I Dream of Zombies — Vickie Johnstone

Finalist at the National Indie Excellence Book Awards 2014.A zombie novel set in London over six weeks in 2013, with a strong female lead character. It starts with a dream and then the nightmare takes over...It all begins on a summer's day with the media reporting with some hilarity that people are dreaming of the dead coming to life, but those who have the recurring nightmares are convinced they are a warning of things to come. Marla takes it all with a pinch of salt until she experiences them herself. All over London there are incidences of people falling sick with flu-type symptoms, but they are also becoming aggressive. As the level of violence mounts, the media and government are forced to take the matter seriously. What is causing the mysterious illness? Is it a virus, and is it natural or man-made, and is the government responsible? Marla, her sister Ellen and friend Tommy find themselves fighting for their survival as their sense of reality is smashed. Will the army and police maintain control or will the country find itself in lockdown, isolated from the outside world? Reviews: “Good character development, good descriptions...and friggin' scary... This book's strength lies in two areas: character development...[and] the graphic descriptions of zombie attacks and their effects” �" Stewart Bint."I am pleased to say Vickie has written the novel I have been waiting for. I do not want to give the game away too much but will say there are no cop outs in this book which makes a change. Recommended" �" AM Campbell.Excerpt from the novel... the dream... "A sickening sense of dread ravages him as fear drifts over the surface of his skin like fingers, icy cold and unrelenting. He turns again and sprints towards the exit, his pace becoming increasingly slower as if something is pushing him back. Yet still he finds himself in the exact same position, his feet rooted to the spot, his arms sweeping, useless. His hair blows in the breath that the creature now turns on him, sickening in its putrid scent of death and putrefaction. There is not a word he can think of to describe this thing in front of him. Fear creeps, regardless. Twisting, crawling, the maggots swarm across its bloodied face as it opens its mouth wider. Something tears. The yawn seems to swallow him whole into this darkness of despair as a jagged, ripping pain overwhelms him; the sharp teeth chafing, gnawing at his neck, seeking to pierce the jugular vein within. From far off in the distance comes the ripple of laughter."