Frank Tayell

Zombies. The outbreak began in New York. Soon it had spread to the rest of the world. People were attacked, infected, and they died. Then they came back. No one is safe from the undead. As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The British press was nationalised. Martial law, curfews and rationing were implemented. It wasn't enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the United Kingdom were to be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast, the Scottish Highlands, and in the Irish Republic. Bill Wright, a Westminster insider and an advisor to a future Prime Minister, broke his leg on the day of the outbreak. Unable to join the evacuation, he watched from his window as the streets filled with refugees. He watched as the streets emptied once more. He watched as they filled up again, this time with the undead. Then the power went out. He is trapped. He is alone. He is running out of food and water. He knows that to reach the safety of the enclaves he will have to venture out into the wasteland that once was England. On that journey he will ultimately discover the horrific truth about the outbreak, a decades old conspiracy, and his unwitting part in it. This is the first volume of his journal. (73,000 words)

London

Family

Billions were infected. Nations fell. The evacuation failed. Bill Wright's journey has only one destination, the research facility that created the virus. As he meets other survivors in his struggle across the wasteland to reach it, he discovers that it is not just the undead who need to be feared. This is the second volume of his journal.

Wasteland

Zombies vs The Living Dead

Reunion

"There are no reported outbreaks in the UK or Ireland." That is what the government broadcast. Nilda didn't believe it. Not trusting the authorities, she and her son stayed behind when Penrith was evacuated. After weeks of rationing, there is little food left in the small town, and many other survivors competing for it. Choosing diplomacy over violence, she attempts to forge a community out of a disparate group. As the number of the undead grow, she realises that they will have to seek sanctuary elsewhere. Nilda travels north into Scotland, but death follows, and she is forced to leave once more. Joining with others who have survived the evacuation, she finds not all of them have the same motives. Some, like Tuck, Sebastian, and the Abbot of Brazely only want to help. Others, like Harper and Rob, only want to help themselves. Chester and the new Mayor of Anglesey have their own agenda, one at odds with Nilda's quest to find a safe haven for her son.

Unsafe Haven

Policing Post-Apocalyptic Britain. Strike A Match They called them Artificial Intelligences. Sentient viruses were closer to the truth. They spread throughout the world until every networked circuit was infected. Then they went to war. Millions died in the nuclear holocaust that brought an abrupt end to the AI’s brief reign of terror. Billions more succumbed to radiation, starvation, and disease. But millions survived, and they rebuilt. Serious Crimes Twenty years later, a ceremony is being held to mark the first transatlantic broadcast since The Blackout. The Prime Minister of Britain and two of the Presidents of the United States will speak to an audience of nearly ten million people. Not all are celebrating. Crime is on the rise, and power is once again a prize worth murdering for. Ruth Deering, a new graduate from the police academy, doesn’t care about ancient history or current affairs. She only joined the force to escape the smog-infested city. Those hopes are dashed when she is assigned to the Serious Crimes Unit, commanded by the disgraced Sergeant Mitchell. Her first case seems like a simple murder, but the investigation uncovers a counterfeiting ring and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy their fragile democracy. Serious Crimes is a transatlantic thriller set in a world of rationing and ruins, democracy and despotism, steam trains and smart phones. This is not the story of how the apocalypse is survived, but of what happens next. (77,000 words). The investigation continues in Counterfeit Conspiracy.

Strike a Match 1

Serious Crimes

The outbreak changed everything, but there are some bonds even the undead can't break.It's been six years since Pete Guinn last saw his sister, Corrie. He always hoped to see her again, but feared she was dead. When an elusive billionaire reveals Corrie is living under an assumed name in the Australian outback, Pete unquestioningly jumps at the chance of a reunion. But you can't win the lottery without buying a ticket, and billionaires don't do favours for free. Corrie is in hiding from her old employer, and from the Rosewood Cartel. Now that they've both found her, only a miracle can save the two siblings, and what happens in Manhattan can't be described as miraculous.What begins as a viral outbreak soon turns into an impossible horror. People are infected and die, only to rise up and continue transmitting the infection. Even as the army is mobilised, the virus spreads beyond the borders of the United States. Nowhere is safe from the living dead.As Australia is quarantined, the mining town of Broken Hill becomes a transit hub for the relief effort. Tourists are evacuated while civilians are conscripted, Pete and Corrie among them. Together with a bush pilot, a flying doctor, and an outback cop, the struggle to maintain civilisation begins. Supplies run low. Looting is rampant. Laws are forgotten, especially by the cartel who haven't abandoned their search for Corrie and their quest for revenge.Set in Broken Hill and beyond as the Australian quarantine begins.As this book returns to the beginning of the outbreak, it can be considered a good entry point for readers new to the series.

