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The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella
It's been two years since the outbreak of a plague that turned New Yorkers into flesh-eating corpses. The city’s population has dwindled to three hundred refugees on Governors Island, a park and former military outpost. They struggle with supply shortages and flaring tempers, but the monsters they call ‘rotters’ can’t swim. The survivors aren’t comfortable, but they’re safe.
That sense of safety is shattered when Sarge, a former cop and the island’s head of security, comes face to decomposing face with a rotter while on an early-morning patrol. The creature shouldn’t be on the island. What’s worse is that it has a stone-like skin that makes it tougher to kill.
Faced with the prospect of an evolving enemy, and desperate to find antibiotics for his dying wife, Sarge has one option: Get into Manhattan, do some recon, forage for supplies, and get out—without drawing the attention of the millions of rotters that now roam the city.
That sense of safety is shattered when Sarge, a former cop and the island’s head of security, comes face to decomposing face with a rotter while on an early-morning patrol. The creature shouldn’t be on the island. What’s worse is that it has a stone-like skin that makes it tougher to kill.
Faced with the prospect of an evolving enemy, and desperate to find antibiotics for his dying wife, Sarge has one option: Get into Manhattan, do some recon, forage for supplies, and get out—without drawing the attention of the millions of rotters that now roam the city.
60 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2012
1 person is currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Rob Hart
58 books1,060 followersRob Hart is the author of the USA TODAY bestseller ASSASSINS ANONYMOUS. He also wrote THE PARADOX HOTEL, which was nominated for. Lambda Literary Award, as well as THE WAREHOUSE, which has been sold in more than 20 countries. He also wrote the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection TAKE-OUT, the novella SCOTT FREE with James Patterson, and, with Alex Segura, the comic book BLOOD OATH and the novel DARK SPACE.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
His short stories have been published widely, including “Due on Batuu,” set in the Star Wars universe, which appeared in FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and "Take-Out," which appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018.
He’s worked as a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York. He is the former publisher at MysteriousPress.com and class director at LitReactor. He lives in Jersey City.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 21, 2014
I am not Rob's target audience for "The Last Safe Place." I like classic literature, imagistic short stories, and poetry. Now and again I'll go for YA and romance, even feminist sci-fi. This zombie novella is none of the above and yet it still managed to drag me in and eat my brains and heart with great smacking of lips. (Yeah, I know. Pun city. There's more where that came from.)
Rob uses very sparse language and goes on a kind of rhythm. Short sentence, long sentence. Long sentence is the compassionate brain, short sentence the eaten up heart. He moves his story very quickly and it is hard to put down.
I read the book in two half-hour intervals. I made enchiladas in between those intervals and didn't have much of an appetite for anything with red sauce over it so I didn't eat after cooking but went straight back to the novella. And finished quickly. Gobbled.
I really enjoyed it. He had very strong characters considering he had so many in such a short time. I wanted the main character to make it through, wanted it so bad, wanted him to be happy. I rooted for a happy ending to 'The Last Safe Place' to the very last page.
And then I even read the acknowledgment, because I wanted to know what happened next.
I want more, Rob! Please keep writing. Please, please, please.
And thank you.
Rob uses very sparse language and goes on a kind of rhythm. Short sentence, long sentence. Long sentence is the compassionate brain, short sentence the eaten up heart. He moves his story very quickly and it is hard to put down.
I read the book in two half-hour intervals. I made enchiladas in between those intervals and didn't have much of an appetite for anything with red sauce over it so I didn't eat after cooking but went straight back to the novella. And finished quickly. Gobbled.
I really enjoyed it. He had very strong characters considering he had so many in such a short time. I wanted the main character to make it through, wanted it so bad, wanted him to be happy. I rooted for a happy ending to 'The Last Safe Place' to the very last page.
And then I even read the acknowledgment, because I wanted to know what happened next.
I want more, Rob! Please keep writing. Please, please, please.
And thank you.
August 7, 2025
Good story, not a lot of new ground was made in this novel about the zombie apocalypse, but still fun.
October 7, 2021
The adage (I read this somewhere, I swear it) is that zombies aren't what make zombie stories interesting. It's how people deal with the zombies that make the zombie stories interesting. Because there's not much new about about shambling, reanimated corpses at this point than there are about tsunamis or earthquakes or cannibalistic Uncle Barry. The threats are a fulcrum that characters are levered against.
In this short piece of fiction, Hart wedges his characters in the tightest of spots, and then loads on the pressure. In the wake of the apocalypse, three hundred survivors cling to life on Governor's Island in the New York Bay. As zombies, true to form, are not fantastic swimmers, these survivors are safe from everything zombie. Not safe, unfortunately, from sickness, starvation, weather, or general human evil.
