After having found and successfully rescued his ex-wife from the diseased Summit City Rhys drags himself to where he should be meeting his son and discovers he isn’t there.
Armed with nothing but hope Rhys and his ex-wife set off on what they believe to be their boy’s trail.
With just enough breadcrumbs to keep them going they follow the path of their son and his protector in a race against both the spread of The Alpha Plague, and a crazed psychopath hell bent on their destruction.
The Alpha Plague 3 is a post-apocalyptic action thriller.
Michael Robertson is an author and blogger. He has had several short stories published, including one with HarperCollins. He is the author of Crash - http://michaelrobertson.co.uk/crash--...
Political thriller meets zombie apocalypse urban fantasy in this fast paced third installment to the Alpha Plague series. This is the best of the bunch due to a tweaked style of narration that deftly weaves two story lines and genres together.
The series follows Rhys, a cubicle drone working at a British government office park on the outskirts of London, as a rage-style Zombie apocalypse spreads from a single infection in the Alpha Tower at the center of Summit City. The first book [The Alpha Plague] followed Rhys and partner-by-circumstance Vicky as they race and fight their way out to find Rhys' son, Flynn. The second installment [The Alpha Plague 2] separated the pair as Vicky watched Flynn and Rhys made a daring attempt to save his ex-wife, Larissa, back in Summit City for the sake of his son. Rhys discovers that Vicky might be connected to the pandemic . . .
This installment keeps the frenetic pace of the previous ones, while weaving in back story for Vicky as Rhys and Larissa try to find Vicky and Flynn. In alternating chapters, over a year of backstory infills Vicky's tale while only Rhys and Larissa's tale furthers the present everchanging predicament. The unspooling of multiple time lines and shifting character relationships in Vicky's political thriller thread reminded me of All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer.
The understanding of the infected deepens throughout the series and as the diseased exist for longer periods of time. Disturbing observations by the adult characters imply that the afflicted are packing-hunting, feel empathy for each other, and not only hunt but store food showing a knack for planning . . .
Escaping from Summit City is so scary and so thrilling that this book just has to be read at a go cause it cannot be put down! The scariest thing for me is the fact that all of the zombie apocalypse was started as an experiment in a lab to be used as warfare by humans in the west on humans in the east but the tables were turned, humans most definitely are the planet's plague! Greed for money, for power, evil and hate will surely be the planet's downfall and that is what is most scary. I really enjoyed reading the book on two fronts, Vicky's background story fills us in beautifully, Brandon is so hardcore and such a psychopath that at times he becomes scarier than the hundreds of zombies roaming the streets. The cage and the release of the infected in London and other Western European countries is a real nightmare however, the courage to keep going shown by all the characters concerned is amazing. The fact that we see the zombies learning to feed and to work as a team and to show empathy for one another is going to make the future books something to watch out for as the thrillers are just going to get worse i fear before maybe finding a semblance of normality in daily living. Bring it on and give us all you've got Michael Robertson!
( I must say first off, I received an early copy of this book from the author. I always give honest reviews. ) I think I loved this book in the series the most. Not taking away from 1 and 2 but the characters acted the way I hope I would act. Rhys, male lead, finds his ex and the race is on to find his son who is with a woman he met during the fall of Summit City. With the diseased on their tails and a evil man chasing Vicky, the woman Rhys meets in Summit City, this is an edge of your seat read. I absolutely love Rhys. He is very much an every man. He is a hero but I don't think he is aware he is. I also went into the book not liking his ex but she has redeeming qualities.
Watch out for a reference to my favorite show. I was so thrilled to see it. Thank you Michael. I won't say what show but keep your eyes open for it.
Grab this if you have read the other 2. If you have not ( and WHY NOT??) read the other 2, buy all 3 and make it a reading weekend. I can't wait for the next. Truly love this series and this book.
Happy reading. Tea, book, cozy blanket, Check! See you on the other side. You're welcome.
