Surviving the Evacuation, Book 0.5: Zombies vs. the Living Dead

By: Frank Tayell

Narrated by: Tim Bruce

Length: 1 hr and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

The outbreak began in New York. Within days it spread throughout the world. No one is safe from the undead.

As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The press was nationalized, and martial law, curfews and rationing were implemented. It wasn't enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the United Kingdom were to be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast and the Scottish Highlands and in the Irish Republic.

For George Tull and the other residents of the Waverly-Price Retirement Home, walking to the coast is not an option. Abandoned by the staff, they wait for rescue. It doesn't come. When George leaves the illusory security of the home and ventures into the nearby village, he finds it deserted. But he is not alone; his unhappy retirement is broken by the undead. George is left with a terrible choice: stay and fight to save the people he loathes or leave and abandon the woman he has come to love.

©2013 Frank Tayell (P)2015 Frank Tayell

Rough Start

The story dragged. It spent more time showing us how miserable these old folks were than anything else. The story got good and interesting toward the end cause we finally got some action. But lack of character development I really did not care either way who lived or died.

Short and sweet, a great intro to the STE world

What happens to senior citizens once the world ends. Well, the world has ended, but it is ending. Zombies are rising up and killing and infecting anything they can lay their hands on. Zombies vs. the Living Dead takes a look inside a senior home during the apocalypse. What would happen? How would the "living dead" survive a zombie attack?

Tim Bruce provides the narration for this story and does a really nice job. I really felt like he was there when all of this went down. Bruce provides the perfect narration to move this already quick story along even faster. I'm excited to hear more stories narrated by him.

Zombies vs. The Living Dead was a great first glance into the world that Tayell has created with the Surviving the Evacuation world. I have the other books in the series to read, but I decided to dip my toes in the water with this one. Short and sweet, I got a really nice look into the way that Tayell writes and a quick glance at the world that he will be creating (and destroying) in the other books.

The actual story was really well done. I'd never seen the angle that Tayell took, and I liked it. I also liked that the main character wouldn't give up on the woman he'd be caring for, even with the world crashing down around him.

A quick hitter, Zombies vs. the Living Dead was a really enjoyable book. And now I can't wait to dive into the rest of the series.

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love it

Shows you a part of the zombie apocolypse no one would think of. Part of an amazing begining. worth it.

Entertaining Spin Off of the Living Dead series

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed listening to this spin off from Tayell's UK based 'Surviving the Evacuation' series. It takes place in a state retirement home in a small village on the English coast. Perhaps the hidden meaning of the story is that we shouldn't subject our elders to such places as they are easily forgotten. But, in a zombie apocalypse its everyone for themselves and while many of the pensioners wait for help, and threaten to complain to their MP, the main character (George Tull) does his best to help his fellow residents survive (although he despises most of them and they are largely ungrateful for his efforts). My only complaint is that it ends too soon. I would love to see Tull pop up later or in the main series.

Loved the tie-in!

I loved how this gave you a look into one of the locations that played a part in the other books. Definitely so worth the listen!

pretty boring not really able to follow that well

Kinda useless not very entertaining. I don't recommend it. Very slow progress and characters not very memorable.

Meh...

Great insight as to what an outbreak of a zombie-like disease would kind of be like, but it was dreadfully slow and I almost feel like I wasted my time reading so much stuff when finally the exciting part happened in literally the last sentence of the book. They could’ve answered at least a few questions regarding the girl in this book and still left us excited to read the next one, I’m now afraid to read the next one because I’ll be upset if I waste my time listening to a bunch of chapters just to get to the juicy part in the last chapter again.