Outback Outbreak

Surviving the Evacuation

Twenty years after the apocalyptic Blackout, steam-trains and the telegraph have replaced smartphones and satellites, but while some still fear technology, many dream of its return. In France, winter has brought the terrorist insurgency to a frozen stalemate. On the home front, thoughts turn to spring and the dream of a more peaceful future. The Houses of Parliament are finally relocating to a new permanent home in Highcliffe Castle on the British south coast. In the far north of Scotland, a new national gallery is set to open in Thurso, displaying re-discovered paintings looted from Edinburgh just after the Blackout. In Dover, despite the curfews and rationing, pubs, bars, and clubs are thriving, but the re-opening of the cinema is put on hold after all its seats are stolen for firewood. Ten years ago, Henry Mitchell chased the gang known as the Loyal Brigade from the ruins of Sandringham. A decade later, the gang has returned. After his arrest for arms dealing and smuggling, the new leader of the Loyal Brigade has been confined to a prison hulk in Thurso’s frozen harbour. Despite being in isolation, he is still able to co-ordinate a wave of arson attacks in the new capital. Having rebranded himself as a cult leader, with each attack comes an apocalyptic warning of greater destruction to come. It is up to Ruth Deering, Anna Riley, and the Serious Crimes Unit to crack the code before more people are hurt. Henry Mitchell knows a direct line can be drawn between the apocalyptic Blackout, the recent attempted coup, and the devastating insurgency in France. Thanks to evidence gathered during the Second Siege of Calais, Mitchell finally knows where the terrorist leadership is based. As he and Isaac head deep behind enemy lines, they have one chance to end this forever war. For their plan to work, they’ll have to do the unthinkable on a mission from which they almost certainly won’t return. The fate of the future is decided in Dover, Bournemouth, Thurso, Poland, and beyond…

Strike a Match 5: Thin Ice

Billions died during the global civil war that followed the outbreak. Anarchy took grip. Chaos ruled. The world collapsed. In Britain, the evacuation failed. Nowhere was safe from the undead. Four months after the outbreak Bill Wright has found safety in a ruined Abbey in southern England, but he is still alone. All he has for company are the files sent to him by his shadowy contact, Sholto. On those, he believes he has found the origins of the undead, and the vast conspiracy in which he discovers he played an unwitting part. He needs answers, and knows the only place they will be found is at the facility that created the virus. As he journeys through the desolate ruins of a dead civilisation, he meets other survivors. He rescues some, is rescued by others, but ultimately discovers that zombies are not the most deadly threat in an undead wasteland. This is the second volume of his journal. (76,000 words)

Surviving The Evacuation, Book 2: Wasteland

Surviving is easy. It’s the next part, living, that’s hard. Zombies. It is seven months since the outbreak. The world is in ruins. Britain is a radioactive wasteland peopled by the undead. The few survivors cling to the hope that they might wake up tomorrow. For most, that is all they have left. But Nilda has something more; the chance that her son is alive. At least he was, months before. She and Chester set out from Penrith, searching for her son. During the journey, Nilda learns more about this self-confessed criminal, Radio Free England, the conspiracy behind the outbreak, and how Chester was involved in it all. As they near Hull, she realises it is too late to change her travelling companion. She will need his help to escape the zombie infested city, and find her son. Fleeing from the last remnant of the old government, Tuck and Jay head south in search for survivors. When they rescue a wounded man, their quest becomes one for medical supplies. That leads them to a rooftop city, and to the realisation that surviving out in the wasteland is easy compared to forging a new life from the wreckage of the old civilisation. (100,000 words) Other books in the series: 1: London. 2: Wasteland. (Zombies vs the Living Dead) 3: Family. 4: Unsafe Haven. 5: Reunion. 6: Harvest. 7: Home. & Here We Stand 1: Infected 2: Divided. Post-apocalyptic detective novels: Serious Crimes, Counterfeit Conspiracy & Work, Rest, Repeat.

