A bunch of Arctic explorers uncover a terrifying new aggressive organism trapped underground and must stop it from escaping to civilisation while trying to work out who is infected. Yes, it’s a bold play by NYT bestseller Tim Lebbon to riff on The Thing so heavily, but he’s done what all canny authors do when reinventing an IP; he’s kept the core of what makes this kind of story brilliant (“Who’s infected?! That is gross! Massive explosion! I regret reading this over my lunch!” etc) while injecting a wholly new original idea into the mix.

The original idea here is climate change. The discoverers of this new nasty organism – and it is genuinely nasty, its idea of dispersal gross, the fungal nature of it disturbingly plausible (I won’t say more, but you won’t be taking a breath for a while, so I hope your lung capacity is excellent) – find it in an Arctic environment that is changing all around them. Climate change is wreaking havoc here; ice is melting and new plants and growths are popping up as the landscape collapses and transforms. This part is all true, and it’s this disturbing plausibility that lends a whole new sheen to the classic “Thing” trope. This is the Earth coming back to bite us, and it could really happen. Probably. I don’t know, I’m not a scientist, but I’ll be making faster progress on my apocalypse shelter, you can be sure of that.

Another edge this action horror has is that there is A LOT of action, making this a whirlwind from start to finish. From the moment the team of illegal profiteers seeking rare earth materials come across something very bad in the cave – forcing them to flee across the Arctic back to civilisation while attempting to work out who’s infected, all the while rubbing up against some environmental activists who would rather they never got back at all if that’s what it takes – it is set piece after set piece, never slowing down, never stopping. The combination of this whiplash narrative with the genuinely fascinating biology of the creature – I won’t give anything away but it is an organism just as terrifyingly effective as it is effectively terrifying – means that you are never bored as you juggle the mystery of what they are facing with a series of bombastic, increasingly large-scale action set pieces.

Character wise, it’s slightly less successful; the key relationship is an estranged friendship between one of the activists and one of the profiteers, and it’s a really nice idea to make this an entirely platonic one and focus on the nature of friendship and forgiveness, but it never quite worked for me, feeling a little lifeless and less interesting than all the biological puzzles and identity conundrums and things blowing up. But this slight disappointment is partly made up for by an enormously fun character in the shape of a grizzled, old, seemingly indestructible activist who comes across like if an aging and more enlightened James Bond joined Greenpeace.

Overall, this book is what you’d get if a fungal-obsessed Greta Thunberg directed The Thing. It’s a breakneck action horror that will keep you guessing as you reach for your Covid mask, and given its shortish length you have no choice but to remain in your armchair until you find out who is human and who is not. Great fun.

Big thank you to Tim Lebbon and Titan Books for allowing me to read this Arc. My review will be posted Feb 1 on my Goodreads and Tiktok in accordance with the policy that the review be held until the publication month.

I love a good thriller/horror and especially one that touches on climate change. This was such a hot topic and interesting idea that had me hooked from the beginning. While I thoroughly enjoyed the idea, some parts did feel a bit slow and the pacing was not consistent. Additionally some of the character POV’s felt either forced or repetitive. I would have liked to see a bit more action spread throughout the story instead of congregating in the last couple characters. Overall though it was an enjoyable book with a great message! 3/5 stars for me.

Huge thanks to Tim, Titan Books, Netgalley and Edelweiss for the advance copy of this one. I’d requested this on Edelweiss as soon as it was on there. A month later, it popped up on Netgalley, so I requested it and was approved the same day. Then two days later – approved on Edelweiss haha! So, there we go!

It’s occurred to me that I’ve pretty much only read Tim’s ‘eco-horror’ releases while reading this one. Novels such as ‘The Last Storm,’ ‘Coldbrook,’ ‘The Silence,’ and the phenomenal ‘Eden,’ have all been set in worlds where the characters are predominantly outside fighting to survive. ‘Coldbrook’ might be the outlier there, as it’s not so much an ‘eco-horror’ like the others, but even then, it involves surviving and the great outdoors. Throw in his humourous ‘Run, Walk, Crawl,’ non-fiction release and it’s safe to say writing about the outdoors is Tim’s bread and butter. Everything seems to be more vibrant and the emotions raised that much more. Hell, even throw in his recent novella, ‘The Last Day and the First,’ and it all comes to show you, Tim is a writer who thrives when everything is outside.

