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Heroes of the Apocalypse #2
End of Watch
The end is here.
For police officers Frank, Leo, and Sarah, it was just another day on the job. However, when a deadly plague turns ordinary citizens into monsters, they face an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered.
A city under siege...
Cast adrift, they soon discover that the nearby fire station is still operational and join forces with the resident firefighters. Together they plan to take back Burlington, street by bloody street. Can they succeed, or will they fall prey to the undead hordes?
For police officers Frank, Leo, and Sarah, it was just another day on the job. However, when a deadly plague turns ordinary citizens into monsters, they face an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered.
A city under siege...
Cast adrift, they soon discover that the nearby fire station is still operational and join forces with the resident firefighters. Together they plan to take back Burlington, street by bloody street. Can they succeed, or will they fall prey to the undead hordes?
222 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 30, 2022
167 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Baileigh Higgins
109 books437 followersSouth African writer and coffee addict, Baileigh Higgins, lives in the Free State with hubby and best friend Brendan and loves nothing more than lazing on the couch with pizza and a bad horror movie. Her unhealthy obsession with the end of the world has led to numerous books on the subject and a secret bunker only she knows the location of.
Visit her website at www.baileighhiggins.com for more information on her upcoming projects, new releases, and giveaways. Sign up for her Newsletter and get your Free Ebook, Tales from the Apocalypse, today.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 1, 2022
A survivors tale in a zombie apocalypse.
This is the story about a group of survivors during the zombie apocalypse. Great cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. A group of survivors originally made up of first responders such as firefighters please officers are caught flat-footed at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. The first book starts off with a group of firefighters responding to a call we’re all sitting a person you’re trying to rescue turns because she was bitten by her husband. Within minutes all hell breaks loose in the area. At the same time around town police precinct is realizing that all hell is breaking loose as well. The officers that survive been together to survive and I just certain point the two groups meet and begin saving as many people as possible. The second book is the police officers original take when the zombie apocalypse breaks out. Meet up at the time when the two groups meet and begins to save more people and Trey and save at least a part of the world. Many of their group survive and some are lost as with any zombie apocalypse. Not everyone can survive. Redone and follow the adventures of these first responder survivors and all the people they help. Will they make it, who knows. We must read on to find out.
This is the story about a group of survivors during the zombie apocalypse. Great cast of characters and an entertaining storyline. A group of survivors originally made up of first responders such as firefighters please officers are caught flat-footed at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. The first book starts off with a group of firefighters responding to a call we’re all sitting a person you’re trying to rescue turns because she was bitten by her husband. Within minutes all hell breaks loose in the area. At the same time around town police precinct is realizing that all hell is breaking loose as well. The officers that survive been together to survive and I just certain point the two groups meet and begin saving as many people as possible. The second book is the police officers original take when the zombie apocalypse breaks out. Meet up at the time when the two groups meet and begins to save more people and Trey and save at least a part of the world. Many of their group survive and some are lost as with any zombie apocalypse. Not everyone can survive. Redone and follow the adventures of these first responder survivors and all the people they help. Will they make it, who knows. We must read on to find out.
June 6, 2022
This was another brilliant story.I
love that most of our main characters are the police and fire fighters. Great storyline, written really well, as are all of these authors books. Very enjoyable and can't wait for the next book to come out.
love that most of our main characters are the police and fire fighters. Great storyline, written really well, as are all of these authors books. Very enjoyable and can't wait for the next book to come out.
June 26, 2022
Higgins blends the horror of a zombie plague with a positive view of human nature, creating an apocalypse story that is centred in cooperation and the drive to serve society.
Note: while the author is blessed with a spiffing surname we are unrelated by blood or marriage.
This novel is the second in Higgins’ Heroes of the Apocalypse series. Possible spoilers for the previous volume ahead.
When the zombie apocalypse surges over Burlington, police badges are no protection. Narrowly escaping their station before it is overrun, officers Frank, Leo, and Sarah find refugee with the staff of the local fire station. The bolstered group plans to take back their home, street by street; however, as the arrival of more survivors strains space and resources, the pressure to take risks increases.
After the focus on firefighters in the first volume of the series, Higgins continues her theme of emergency services workers vs. zombies with the police. However, while the opening section of the book covers the zombie attack on the police station and the initial escape of a few officers, they soon intersect with the pocket of survivors at the fire station, broadening the cast. This turns the focus from police vs zombies to what police officers might add to a survival narrative.
Although—plausibly enough—many zombie apocalypse stories have one, or several, police officers among the primary cast, Higgins vision of both the officers and survivors as a whole is more pro-social than man; thus, the police officers see themselves more as being a public service for rather than an authority over the public and there are no enclaves of selfish criminals taking advantage of the collapse of order.