Surviving The Evacuation, Book 5: Reunion

There is always hope. Northern France is a frozen morass of mud and snow across which rampages a horde of the undead, a hundred million strong. That won’t stop Chester Carson and his comrades. Seeking a way across the Channel, they make for the coast, unaware that Britain has been abandoned, Belfast is a ruin, and that radiation is seeping into the Irish Sea. If they knew, that wouldn’t stop them either. They’re on a quest to save their family, their friends, and humanity itself; failure is not an option. As they journey through war-ravaged ports and storm-wrecked beaches, a new truth becomes clear. The flotilla that found refuge on Anglesey wasn’t the only group of sea-borne refugees to have survived the outbreak. There are other survivors. Some good, some evil, some just determined to do their duty no matter the cost. Danger lurks along the French and Belgian coasts. So do answers, and hope that humanity now has a future.

Surviving the Evacuation Book 15 Where There's Hope

Zombies. The outbreak began in New York. Soon it had spread to the rest of the world. People were attacked, infected, and they died. Then they came back. No one is safe from the undead. As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The British press was nationalised. Martial law, curfews and rationing were implemented. It wasn’t enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the United Kingdom were to be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast, the Scottish Highlands, and in the Irish Republic. Bill Wright, a Westminster insider and an advisor to a future Prime Minister, broke his leg on the day of the outbreak. Unable to join the evacuation, he watched from his window as the streets filled with refugees. He watched as the streets emptied once more. He watched as they filled up again, this time with the undead. Then the power went out. He is trapped. He is alone. He is running out of food and water. He knows that to reach the safety of the enclaves he will have to venture out into the wasteland that once was England. On that journey he will ultimately discover the horrific truth about the outbreak, a decades old conspiracy, and his unwitting part in it. This is the first volume of his journal. (73,000 words) Other books in the series: 1: London. 2: Wasteland. (Zombies vs the Living Dead) 3: Family. 4: Unsafe Haven. 5: Reunion. 6: Harvest. 7: Home. & Here We Stand 1: Infected & 2: Divided. Post-apocalyptic detective novels: Serious Crimes, Counterfeit Conspiracy & Work, Rest, Repeat.

Surviving The Evacuation, Book 1: London

Not all survivors are to be trusted. Not all the conspirators are dead. February: Within hours of the outbreak, the quarantine was sabotaged. Within days, the world was gripped by civil war. March: When the lights finally went out, billions were dead. Millions more had joined the ranks of the undead. May: Anglesey has become home to nearly ten thousand survivors from across the Atlantic. While there is still danger from the undead on the mainland, there is hope. Hope that the zombies might die, hope that the electricity supply might be restored, and hope that more survivors will be found. Hope is not enough. Sergeant Branofski and Chester Carson venture into northern Wales to set up a network of safe houses that will provide a route to Anglesey for those still trapped in the wasteland. Though they find survivors, they discover something far worse. September: Nowhere is safe from the living dead, not even The Tower of London. The ancient fortress has become home to nearly a hundred people. Food is scarce and the undead are many. The survivors are doomed unless help can be found, but the only place it can come from is Anglesey. Eamonn Finnegan sets out alone to seek their salvation. He never reaches Wales. November: In her heart, Greta knows that Eamonn is dead, yet she has to look for her lost love because he would look for her. Chester joins her in the futile quest to ensure the search doesn't cost Greta her life. Before their journey has barely begun, they discover an old foe that they thought was dead. Set on Anglesey and in London, near Wrexham and in Birmingham, while hope is fading for the last survivors of humanity.

Search and Rescue

Surviving The Evacuation, Book 11

It took three weeks to destroy civilisation. It won’t be rebuilt in a day. A year after the outbreak, a sharp winter is followed by a sudden thaw. Spring has come early to Nova Scotia, bringing new hope. For the thirteen thousand survivors who’ve found sanctuary in northern Canada, and for the first time since the apocalypse, extinction isn’t imminent. But it looms large in the near future, a legacy of the nuclear war that destroyed civilisation. As the weather improves, some survivors quit the small community. Even more plan their departure. The old-world supplies of food, oil, and ammunition have been consumed. More will have to be grown, drilled, and made. Medicine, paper, clothes: in a few years there will be none left to salvage. If it can’t be manufactured, it will have to be forgone. What knowledge can’t be preserved will be lost. Humanity’s future appears bleak unless more people can be found. Hoping there is some truth in the rumours of a redoubt in Vancouver, an expedition to the Pacific is launched. The journey will be perilous as North America was ground zero for the outbreak, and for the nuclear war. Set in Canada and beyond, as survivors from the Atlantic and Pacific meet. Please note: this book features places and events, and heroes and villains from Life Goes On Books 1-3, the saga of survivors in the Pacific.