Now, I prefaced this by saying I’ve read mainly his ‘eco-horror,’ which means I’ve not read really any of his sci-fi works nor any of his IP works such as his Aliens stuff or his novelizations such as Kong: Skull Island (which is essentially an ‘eco-horror’ novelization!), so others may feel the opposite where they prefer his sci-fi stuff, but for this reader, his wilderness work is pristine.

Which leads us to ‘Among the Living’ his newest novel, launching sky high from the mighty Titan Books. Everything about this one had me excited and when Tim posted a few times that this one might be one of his most straight-ahead horror novels, I knew we were in for a treat.

What I liked: The novel is set in the near-future and focuses on a subject that honestly and truly petrifies the shit out of me. The world has warmed and the permafrost is melting. Which means things that are hundreds of thousands of years old are unthawing and making their way back into the real world.

A side piece here from me. Everything about that little paragraph I’ve written is terrifying and is something that freaks me out. Much like the movie ‘Outbreak’ scared the hell out of me when it was released, the reality that this is actually happening currently is enough to keep me awake at night. Another concerning thing, for me at least, is the turning-of-the-cheek to science and vaccines and vaccination education. Working in a healthcare adjacent position, we see – daily – what the results of being vaccinated and unvaccinated are and with the world’s collective increase in turning their backs on these things, I stress over what will happen when one of these dormant diseases unthaws and spores into the air.

Anyways, I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to the meat and potatoes of this novel. Safe to say, I was scared to my core from page one. The story follows Bethan, Alile and Goyo, who travel far north after being tipped off that a group is illegally searching for rare minerals. The trio do their best to prevent climate destruction. The person who tipped off Bethan is her former best friend, Dean. He is one of the folks mining for these rare materials. While Dean and his group are deep in an unexplored cave complex, they discover old cave paintings and seemingly mummified bodies, dead for centuries. That is, until one of them moves.

It’s from here that Lebbon has created a white-knuckle thrill ride where Dean and Bethan try to overcome their differences – from an event in their past – and work together to prevent the spread of what has waken.

Each and every chapter after is a cinematic masterpiece. Tim does such a job of painting the picture of what this near-future landscape looks like, with polar bears having returned from near extinction and now rampaging across their territory, to the ever-present threat of sink holes and methane geysers erupting at a moments notice.

The Goyo character is phenomenal and becomes an almost supernatural entity within, leading Bethan and Dean across the terrain as they race to prevent the downfall of all mankind.

I loved the folklore element that Tim infuses in here and I’ll need to search out and see if the Long-Gone story shared within was based on a real story or purely from his imagination, but either way, it worked so well to share the ‘why’ of those below and leads us to the violent, chaotic ending.

The ending – for me at least – worked amazingly to cap everything off and when we look at the totality of the ‘why’ and what they are trying to prevent, made total sense. Saying that, it can also be looked at as partially open-ended and who knows, we may see more of this world in the future.

What I didn’t like: This is 100% me nitpicking here, but I had hoped much, much more of this novel was going to be happening in a subterranean setting. Only the first few chapters has anything to do with the cave discovery, so I was a bit bummed when that became obvious, but for me at least, it didn’t dampen the story in the least. I just like cave horror!

Why you should buy this: Tim writes his novels with the ever growing dread that an A-bomb is about to go off. Much like many of the high-fantasy writers (Martin etc) no character in Tim’s novels are ever safe and that makes for an edgy, uncertain read, which I’m all for.

‘Among the Living’ is cold-weather, frozen-tundra horror done so very well. Another example of why Tim’s best work is when he’s writing in the ‘eco-horror’ world and honestly, I don’t think there’s another author out there who has released books at this level, to this degree, focusing so much on the ever-growing crisis of climate change and the terror that these changes can bring.

Outstanding work.

