Fetch Your Copy Salby Damned Narrated By Ian D. Moore Conveyed In Pamphlet

a fan of the film and televised Zombie efforts this is the first time Ive actually read anything in the genre, having previously being sceptical as to whether it would transfer well to the written word.


Whilst Ive always had to totally suspend disbelief in order to enjoy the Zombie genre in the past, with Salby Damned I was presented with a chillingly realistic and believable scenario that had me hooked right from the start.
This isnt the story of a worldwide fantastical epidemic but a more likely and localised disaster borne out of the merging of two highly topical issues, namely biological warfare and the more recent and controversial gas shale fracking.


The book cover put me in mind of the TV series The Walking Dead, but whereas that concentrated on the individual survival of a specific and isolated group of people, Salby Damned, although it largely concentrates on a few individuals, it also deals with how the authorities tackle the problem of a zombie like plague, and how inevitably the military would play a large part in that.
The author pays great attention to military detail, creating a very real and authentic feel to how a military base would house and protect survivors I dont just mean in terms of military accuracy, I would expect that from the author given his background, but by the way in which he conveys his expertise to the written word.
As anyone who has even a rudimentary knowledge of the British military will know, it is filled with innumerable acronyms that can be very confusing to civilians, but the author explains and accounts for them very simply in the narrative without resorting to all sorts of contrived dialogue.
My only concern here is that there might have been a tad too much emphasis on the military detail for those with no knowledge or real interest in that side of things, but for me personally it worked very well.
Speaking of the military, it was refreshing that the central hero as it were was a just a regular exsoldier rather than exspecial forces as it made him more believable as a character far too often, unless being ex special forces is central to the story, such characters are made to appear almost superhuman in their abilities, whereas here, Nathans vulnerability and frailties are just as evident as his strengths.


If I had to categorise this book, Id say it was more a thriller than Science fiction or

horror, though there are indeed elements of the latter.
The story itself unsurprisingly concerns an apparent accident that results in a zombie like plague, and then, Nathan an exsoldier and a beautiful doctor, and the part they play in the search for a cure.
Amid the subplots, we have courage and heroism, political and industrial intrigue, a touch of romance, and action wise, plenty of deadly encounters with the undead victims of the plague.
In fact some of the subplots were a real bonus to this story, and definitely added to the overall enjoyment rather than simply being there to flesh out the page numbers.
What was also refreshing about this book though is that unlike the film and TV ventures, it didnt rely at all on sensational blood and gore for its impact.


If I had but one small criticism to make, apart from the possible overemphasis of the military and weaponry detail, it would be the lack of any anger and resentment towards those responsible for creating the circumstances in which the plague occurred, but apart from that the story was clever and well written, with a good balance of superficial though very credible science to add authenticity to the wider story.
I was also extremely impressed with the way the author concluded the story, i, e. in not leaving lots of annoying loose ends that demand a sequel just for its own sake, but nonetheless surprising the reader with a few unexpected twists that leave the door open to one.
If I had to give an exact rating for this debut novel I would say,to., but since I dont I can quite happily give it a five, Would I read a sequel Absolutely yes!
I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways,

This review may contain spoilers,

As zombie stories go, this one was actually quite an intriguing storyline, It was interesting to see the scientists working towards the cure and how people all worked together to try and have as normal a society as possible.


It was good to see the relationships that the characters formed together, I particularly liked Evie and Nathan's relationship and I found myself growing particularly fond of Tom and Holly, I thought that Tom seemed as emotionally developed as my niece, who's the same age as him,

There were parts of the book I found more difficult to read, I have to say, I did notice quite a few errors one in particular was the use of the word Leftenant, Although the British do use that pronunciation, in writing, it is still 'Lieutenant', I also found the formatting a bit difficult, There were scene changes indicated where there shouldn't be and paragraphs not where they should be,

I did like a lot of the characters in this book, though I did get confused with some of the names every now and then.
I also found learning about how the virus worked quite interesting, though there were a few parts that were repeated, such as an explanation about how the virus worked that was then repeated almost wordforword by one of the characters later on.


I didn't feel that the urgency in finding a cure was really felt until later on in the book, Also, although the person who had created the virus originally was meant to be one of the 'good guys', I didn't see a whole lot of remorse for what had happened.
I also felt there was very little to no foreshadowing a lot of the time,

The idea about the 'red room' was a pretty interesting one and I felt that was fairly intriguing, especially seeing how it worked with the virus taking over a particular person.
It was nice to see a couple of the other characters pairing off, too, like Brian and Meriam, a relationship I particularly enjoyed reading about, I also felt that the book was set up well for a followon, I would probably read a sequel to this book, but I did feel this book would have benefited from a proofreader, Ah, zombies. More zombies, and then, more zombies, It's been done before, hasn't it So many times in fact, it's hard to come up with a new and refreshing take on it, I admit to not reading too many zombie novels, but This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers and Jordan's Brains by J Cornel Michel are definitely two of the better tales in the genre.