Surviving the Evacuation, Book 18: Rebuilt in a Day

The outbreak changed everything, but there are some bonds even the undead can’t break. It’s been six years since Pete Guinn last saw his sister, Corrie. He always hoped to see her again, but feared she was dead. When an elusive billionaire reveals Corrie is living under an assumed name in the Australian outback, Pete unquestioningly jumps at the chance of a reunion. But you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket, and billionaires don’t do favours for free. Corrie is in hiding from her old employer, and from the Rosewood Cartel. Now that they’ve both found her, only a miracle can save the two siblings, and what happens in Manhattan can’t be described as miraculous. What begins as a viral outbreak soon turns into an impossible horror. People are infected and die, only to rise up and continue transmitting the infection. Even as the army is mobilised, the virus spreads beyond the borders of the United States. Nowhere is safe from the living dead. As Australia is quarantined, the mining town of Broken Hill becomes a transit hub for the relief effort. Tourists are evacuated while civilians are conscripted, Pete and Corrie among them. Together with a bush pilot, a flying doctor, and an outback cop, the struggle to maintain civilisation begins. Supplies run low. Looting is rampant. Laws are forgotten, especially by the cartel who haven’t abandoned their search for Corrie and their quest for revenge. Set in Broken Hill and beyond as the Australian quarantine begins. As this book returns to the beginning of the outbreak, it can be considered a good entry point for readers new to the series.

Surviving the Evacuation: Outback Outbreak

A castle can be made safe from the undead, but not from the people inside the walls. It is seven months since the outbreak. In the anarchy and chaos that came with the undead, civilisation was destroyed. In the wars that followed, the planet was nearly ruined. Billions died. Only a few thousand survived. Fifty people have found refuge in the Tower of London. Zombies plague the city outside the old fortress. The wasteland beyond is filled with nothing but radioactive ruins. With nowhere left to retreat to, and in a final attempt to make the ancient castle a place where they can do more than just slowly starve, the survivors search for food in the abandoned coastal farms. They find something else. They discover that hunger, thirst, and the undead aren’t the only threat they face. Betrayal and danger lurk in the shadows in this, the sixth novel in the series. (78,000 words) Other books in the series: 0.5: Zombies vs The Living Dead. 1: London. 2: Wasteland. 3: Family. 4: Unsafe Haven. 5: Reunion. 6: Harvest. 7: Home. & Here We Stand: Infected. Post-apocalyptic detective novels: Serious Crimes, Counterfeit Conspiracy & Work, Rest, Repeat.

Surviving The Evacuation, Book 6: Harvest

Harvest

As nations rebuild, democracy is under threat. In 2019, the AIs went to war. Millions died before a nuclear holocaust brought an end to their brief reign of terror. Billions more succumbed to radiation poisoning, disease, and the chaotic violence of that apocalypse. Some survived. They rebuilt. Twenty years later, civilisation is a dim shadow of its former self. Crime is on the rise. During the investigation of a routine homicide, Police Officer Ruth Deering prevents a group, claiming to be Luddites, from destroying the telegraph. This act of sabotage is only the beginning. As arrests are made and criminals are caught, evidence emerges that the saboteurs are connected to the AIs, the counterfeiting, and to the assassination. The shadowy figure behind the conspiracy must be unmasked before their fragile democracy is destroyed.

Strike a Match 2

Counterfeit Conspiracy

The battle might be lost, but the war isn't over.Once it was home to half a billion people. A year after the nuclear war, Europe is a radioactive, storm-ravaged wasteland through which a hundred million undead inexorably march. In their wake, they leave nothing but ruins. Ahead of them flee those few who managed to survive this long. Chasing them are the dregs of humanity. Once known as the Rosewood Cartel, they kill, loot, and destroy as indiscriminately as the living dead.Hope might be lost, but it could still be found, as can a future for the last remnant of humanity. Those who built a sanctuary on Anglesey, in Dundalk, in Creil are the help that came to others. In this, their darkest hour, but with a new dawn so close, they will not give up.Set in the Faroe Islands, France, Denmark, and elsewhere, the battle has begun, but the war hasn't yet been lost. Please note, this book contains characters and events that first appeared in Outback Outbreak.

Frank Tayell

About

Books

Join the club