Just Finished Reading: Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon (FP: 2011)

It was the greatest scientific achievement of the modern age. After 20 years of trying and 20 years of setbacks they had finally done it. They had broken through to another universe, to another Earth. For three days they had been staring through the door way into an alternate Earth so like our own and yet strangely different. Little by little they begin teasing out the changes as bugs and other wildlife stumble through the hole between worlds and are captured for later more detailed analysis – and then the unexpected happens. A humanoid figure steps through and looks around the room. It appears ape-like but with distinct human features. One of the researchers approaches to get a better look only to be attacked and bitten repeatedly by the creature which is shot dead by a security guard. Then the impossible happens. The clearly dead researcher sits up, still covered in her own blood and attacks the guard who has just come to her assistance. Within moments there is pandemonium, screaming, blood and more blood. In the chaos one of the research team breaks containment protocol only thinking of his family not knowing or not caring the danger he is putting the world in. Within days he realises what he has done, what cannot be undone and must watch as his single act of selfishness condemns the world to a fate it cannot understand.

OK. Now this was more than a little surprising. I knew about the portal and the death that following its opening. But I had no idea (and I’m really not giving too much away here) that this was a zombie apocalypse novel. Indeed I was unaware that I even owned such a book! But I know this author, he’s good – really good – so I persevered. Not that I needed to try very hard. You’ll realise how much I enjoyed it and how much the story gripped me when I tell you that I started and finished it over a weekend – from around 5pm on Friday till just before 7pm on Sunday. That might not sound like much of an achievement until I tell you that this was a book of 632 pages. Even by my best standards that’s pretty special. What gripped me was, as always to be honest, good characterisation and a bloody (ha!) good story, well told and at pace. Honestly the book is breathless. There are pauses here and there for the characters to catch their breaths as much as the reader but they’re only short pauses between more action, more death and even more destruction. Be warned this is a full on, in your face, no holds barred end of the world story that pulls few (if any) punches. As you might very well imagine there’s lots of tension, lots of death (and post-death!), quite a bit of blood – though not as much as you might expect – and lots of heart in the throat moments (and not always in a good way).

This is also, again without giving much away, definitely not your standard zombie story. Yes, there’s dead people attacking living people but there’s much, much more going on than that simple fact. It’s also not just a survival story – although inevitably there’s lots of that going on (completely with obligatory biker gang) – there’s a deeper backstory that only a handful of people ever find out about. The zombie plague unleashed on the Earth wasn’t an accident and nor was the breakthrough to another world. There’s movers behind the scenes with motives of their own and this Earth isn’t the only one fighting for its life. Highly recommend even to those who are not zombie fans – as long as you have a fairly strong stomach at times. Oh, and a final warning. If you’re anything like me this book will spook you for days afterwards.