This seemed like an appropriate read for a snow day. The cover was nearly all white just like the world outside. And just like the world outside, it ended up being something of a disappointment. But then Lebbon’s books had been lately. Same thing with The Last Storm. Mind you, they are perfectly decent reads, and even on the literary side of things. Lebbon’s been at it for long enough to produce thoroughly competent works of fiction. It’s just that … that’s all it is to them. There’s nothing more. They don’t particularly wow or emotionally engage. They are just … there.
The Artic is hot right now, no pun. People have been using it as a setting for polar terrors a bunch. Snow melts revealing terrible secrets. Yeah, not all that original. The scenario was done in the TV show Fortitude (a way more superior take on this) and even touched on in the actioneer The Tomorrow War. There’s no point in rewriting it as a lesser book.
It’s fine, it’s readable, and goes by quickly enough, but like some snow in the sun, it melts away leaving nothing behind. Thanks Netgalley.

Tim Lebbon’s _Among the Living_ is a suspenseful read about an ancient contagion let loose on an island due to climate change and human tampering. It’s told from multiple points of view as the characters try to survive the disease and keep it from reaching civilization. It is an interesting plot involving a mysterious and old infection and culture, which I would have liked explored a bit more, while also illustrating the dangers of a changing climate.

Books Read 2024 #2 - Among The Living by Tim Lebbon.
This is the third in Lebbons loosely linked trilogy of ecological horror - the first two being the exceptional Eden and more recently, The Last Storm.
I think, however, that he saved the best to last.
We hear about the premise fairly regularly as part of the raft of concerns surrounding climate change. Specifically, some strange, prehistoric virus that we have no defence against thaws with the arctic permafrost and decimates the human race. We've seen this scenario play out in a number of mediums, most recently in the TV show, Fortitude (although that wasn't a virus).
Lebbon, of course, steps things up a few notches, however. Not content with unleashing a terrible plague upon humanity, he goes the extra mile and makes it not only sentient but also capable of bursting out of its host in a mass of spores in a similar way to the Clickers in The Last of Us (TV show and game).
The characters are a disparate group made up of some illegal prospectors, searching the newly defrosted arctic landscape for sites holding rare earth metals, along with the environmentalists who set out to stop them and end up caught in the nightmare.
What we end up with is a taut, tense chase thriller, with a healthy dose of body horror as the characters try to initially escape from the contagion and then realise that they need to stop it before it reaches a populated area.
Among The Living wears its influences on its sleeve. There are major nods to The Thing, along with the aforementioned Fortitude and The Last of Us, while also loosely tying in to Lebbons last two novels. This does not detract from the story, however, and the dynamic between these two groups is a real source of tension until the contagion really gets going and things get out of hand in the final third.
A great addition to the eco-horror subgenre, and a fun, easy read that I tore through in a couple of days.

Title: Among the Living
Author: Tim Lebbon
Publisher: Titan Books
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers, Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Release Date: 13 February 2024
Price: Hardback only– US $16.99 (Paperback), $9.99 (eBook)

The following review contains mild spoilers. As the novel is a thriller with mystery elements, this review will only discuss details of the story in the most-general terms so as to inform readers without giving away important plot points.

My first experience reading Tim Lebbon’s writing happened when I received in the mail a book from his Aliens vs. Predator trilogy. I’ve been a passionate fan of both franchises since my childhood in the 1980s; immediately fascinated, I ordered the rest of The Rage War trilogy.

I learned quickly that Lebbon has a knack for hooking readers in the opening pages while building tension over longer story arcs that entangle and climax in a powerful finish. Tim Lebbon is a masterful storyteller, and one that shares a love of my favorite franchises. So when I got the chance to preview his upcoming science-fiction thriller, I pounced like a Xenomorph on a fallen Yautja warrior.

Synopsis

In the year 2063, climate change has ravaged the earth’s most fragile biomes, radically transforming ecosystems and exposing ancient spaces long buried under the icy tundra. As Among the Living begins, two teams descend upon a remote arctic island, one led by Dean and his team of illegal prospectors searching for rare earth materials; the other led by Dean’s estranged companion Bethan, a lifelong environmental activist, willing to take extreme measures to persevere what’s left of Earth’s changing climate.

But what is done cannot be undone; the danger that Dean’s team unearths threatens not only the lives of everyone on the island, but will end the world in brutal fashion. As time runs out, Dean and Bethan must find a solution and work together to stop the spread of this dark contagion.