Throw into this scenario a mostly good but ultimately pragmatic former cop, a politician, a sick wife, and a twist in the zombie-physiology paradigm and everything starts moving very fast. This story hauls you along from a quick setup to an emotional, explosive end.
At the beginning of this review, I said that zombies don't make zombie stories interesting. Hart put the lie to that statement in "The Last Safe Place." His zombies ARE interesting (even though their conversational skills are still poorly developed). He's added a few elements to the monster that make you look at them with new eyes, and that makes The Last Safe Place...not so safe.
Add to all this that's it's just a damn fine piece of writing and you've got a great way to spend an hour.
In this short piece of fiction, Hart wedges his characters in the tightest of spots, and then loads on the pressure. In the wake of the apocalypse, three hundred survivors cling to life on Governor's Island in the New York Bay. As zombies, true to form, are not fantastic swimmers, these survivors are safe from everything zombie. Not safe, unfortunately, from sickness, starvation, weather, or general human evil.
Throw into this scenario a mostly good but ultimately pragmatic former cop, a politician, a sick wife, and a twist in the zombie-physiology paradigm and everything starts moving very fast. This story hauls you along from a quick setup to an emotional, explosive end.
At the beginning of this review, I said that zombies don't make zombie stories interesting. Hart put the lie to that statement in "The Last Safe Place." His zombies ARE interesting (even though their conversational skills are still poorly developed). He's added a few elements to the monster that make you look at them with new eyes, and that makes The Last Safe Place...not so safe.
Add to all this that's it's just a damn fine piece of writing and you've got a great way to spend an hour.
September 24, 2012
In just under 200 pages, author Rob W. Hart manages to add a breath of fresh air to a genre that can so easily be stale. From the very interesting location (Governor's Island, a brilliant touch by Hart) to mutating (or perhaps evolving) undead, there are hardly any cliches here.
Hart also manages, in such few pages, to sweep a wonderful arc in both characterization as well as plot. The main character, Sarge, a fierce cop who keeps laying down the law even after the apocalypse, has a grizzly exterior, but concerns for his ailing wife add many layers to what could have been a typical machismo leader of the group. The author materializes a living antagonist, who is hoarding on gasoline and supplies, jeopardizing the 300-some group of survivors' plan of escaping to sea if "s#!t hits the fan," so to speak.
All these details come together to produce a tale that comes across as effortless. Likeable (and believable) characters, a refreshing locale, and a "duh" twist of the typical zombie, that, as one reviewer stated, should have been thought of before.
The shortness and abrupt ending will leave you wanting more, but will also leave you satisfied with having read a very well-written, constructed, and unique piece of zombie literature.
Hart also manages, in such few pages, to sweep a wonderful arc in both characterization as well as plot. The main character, Sarge, a fierce cop who keeps laying down the law even after the apocalypse, has a grizzly exterior, but concerns for his ailing wife add many layers to what could have been a typical machismo leader of the group. The author materializes a living antagonist, who is hoarding on gasoline and supplies, jeopardizing the 300-some group of survivors' plan of escaping to sea if "s#!t hits the fan," so to speak.
All these details come together to produce a tale that comes across as effortless. Likeable (and believable) characters, a refreshing locale, and a "duh" twist of the typical zombie, that, as one reviewer stated, should have been thought of before.
The shortness and abrupt ending will leave you wanting more, but will also leave you satisfied with having read a very well-written, constructed, and unique piece of zombie literature.
November 3, 2012
The Last Safe Place is a really good zombie novella that manages to avoid cliches and brings something a little new to the genre. Evolving zombies. Sure Romero's Land Of The Dead had evolving zombies but these aren't the kind that start to think. These undead are gaining armor from being submerged in the water surrounding Governor's Island in New York. The author even gives a medical explanation as to why. In fact one of the creepiest moments in the book is the image of zombies underwater grasping for the feet of the hero as he swims for safety. Brrr.
Rob Hart has a very unique voice when it comes to horror. Because it's more of a noir style writing voice than the typical, almost generic, voice of some horror authors. And it works great. It might even be a new sub-genre, Zombie-Noir.
The only problem I had with the book though was that it was too short. I wish Hart had stretched the story out and expanded on a few of the relationships between characters. Especially, the rivalry between the protagonist and the previliged Reginald. Even being short though The Last Safe Place is a really good zombie story and a great introduction to Rob Hart's work.
Rob Hart has a very unique voice when it comes to horror. Because it's more of a noir style writing voice than the typical, almost generic, voice of some horror authors. And it works great. It might even be a new sub-genre, Zombie-Noir.
The only problem I had with the book though was that it was too short. I wish Hart had stretched the story out and expanded on a few of the relationships between characters. Especially, the rivalry between the protagonist and the previliged Reginald. Even being short though The Last Safe Place is a really good zombie story and a great introduction to Rob Hart's work.