This, however, does not make the story any less tense: survivors might be driven by decent motives but being torn away from a comfortable modern life is horrendously stressful, and even those (such as police officers) who are trained to handle dangerous situations are not always equipped to handle the unique issues of a zombie apocalypse; indeed, training in facing bad situations can instil a belief in one’s competence that leads to under-consideration of risk. Higgins balances these two threads well, contrasting suspenseful fast-paced conflict against zombies with less immediately dangerous but equally powerful personal traumas and interpersonal niggles.
Higgins’ narration is more toward the descriptive end, inclining toward including more where another author might leave a reader to fill in secondary detail. This is especially noticeable in radio conversations where Higgins includes ‘over’ every time a character finishes a piece of dialogue rather than adopting the more stripped back dialogue used in many stories that leaves the reader to assume it happens. Depending on reader preferences, this narrative style might either create a sense of trained observation and rigid process that is fitting for emergency service workers or create an over-formality and distance that weakens tension.
While the majority of the book occurs after Frank, Leo, and Sarah encounter the fire station at the centre of the previous volume—making this very much a continuation of those characters’ stories as well—Higgins smoothly integrates any information needed from the previous volume to understand the situation in the fire station; therefore, while readers coming to this book after the first might have a more nuanced expectation of how and why some characters act, and readers coming to the first volume after this one might have some foreknowledge of how it will end for certain characters, this book functions well as an entry point into the series.
As one might expect of an apocalypse survival story, the book ends at a key moment of stillness rather than a resolution of the entire danger. Depending on how neatly each reader prefers personal plots to be explicitly tied up, this might or might not allow the novel to stand alone. Either way, the story feels as if it has been brought to a reasonable point to stop rather than chopped off in the middle.
Frank, Leo, and Sarah form the trio of ageing sergeant, experienced officer, and enthusiastic rookie. Higgins carefully balances adherence to these tropes with personal detail, making them the clear social roles that suit an action story without becoming stereotypes.
The remaining cast display the same mix of classic survivor character and nuanced drives, swiftly giving the reader an idea of the sort of issues and solutions they bring without downplaying the human interaction.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I recommend it to readers seeking zombie apocalypse fiction that is about the potential and power of human cooperation rather than the descent into barbarism.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
Note: while the author is blessed with a spiffing surname we are unrelated by blood or marriage.
This novel is the second in Higgins’ Heroes of the Apocalypse series. Possible spoilers for the previous volume ahead.
When the zombie apocalypse surges over Burlington, police badges are no protection. Narrowly escaping their station before it is overrun, officers Frank, Leo, and Sarah find refugee with the staff of the local fire station. The bolstered group plans to take back their home, street by street; however, as the arrival of more survivors strains space and resources, the pressure to take risks increases.
After the focus on firefighters in the first volume of the series, Higgins continues her theme of emergency services workers vs. zombies with the police. However, while the opening section of the book covers the zombie attack on the police station and the initial escape of a few officers, they soon intersect with the pocket of survivors at the fire station, broadening the cast. This turns the focus from police vs zombies to what police officers might add to a survival narrative.
Although—plausibly enough—many zombie apocalypse stories have one, or several, police officers among the primary cast, Higgins vision of both the officers and survivors as a whole is more pro-social than man; thus, the police officers see themselves more as being a public service for rather than an authority over the public and there are no enclaves of selfish criminals taking advantage of the collapse of order.
This, however, does not make the story any less tense: survivors might be driven by decent motives but being torn away from a comfortable modern life is horrendously stressful, and even those (such as police officers) who are trained to handle dangerous situations are not always equipped to handle the unique issues of a zombie apocalypse; indeed, training in facing bad situations can instil a belief in one’s competence that leads to under-consideration of risk. Higgins balances these two threads well, contrasting suspenseful fast-paced conflict against zombies with less immediately dangerous but equally powerful personal traumas and interpersonal niggles.
Higgins’ narration is more toward the descriptive end, inclining toward including more where another author might leave a reader to fill in secondary detail. This is especially noticeable in radio conversations where Higgins includes ‘over’ every time a character finishes a piece of dialogue rather than adopting the more stripped back dialogue used in many stories that leaves the reader to assume it happens. Depending on reader preferences, this narrative style might either create a sense of trained observation and rigid process that is fitting for emergency service workers or create an over-formality and distance that weakens tension.
While the majority of the book occurs after Frank, Leo, and Sarah encounter the fire station at the centre of the previous volume—making this very much a continuation of those characters’ stories as well—Higgins smoothly integrates any information needed from the previous volume to understand the situation in the fire station; therefore, while readers coming to this book after the first might have a more nuanced expectation of how and why some characters act, and readers coming to the first volume after this one might have some foreknowledge of how it will end for certain characters, this book functions well as an entry point into the series.