Among the Living is a thrilling page turner, an adventure that never lets readers rest upon expectations. As terrifying as it is relevant, Tim Lebbon’s latest novel is an imaginative take on what is and what could be.

Praise for the Novel

From its opening pages, tension in Among the Living is razor sharp. It’s Indiana Jones meets The Thing, and readers must survive the ride. But what is most impressive is Lebbon’s ability to create characters readers care about, somehow establishing deep motivations while pushing the plot forward at breakneck speeds.

“The world has to be lucky every time,” Goyo had said when he’d told her his story, sitting beside a campfire in the north of Greenland, “and any of these new nasty diseases only has to be lucky once.” -Among the Living (2024)

An environmental activist willing to kill and willing to die for her beliefs. A man who lost his homeland to rising oceans and a changing environment. Another pained by what could have been in a passionate relationship run cold. These characters are complex and at times deeply relatable. When their lives are threatened or when painful decisions must be made, readers will hang on Lebbon’s every word.

Like most good eco-thrillers, the land itself becomes a kind of character, too. But Lebbon’s Among the Living does this better than most, as the thawing arctic island becomes both sacred land to be defend and terrifying predator that stalks the living. The toxic geysers release deadly heat and hungry polar bears trap and corner Lebbon’s characters while he pushes them through haunting liminal spaces that feel cinematic. The novel would lend itself quite well to a film adaptation.

Final Score

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.

This book is just plain fun to read. The pacing is edge-of-your-seat, and the characters are compelling. While the novel lives up to its classification as a “thriller,” it is the weight of relevancy, resting on every page, which propels this novel into the horror genre. Having lived through the wildfire seasons of the west coast, grieved with those whose lives have been wrecked by all-too-frequent hurricanes, the threat of climate change is very real for me. I feel it in my bones. The notion that climate change’s biggest threat may be on the microscopic level, a danger we cannot so easily witness, is terrifying. Though the book is imaginative fiction and obviously takes the “what if” game to a supernatural level, the threat of disease and plague are real.

The opening and final acts of Among the Living are strongest by far. While the middle act is solid, I felt the tension sagged just a bit and left me somewhat restless. Thankfully the ending of the novel more than carries its weight and delivers big time on the novel’s premise.

I give Among the Living a four out of five star rating.

David Lasby is the Editor In Chief for Boss Rush Network. His favorite video games are The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and the Aliens franchise. You can find him on Twitter to talk all things Nintendo, sci-fi / fantasy, and creative writing.

In the Arctic's Hawkshead Island, a group of illegal miners discover an ancient cavern hidden beneath the now-receding ice and a deadly horror that has been lying in wait. Inside are a group of bodies, one of which has been deformed by a disease that has reawakened in the presence of these miners and has but one singular goal -- to spread. All that may be able to contain this hideous infection is a small band of eco-warriors intent on halting these rogue miners, but they may already be too late.

Given the recent surge in COVID-19 infections and other assorted headlines, it feels utterly impossible to separate Among the Living from the current social and political issues of our times, but such is the nature of art, which is inherently political and borne out of contemporaneous issues. Tim Lebbon's latest feels strikingly familiar, not only because we've been facing similar concerns these last four years, but is also a bellwether of what may potentially come given societal trends toward apathy.

Like his last few novels, Among the Living is intensely ecologically minded, with the plot and the terrors that are unleashed fueled by the horrors of climate change. Set only a few decades ahead of us (one character reminisces about seeing Metallica on tour for James Hetfield's 70th birthday back when she was in high school), the frozen wastelands of the Arctic have further receded and temperatures have risen. Earth's ancient history is slowly thawing and being revealed, as are the threats that have lurked dormant in the ice. It's a land ripe for exploitation by capitalistic concerns, like rogue miners looking to get rich quick off rare earth mineral deposits, that will only cause the land and those that inhabit it further harm. Timely, given recent news about billionaires exploiting the shrinking ice in Greenland in a mining rush and, no joke, shipping glacier ice to the desert for their cocktails.