October 8, 2013
With the heavy influx of zombie fiction (and so much of it either derivative of past cinematic work or flat out poorly craft and uninspired.) flooding the market over the last several years, you often times think there's nothing left to be said within the confines of the subgenre. But then you run into a work such as The Last Safe Place. The novella is fast paced with some genuine scares scattered through out. There are, of course, certain elements which are common in every zombie story, but what sets Hart's story apart is how he structures society after the fall. With the entire world rapidly changing and evolving, (including the zombies) the last of humanity does not, and instead grasps and claws to maintain the status quo of the haves and have nots; of the workers and those who cling to their backs and profit from their toil. The Last Safe Place is a welcome addition to the zombie genre and a fine introduction to a gifted storyteller.
June 23, 2015
A unique take on the zombie apocalypse, with special pickled zombies, a few cheap bus-'sploding thrills, a human element for our protagonist to negotiate (with one "Woohoo! In. your. face!" moment), along with all the skull splatting madness that you'd expect from the genre.
As with any book that I love, it has to have good strong characters, and there's plenty of that going on. I'd have enjoyed seeing a few of them branch out and develop further, but unfortunately with a novella there's little time and scope to do so. It also doesn't help that the genre is notorious for throwing its characters to the wolves... or to the flesh nibbling rotbags. You get the idea.
It stands alone as a novella in a well developed alternate New York (seemingly the same New York universe as the one in 'New Yorked' by the same author[?]), but there's enough happening at the end to suggest that sequels could potentially follow.
As with any book that I love, it has to have good strong characters, and there's plenty of that going on. I'd have enjoyed seeing a few of them branch out and develop further, but unfortunately with a novella there's little time and scope to do so. It also doesn't help that the genre is notorious for throwing its characters to the wolves... or to the flesh nibbling rotbags. You get the idea.
It stands alone as a novella in a well developed alternate New York (seemingly the same New York universe as the one in 'New Yorked' by the same author[?]), but there's enough happening at the end to suggest that sequels could potentially follow.
April 29, 2014
So nice, I bought it twice! Digital and print editions.
With zombie media reaching critical mass, it's very easy to be completely engulfed with a lot of mediocre efforts from those looking to cash in on the success of shows like the Walking Dead. Fortunately, Rob Hart eschews taking the easy way out and provides an engaging and original twist on some standard tropes in the genre. While the length is short, (I blew through this in less than hour)I found the story to be satisfying and leaving me wanting to hear more about the world I've gotten a small taste of.
On top of it all, you seriously cannot beat the price!
I definitely look forward to reading more of Rob's work and cannot recommend The Last Safe Place more.
With zombie media reaching critical mass, it's very easy to be completely engulfed with a lot of mediocre efforts from those looking to cash in on the success of shows like the Walking Dead. Fortunately, Rob Hart eschews taking the easy way out and provides an engaging and original twist on some standard tropes in the genre. While the length is short, (I blew through this in less than hour)I found the story to be satisfying and leaving me wanting to hear more about the world I've gotten a small taste of.
On top of it all, you seriously cannot beat the price!
I definitely look forward to reading more of Rob's work and cannot recommend The Last Safe Place more.
February 21, 2013
A short but sweet novella about one mans past journey to safety to find his wife, which runs concurrently with the mans present situation held out in a survival commune on Governors Island which has been divided in two castes; the skilled and the unskilled. During the flow he is betrayed and we discover he has committed what he feels is an atrocity which leads him to believe karma is coming for him.
April 28, 2014
Rob Hart's "The Last Safe Place" is GREAT! I didn't think there was any hope left for the zombie story, but he sure as hell found it! TLSP has an engaging main character who makes tough moral decisions and has to live with them, a great setting, and a breakneck pace that is perfect for the size of this novella! I don't care what you think of zed books, you NEED to read this if you like damn fine writing!
June 21, 2013
The Last Safe Place approaches the typical zombie story in a new way. The survivors are in a novel location (Governor's Island - in the heart of NYC but inaccessible - perfect holdout for the end of the world), the monsters are mysteriously different, and the stakes are high. Fast moving, exciting... a great read.
October 20, 2015
I tore through this in about two hours. My only complaint is that it wasn't three times as long, or maybe that there aren't several more installments about this same group of characters in this same setting. Great stuff. Terrific cover art, too.
December 15, 2014
A refreshing new look at an overdone genre.
December 30, 2014
This was a fantastic zombie novella. It left me wanting more. It had a quick pace, interesting plot twists, and sense of humor that wasn't over the top but really added to the story.
February 8, 2016
Good Buildup
Good set and setting. However, the ending felt somewhat rushed and underwhelming. The novella works like a good stepping stone for a more fleshed out full zombie saga.
Good set and setting. However, the ending felt somewhat rushed and underwhelming. The novella works like a good stepping stone for a more fleshed out full zombie saga.
June 3, 2013
Very, very good!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews