The Survivors Book I: Summer
Ten years ago, a deadly plague ravaged humanity. There were seven billion souls on our planet; now, there’s just a handful. Our extinction event has come and gone, but a few of us did survive. We’re the lucky ones, born with a rare genetic adaptation that gave us immunity to the plague. But the intervening decade was brutal and unforgiving; many more died.
I was eighteen years old when I watched my family die one by one. Now, I am alone. I’ve managed to eke out an existence amongst the ruins of our shattered world, but there is so much danger that it’s a miracle I’m still alive. I am a lone female in a world without rules; death stalks me at every turn.
But I will not give up. I will not surrender. I am the last of my line, and I am determined to honour my family, even if I couldn’t save them.
My name is Sandy McDermott, and I am a survivor.
This is my story.
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Author's Foreword
There has been some confusion regarding whether or not this book is zombie horror. I don’t want anyone to buy it, then get upset because it’s not what they expected. The Survivors is kind of a genre-bender. It’s a little bit apocalyptic, a bit dystopian, a bit science-fiction, and there’s even a dash of romance in there for spice. Yes, it does have a few zombies, but the zombies are not the focus of the story. They are merely an element of the environment.
The story takes place in the Waikato region of New Zealand, ten years on after a killer plague erased the majority of our species from the face of the earth. 99.5% of humanity is either dead, or has been reduced to the (mostly) harmless, lumbering undead. The few people lucky enough to be immune to the disease have spent the last ten years struggling to live amongst the ruins of a dead society.
For some people, the time hasn’t been so bad. For other people – like our heroine and narrator, Sandrine McDermott – the last ten years have been a living hell. Without rules to keep people civilized, there’s nothing to keep a lone female safe except her own wits. Sometimes, that’s just not enough.
Life has not been kind to her. In fact, it’s safe to say that fate’s been kind of a bastard. However, it’s also a whimsical bastard. When Sandy injures herself and is forced to go looking for the medication she needs to survive, she finds herself on the receiving end of kindness in the last place she expects. She’s forced her to reassess her place in the world, and her own humanity.
The Survivors is a four-part tale that follows Sandy’s evolution from the psychologically-damaged wreck that she at the beginning of the story, to the true heroine that we need to preserve our species from extinction.
Somehow, some way, she must go from being one of the hopeless wanderers, to being our hope for a new tomorrow.
This book is written entirely in New Zealand English, which is an offshoot of British English.
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My Review:
This was such an amazing story! I don't get many chances to read many books that are set in New Zealand. So learning about the culture and the people were just as exciting as the story itself. This story made me laugh out loud, shed a tear, and kept me completely captivated throughout. We get a glimpse of what life was like before the disease takes New Zealand, in Sandy's flashbacks. We get a small glimpse into her life the 10 years after as well. She craves human contact, but afraid of being hurt and not just emotionally. If you want to read an amazing zombie apocalypse book don't you dare miss out on this!! Dreyer's writing is amazing and I can't wait to read the next book!!
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