Siege

February 27, 2012
The people of Ashley Oaks have managed to survive the zombie plague detailed in The First Days and Fighting to Survive, thanks to hard work and the leadership of new mayor Travis. As characters struggle with their new circumstances, they find a community of survivors, under the brutal control of ambitious Sen. Paige Brightman and Maj. Gen. Gordon Knox. The danger represented by the senator and her minions pales in comparison to the tsunami of undead making its slow but inexorable way toward Ashley Oaks and its tasty inhabitants. Frater has managed to develop an original treatment of the zompocalypse; the protagonists try their best not to abandon civilized values, and they resist despair despite tragic loss. Even in the face of disaster, the series manages an odd but reassuring optimism, a peculiar faith in humanity not often seen in horror.

May 15, 2012

Life during the zombie apocalypse is challenging, but the inhabitants of the fort have managed to survive and even flourish despite the lurking dead, a murderous vigilante, and the baleful remnants of the U.S. government. The zombie-slaying, butt-kicking heroines of The First Days and Waiting To Survive are at the brink of a new world, but whether the living or dead will rule remains to be seen. VERDICT Frater's prose needs a rigorous edit; her villains are wicked to a melodramatic, mustache-twirling degree, and, as in her previous novels, the sappy love scenes don't always jibe with the end-of-the-world motif. And yet this is an addictive read, full of bloody good zombie action, well-crafted characters, and some truly heart-stopping imagery (e.g., a zombie fetus struggling to emerge from the torn abdomen of his living dead mother). Keep the tissues handy--Frater knows how to pluck the heartstrings.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.