But seriously, with the power still on and freezers working, there should be food left. No way they went through all pantry, refrigerated, and frozen foods in every house. And I'm pretty sure you could find half used bottles of shampoo, soap, and clothes in every single home. It didn't all just up and disappear. And that's even taking into consideration looters, fires, and spoilage after 10 years, since there are so few survivors. Also, canned goods can last for years after their expiration or best by dates. If not bulging, dented, or rusting, and not a tomato product; as long as it smells and looks good, it is still good. Nutrition and texture will degrade, but the food inside is generally fine. Pop top lids will spoil quicker.

I was willing to overlook the electricity and lack of supply problems, until chapter 9. In chapter 9, she comes across intact gardens. No. No way no how. I can understand orchard and berry patches still going after 10 years. They'd be few and far between, but ok. Complete gardens. No. Maybe a plant here or there that possibly could have one or two veggies growing on them. But nothing more. No way entire gardens lasted that can just magically be transplanted in later chapters, and have tomatoes, lettuce, and watermelons picked off and eaten every day after 10 years of abandonment.

After traveling to a big city, the book just fell apart after that. It does immediately turn to a romance plot, and not a great one. I realize it's the end of the world, and things happen fast, but it just didn't flow right after that.

On page 206, Michael abandons his car and walks 20 km because of an accident blocking the road. Bull! You're one of the few survivors left in the world in the last few weeks, you open another car that has keys in it on the other side of the accident and drive the rest of the way. Or you go acquire another from a home or dealership. And after 10 years, no fuel would be viable to make any car run. Fuel treatment is necessary after just a few months of sitting, and after years, water would get into ALL fuel and render it useless. Complete and total fuel line, carburetor, and fuel tank replacements are necessary even if you could somehow find fuel that hadn't been contaminated or had been freshly created.

I also got annoyed with how people were dying or getting attacked, but afterwards the characters sucked face, when they could still be in danger. Or, they don't worry about vehicles arriving initially after they've returned to Ohaupo. Just lazily get themselves out of bed to see who might've dropped on by.

Wrote more than I meant to, but I just got disappointed with the book after Sandy's arrival to the big city. The promising start didn't last the whole book. I have no desire to find out what happened to the characters in the rest of the series, even with the cliffhanger ending. It was a nice long read (300+ pages), so I'm not disappointed like other reviewers at this "hook" to get me to continue the series. Just wish the whole book had hooked me more into wanting to do so. Between the inconsistencies and downturn after the city, I just don't have the desire to.

Most apocalyptic type books and movies deal with the events leading up to and directly after. This book breaks the mold going 10 years into the future following Sandy, a survivor of the plague, trying to etch out a life among the small Towns by herself. Relying on her knowledge and survival skills she comes to a new town after the last one she was in ran dry of supplies. Trying to clear the place out and scrounging for food and other useful tools when an accident forces her to leave the relative safety of her new home to go to a larger city to a hospital for medical supplies. Sandy stumbles onto more than she bargained for, but it could be a good thing. Finding survivors who appear to be good people unlike others she had come across before, she must decide if she can trust them, or go back out on her own. And what happens after she decides only time will tell if she made the right choice.

Great story showing sometimes determination to survive in an extreme world. Zombies are a plus in this end of the world novel. I loved the depth to the characters and their vivid backgrounds made for an even more amazing story. I could definitely see this as a movie in the future. I highly recommend this book I loved it and can't wait for the next in the series.

Most apocalyptic type books and movies deal with the events leading up to and directly after. This book breaks the mold going 10 years into the future following Sandy, a survivor of the plague, trying to etch out a life among the small Towns by herself. Relying on her knowledge and survival skills she comes to a new town after the last one she was in ran dry of supplies. Trying to clear the place out and scrounging for food and other useful tools when an accident forces her to leave the relative safety of her new home to go to a larger city to a hospital for medical supplies. Sandy stumbles onto more than she bargained for, but it could be a good thing. Finding survivors who appear to be good people unlike others she had come across before, she must decide if she can trust them, or go back out on her own. And what happens after she decides only time will tell if she made the right choice.

Great story showing sometimes determination to survive in an extreme world. Zombies are a plus in this end of the world novel. I loved the depth to the characters and their vivid backgrounds made for an even more amazing story. I could definitely see this as a movie in the future. I highly recommend this book I loved it and can't wait for the next in the series.

As an American, reading this was really really interesting. Not only did I get insight into life on New Zealand but also got to enjoy new vocabulary. All the details are really geared to enshrouding the reader in this post apocalyptic world. Action, adventure, a realistic heroine, a dash of drama, and a bit of romance come together nicely in this book. I can't wait to read the next in the series.

I don't usually enjoy anything without magic, elves or dragons, but this book i could not put down! The story was excellently written and I was able to draw comparisons between myself and the main character which kept me hooked! I like that it wasn't your generic Zombie story as I believe that they have been done to death (excise the pun), and i like how it is a believable existence for survivors of a plague that has swept the globe.

I can't wait to read more of about Sandy and the way she grows as an individual throughout the series.