As one might expect of an apocalypse survival story, the book ends at a key moment of stillness rather than a resolution of the entire danger. Depending on how neatly each reader prefers personal plots to be explicitly tied up, this might or might not allow the novel to stand alone. Either way, the story feels as if it has been brought to a reasonable point to stop rather than chopped off in the middle.
Frank, Leo, and Sarah form the trio of ageing sergeant, experienced officer, and enthusiastic rookie. Higgins carefully balances adherence to these tropes with personal detail, making them the clear social roles that suit an action story without becoming stereotypes.
The remaining cast display the same mix of classic survivor character and nuanced drives, swiftly giving the reader an idea of the sort of issues and solutions they bring without downplaying the human interaction.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. I recommend it to readers seeking zombie apocalypse fiction that is about the potential and power of human cooperation rather than the descent into barbarism.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
May 30, 2022
This is a wonderful addition to this thrilling series!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.
June 2, 2022
The story continues…
So, we started out with the fire station, now we have added the remaining police from the neighborhood precinct and the survivors form a nearby school. A surprise from the police station adds one more to the group. Not an easy rescue, but our group prevailed.
However, Baileigh has set us up with a cliffhanger of sorts…
Wait for the next book!!!
So, we started out with the fire station, now we have added the remaining police from the neighborhood precinct and the survivors form a nearby school. A surprise from the police station adds one more to the group. Not an easy rescue, but our group prevailed.
However, Baileigh has set us up with a cliffhanger of sorts…
Wait for the next book!!!
June 4, 2022
A really good second part to this interesting, zombie, virus end of the world series! Always a good fun read from Baileigh Higgins! Strong female characters, ready to kick the world in to place & a good rounded selection of peeps; grabs your attention from the first & hold it to the last word! I do recommend & always enjoy this writer works!
June 4, 2022
There be heroes
There are strong and loyal heroes willing to put their lives on the line to rescue those in great danger. And there are zombies. Lots of zombies. Baileigh Higgins has done it again with a blockbuster apocalypse. What an ending!
There are strong and loyal heroes willing to put their lives on the line to rescue those in great danger. And there are zombies. Lots of zombies. Baileigh Higgins has done it again with a blockbuster apocalypse. What an ending!
June 8, 2022
Great series
Really good 2nd book . The group at the fire station are adding more to their group . It's getting crowded but they are surviving . Fast paced and good story line looking forward to the next book.
Really good 2nd book . The group at the fire station are adding more to their group . It's getting crowded but they are surviving . Fast paced and good story line looking forward to the next book.
February 23, 2023
Read : February 23, 2023
Rating :3,5 Stars
Some of the dialogue was predictable af and kinda took away from the thrill for me.
It didn't help that some of the police did stupid stuff that I wouldn't think a trained cop would do.
I might continue this series, don't know right now.
Rating :3,5 Stars
Some of the dialogue was predictable af and kinda took away from the thrill for me.
It didn't help that some of the police did stupid stuff that I wouldn't think a trained cop would do.
I might continue this series, don't know right now.
May 21, 2023
So much plot errors, no realy character involment, I just could not enjoy it or get into the story or the characters -> I loved the idea though.
Stopped reading it in the middle of book 3, I just could not go on anymore.
Stopped reading it in the middle of book 3, I just could not go on anymore.
September 14, 2023
I love the story and characters, though it became tedious to read the same story a few times from different perspectives. There was one radio exchange that was repeated four times, thats just too much.
June 4, 2022
Loving Baileigh's take on Zombies Apocalypses. The characters a developing well and the stories a great.
Can't wait for the next chapter in the series.
Highly recommended
Can't wait for the next chapter in the series.
Highly recommended
June 9, 2022
Baleigh Higgins always delivers the goods and book 2 in the Heroes of the Apocalypse series is right on the money with great characters and lots of action.
July 17, 2022
omg! what’s going to happen!!
Very exciting!! I can’t wait for the next book to find out what happens to Donna! Good story and good character development!
Very exciting!! I can’t wait for the next book to find out what happens to Donna! Good story and good character development!
October 11, 2022
Bailiegh Higgins never fails to entertain!! I highly recommend this whole series! Believable characters, action packed entertainment!
March 26, 2023
good
Second book in the hero’s of the apocalypse seriesFrank Sarah and others are all holed up at the fire station. Read how they fight for survival against the zombie apocalypse
Second book in the hero’s of the apocalypse seriesFrank Sarah and others are all holed up at the fire station. Read how they fight for survival against the zombie apocalypse
June 14, 2022
No one else writes apocalypse fiction with such a beautiful focus on the best of humanity like Baileigh Higgins. Action packed and thrilling with a positive undertone.
January 3, 2024
Just as good as Book 1. Haven’t read a good zombie apocalypse book since Rot and Ruin. Can’t wait to start Book 3.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews