Siege

Siege - As the World Dies: Book Three

by Rhiannon Frater

Reviewed by Gerti

Rhiannon Frater’s zombie apocalypse trilogy, begins with “The First Days” and ends here with “Siege”. The second book is called “Fighting to Survive” and is to my mind the best book of the three, as “Siege” spends too much time bringing back the dead as ghosts, rather than zombies. It stretches credibility too far!

The trilogy centers around former prosecutor Katie, who helped out housewife Jenni when the zombie apocalypse hit urban Texas. After trials and tribulations, the pair end up in a walled fort in Ashley Oaks with about a hundred other survivors of the turn. Katie is now pregnant by Travis, a former architect who has successfully fortified the town against the undead, as well as human raiders eager for their resources. Jenni, who lost her abusive husband and small children to the zombies, is now living happily with Juan, and her stepson Jason. Her reputation for mad zombie killing has led Juan to nickname her “Loca,” and she lives up to her reputation for crazy stunts in this book.

Frater obviously loves the entire zombie genre, as she introduces us to another survivor colony out at a former shopping mall, in a nod to Romero’s classic zombie movie. Jenni and another survivor from Ashley Oaks named Bill, get kidnapped and taken to this Madison Rescue Center after an attempt to get medical supplies and equipment from a local hospital goes sideways. The mall has about 400 survivors, but is surrounded by zombies and run by a power hungry former senator, who just happens to be related to a bitchy beauty queen expelled from Ashley Oaks after killing her husband, shooting Juan, and trying to steal a Hummer. The senator, Paige Brightman, is more interested in capturing Ashley Oaks (which would make her look good to whatever US government officials are left) than she is in securing the safety of her fellow human survivors.

The two groups decide to talk, Ashley Oaks in order to get back their people, and Brightman in order to take over the fort and its inhabitants. But when the mall’s citizens decide they would rather be in the fort which has more resources and is being far better managed than Brightman’s military operation, Brightman decides to bail and in the process, lets a flood of zombies into the mall. It’s heartbreaking to read graphically about all the carnage, including the demise of some main characters, but Katie and Travis save as many mall-dwelling humans as they can and take them to their fort.

The final drama of this book has a zombie horde of over 10 thousand headed their way, which causes planning, panic and prompts some rabid religious followers to desert the fort. My main objection in this novel is all the ghost sightings that go on, but it’s a good enough conclusion to the saga. I love Frater’s memorable characters, and admire how she brings Ashley Oaks to life.