After battling through Summit City, getting to the Alpha Tower, discovering Oscar is not who he said he was, and is actually a psycho, finding and losing Dave, and then finally recusing Larissa, Rhys returns with Larissa to find that Vicki and Flynn are missing. Fearing the worst, they start a desperate search for their son and the woman who has him. This book is slightly different to the others. It is split into two different stories. One follows Rhys and Larissa, hot on the trail of Vicki, trying to work out what is going on, where she is, and what happened to her. The other story is that of Vicki, only from in the past. Vicki’s story is fascinating, and explains who she is, why she is where she is, and how she got there. Robertson again delivers another brilliant Character in Vicki, giving us a keen insight into who this character is and how she played such a significant role in the story so far. We also learn of her relationship with Oscar, who is actually Brendan, and how he is actually someone involved in releasing the disease to start with. As this story unfolds we actually learn that this is a lot more complicated than just another ‘Zombie’ story, that there is a lot more at play. Alpha Plague 3 is a lot more character based than the first 2, we also get to learn a lot more about Larissa and Rhys and their relationship, and about their boy Flynn. These back stories help to develop the story further, bringing us into the story more, engaging us with the characters more. However, don’t despair, there is still a whole lot of thrilling diseased action, and our characters are on the run for their lives for a good part of the books. We also get to learn a bit more about the diseased in this book, about how they operate, their movements, their interactions with each other. Robertson does this not only to make the book interesting, but to make them even more terrifying, and he does a brilliant job. As with the other books, this is just an exceptional read, completely edge of your seat, page turning, can’t put down, thrill ride. This time around, we get a greater insight into each of our main characters, which just engages the reader even more. Again, if you love a good Character driven story about the Undead (such as the Walking Dead, or What We Left Behind), then this is definitely for you!!
This was my least favorite book so far. On this one the writer just seems to be dragging it out. There was action. Rhys and Larissa are trying to get back to Vicky and Flynn, while Vicky is also trying to get rid of her psycho ex-boyfriend. This is book 3 of eight and I am already tired of the fighting zombies over and over. I hope soon they can get to a place without zombies and learn to survive that way. I hope I can make it through all 8 books. I should have paid more attention before I got the boxset, I really don’t like zombies.
So far the series has been 48 hours of run, hide and zombie bashing. Good fun but the real hero is Vicky and I still was hoping that the unlikable, helpless and whiny main character would get eaten by a zombie.
The characters come into sharper focus and the action is attention grabbing. I like the writing and it's fun to read a main character that you want to see eaten by monsters.
I have the box set of this series but I must say that it is getting better because book three delves deeper into the reasons for Vicky's actions. It also smoothed the bitterness between Rhys and his ex…though I really despise women for using their children as weapons.
Totally sucked in. Great storyline only problem is the books are to damn short.. If you like end of the world stories read this one.. 1984 meets the walking dead.
I've read all the books so far in the Alpha Plague Series and I've found them to be well written, with interesting characters and fast-paced storytelling. Definitely a good read.
This was really excellent! I did really enjoy this as well! I really can't recommend enough this series & this part of the story! Everything I think you need in a good zombie adventure was in incorporated in this adventure! I look forward to reading the next part!
This was a fun take on zombie apocalypse genre. I felt the ghost in the machine was almost too obvious, but still, the story was a nice escape from my work day as I read it on breaks and lunch mostly. If you are looking for something to just go with and not think, this series is a good option.
As in the first two installments, author, Michael Robertson continues the storyline from where it previously left off. Rhys and his former wife are trying to meet up with Vicky and their son, both groups fighting zombies and hordes as they move forward. Only, Vicky also has to worry about her psychotic ex-fiancé who wants to kill her and the boy. No matter how many times she defeats his efforts, she can't get away from his relentless chasing. It seems that he might outlive the zombies!
The story comes back to the drawbridge where this installment started and the four survivors find themselves trapped by thousands of zombies that have surrounded them. I've already downloaded #4 and #5 - so it's back to their adventure and to find out how they get out of this one. I'm also having fun with the Queen's English - as this book is written - and get amused when reading these different words and sayings that might be normal for somebody from GB or Australia. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the series.
John Podlaski, author "Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?"
As I said for book 2, this could’ve been more of the same. But it’s not. Yes, Rhys is still running for his life, now with his ex-wife in tow, their son missing. The action, the hardships, the moments of despair continue aplenty. But characters also grow and more light is shed on these zombies and on how the plague was released. Thumbs up!
Excellent read, I couldn't put it down. Lots of action and enough gore to keep me on edge of me seat. I enjoy the apocalyptic books that make it seem "real" no super powers or nonsense, just raw survival. Good book, read all 3.
This was terribly disappointing, and also boring. I really could care less about what happens with these characters. I sort of like the set up, but the innovation was wasted on the story's actors.