Official Review: Solstice: a novel of the Zombie Apocalypse

[Misaela]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Solstice: a novel of the Zombie Apocalypse" by Donna Burgess.]

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This novel, set at first in London and Sweden, tells us the story of two groups of people who were thrown into a new world of terror and perpetual darkness. They are shown a glimpse of hope and Sanctuary.

The Characters

Melanie, an orphan since age seventeen, lived for a year, before moving to college in Stockholm, with his father’s best friend’s family. Tomas welcomed her with sadness and love, but Leila, his wife, was not thrilled to have an intruder in their home. Christopher, their little son, couldn’t have been happier.

Stu, an English teacher, is the chaperone for a school senior trip in London. He is there with a group of Honors students, and can’t wait for the trip to be over. They are rich, overly-spoiled, horny young teenagers that don’t give him a second to rest.

The Plot

Everywhere on the news, people are warning others of a solar super storm, whose radiation could cause some disruption on the power grids, as well as irritability and mood changes in people. On the eve of the winter solstice celebrations, a massive flash of light envelops the sky, and all who were in its presence were burned by it. The sun apparently disappeared, because that was the last time it was seen. The Earth was completely dark, including the electricity, because all the power went out; the phones and internet too.

Not only the burned were hurt, they were angry. They turned hungry, for human flesh. All the people that were not in that flash of light are now in danger, not only of those Ragers, but of marauders, survivors that are every bit as dangerous as those zombie creatures. Mothers lose sons, husbands their wives, loved ones each other. Everything seems lost, until they hear of Sanctuary.

On the radio, a broadcast is heard by some people claiming to be talking from Zombie Radio X, of a certain Sanctuary form Ragers. This is the last hope for many people to find a place away from all the chaos suddenly brought on to them.

My Reaction and Rating

I have seen zombie movies and series, but never read a novel. As soon as I saw the review opportunity, I took it. It was worth the time. I was very pleased! This story was everything you could expect of a post-apocalyptic world, but I could never consider it predictable. It was very, very crude in the descriptions, and at first I had to stop reading, to take in all the shock and the gore. After about 10 chapters or so, I was completely hooked! The only reasons I had to stop reading were for work and family time, but as soon as I had a chance, I snuck in a chapter or 10. ? As a mom, some parts touched me more than others, making my heart ache and my brain overthink…

I felt all the anxiety, the hopelessness and the constant tension and fear of all the characters. I could relate with most of them. Long story short, I loved it! The only negative thing I could say was that I found some typos, but even then, they did not take me away from the experience of reading Solstice.

Obviously, my rating for this story is 4 out of 4 stars. it was very, very good, and I recommend it to everyone without a sensible stomach.

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[Mexico7]

Thanks for the review! I am getting into zombie novies (World War Z), and I like gore and suspense. I will definitly try this one out. Will let you know....

[ruwaydah]

ZOMBIE!!! Great the thing i really need...Seem to be quite an interesting book

[Misaela]

It is! My (oral) review of the book got my husband's interest piqued, and even he decided to read the book. He, that hasn't read more than 5 books since high school, is as intrigued and affected by the story as anyone could hope.