So on picking up Salby Damned, I thought 'beat that!'

The synopsis gives us a detailed breakdown of what is to come, but where the story scores highly is the fracking subplot, which runs parallel to the zombie breakouts and a romantic storyline too.
You would be forgiven for thinking there is too much going on, but the author Ian D Moore structures the tale so well, I could imagine it being an afternoon story on Radio.


Aside from the fracking plot line, the story runs a reasonably familiar course, and this is fine, because the author takes us on one rather graphic fun ride after another.
You won't forget how certain scenes are described, I think I have a quite strong stomach, but even I was thinking 'Ugh! Gross!' on many occasions,

Of course, this is the kind of reaction the author wants, much like a comedian wants us to laugh at his jokes, or a horror movie to deliver on a scary premise.


Salby Damned is elevated above many zombie tales because it sits itself in the adult section of the genre, There's no rooms full of postpubescent kids, wondering whether to have sex just before the deadheads get them,

It's a much more intelligent book than that and sits well within the thriller genre too,

Nathan, our hero, plays out his role with aplomb, His beau Evie, is a little more complex, which is great because I don't want all the characters to be facsimiles of each other, Nate is pure Action Man, and he doesn't show any fear, I would have liked more flaws in him, but if that is how he is written, that's okay, The interaction with Evie works as a subplot, never distracting from the overall storyline,

I was torn between a four and five star rating on Amazon for this book, In the end, I think,is the rating I would give Salby Damned, It works on pretty much every level, just I wanted to care for the characters more, and in this, I felt a little disconnected, But I would believe a reread would engage me more with them,

Why this book gets a five on Amazon is simply this the twist is brilliant and will have you pulling your hair out, It's not so obvious that a twist is coming either, and I really like that,

Pick up Salby Damned, I rather think you'll like it too, I love reading Zombie books, but always hesitate to do so because so many are just the same old story with nothing new added, However, I decided to give "Salby Damned" a chance because the blurb sounded like a little something different,

I was not disappointed! The idea of fracking being related to zombies was an intriguing one to me, You have to figure that anytime that you do extreme things to Mother Earth, She is going to do something even bigger/worse to us!

I loved the two main characters, Nate amp Evie.
They were very welldeveloped amp likeable amp keep my interest throughout the book, The addition of kids is always a winner in these types of books, it gives you hope that things will be better for the next generation,

There was a lot of military aspects to the book amp a lot of discussion about weapons/ammo, but that is typical of Zombie books.
After all, if the Zompoc does happen, you have to hope that the military will be there to help defend those of us who are still alive.
And, you have to hope that there is lots of weapons amp plenty of ammo to keep us safe!

I look forward to reading more books in this series.
A very good addition to what is becoming a often tired genre! Well written, making sense and plausible, this novel has accomplished its proffered mission: gave me hours of worthwhile entertainment.


Of course, this did not seem to me like a zombie genre, and the deadheads appeared more helpless than out to hurt anyone on purpose.
So the tragedy became one of unfair treatment and frankly, I was surprised there wasnt more blame headed Dr, Evelyn Shepherds way. The worst anyone ever said was how sorry they were these types of weapons were ever conceived,

Now, I may not agree with the responsibility for this tragedy and how it was dished out, yet I would have liked to see more remorse on Dr.
Shepherd well before her actions became responsible for a hit in her entourage,

Nevertheless, a novel like Salby Damned is about escapism, also about a penchant for disclosing dangerous issues with our world and about the fact that Government not only doesnt get it all and cant always protect us, sometimes, they play God with our lives.
I also enjoyed the fact that the writing was clever and well done, Any book that keeps me from doing what I need to do is dramatic for sure,

Strangely, Im one of those who usually buys a book based on its cover, and on the writeup in back, but lets face it, mostly based on the cover and how the face of the front of the book inspires me.
Therefore, if someone I trust had not recommended this book I would never have bought it, I would not have read it even if the book had been given to me, and to this day, I still cant look at the cover, But, fellow readers, I was hooked from page, What more do you want in a book Action, mystery, romance and poked fun at mans selfishness and greed, That ending, wow, wont give this away, but wow, Your call!
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