Lebbon's latest also reminds one of the rampant wave of denialism that fueled so much of the COVID-19 pandemic, fractioning those who attempted to halt the spread against those who sought to ratchet up infection rates through ignorance and/or sheer stupidity, as well as the belief that infecting others rather than taking precautions against it was their god given right and that taking preventative measures was an infringement against their civil liberties. Like any other disease, the horrifying contagion at the heart of Among the Living wants to spread, has a biological -- and perhaps even intellectual -- imperative to spread, and once infected its human hosts become little more than quislings intent on helping the disease reach further. Kind of like COVID-19 deniers.

Among the Living grabbed my attention right from the outset. Lebbon wastes no time getting down to brass tacks with the illegal miners discovery of ancient subterranean horrors and ratcheting up the suspense and scares in the pages that follow. And while the disease in question bears some similarities to the now over-used fungal threat of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the zombie fungus that has become the go-to favorite of tired horror writers the world over, Lebbon smartly gives us something older, wiser, and far scarier and more threatening. On the character front, I greatly appreciated the strained relationship between our just-reunited protagonists of Bethan and Dean, which eschews the romantic in favor of the platonic. Lesser works would have left us wondering how long until they jump into bed with one another, but Lebbon tackles the more interesting route of a headstrong friendship broken by the consequence of action and lapsed time, and whether or not it can be reforged at the end of the world.

This one was a DNF for me, but I am still very thankful to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital and audio access to give this one a try.

An evocative setting drawn with a sense of wonder, the Arctic slopes beginning to stir make for a haunting backdrop to this horror-thriller.

The stakes are set early on, and while they’re raised from time to time, ultimately this is not a book drenched in mystery. Nor is its language a major draw; while there are occasional shockingly beautiful turns of phrase, the prose is mostly functional and even repetitive in its use of language (‘cracked and crazed’ loses its impact after the third use). This story is driven by its characters - including the simple but effective dynamic of Dean and Bethan, whose history lends depth to an otherwise straightforward narrative - and its themes, which gain something poignant from the real-world backdrop of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Tim Lebbon's third consecutive climate-based novel this time features the not so far off future where the permafrost has receded unveiling an island in the arctic once long buried. A group of rare earth metal prospectors, including Dean, a former climate advocate, traverse a newly uncovered cave searching for new sources of ore. Inside they find strange wall carvings and paintings, and an even stranger tableau of mummified bodies bound together near another one bent at unnatural angles. Meanwhile, Dean's former friend Bethan is also coming to the area along with two fellow climate activists intending to stop any efforts to exploit the island. When the miners are surprised by sudden movement among the mummified corpses, the two groups soon find themselves in a race for the survival of all human existence.
I must admit that it took a little while for me to get into this book, possibly because the descriptions of what was going on and the lack of background of the characters left me disconnected to the story at first. However, it wasn't long before the action began and the details behind everything began to unfurl, making for an intense and very engaging story, at times reminiscent of the film The Thing. While there seems to be a crescendo midway through the book, the second half manages to remain exciting and rapidly paced right through to the finale. Another triumph for Lebbon. 4.5/5*

My thanks to Titan book's, Tim Lebbon and Netgalley.
I first discovered Tim when I came across a novella of his named "White." That short story was the start of my love affair with Mr. Lebbons stories. I've read White 3 times, and every other year I still feel the need to read it again.
Among the Living is not a book that I'll be looking forward to reading again.
Don't get me wrong, because it's a fine story. It does not however have the feels that scream to me "read me again!"
Lebbon has always been fantastic when it comes to building characters. This was woefully inadequate in this story.
There are some legitimate scares here. A few times I actually gasped! Yes, a true gasp! Whodathunkit?
Through 20-25 years of reading Mr. Lebbon this is the one and only book of his that I'm not happy about. Pretty damned good odds! So what? One book. Not even close to his best, but I always recommend Lebbon. He's surely one of the most underrated author's around.
Oh, hey! Maybe his publishers should push his books in a more effective manner.

"From the New York Times bestseller and author of Netflix's The Silence comes a terrifying horror novel set in a melting Arctic landscape. Something deadly has lain dormant for thousands of years, but now the permafrost is giving up its secrets...

Estranged friends Dean and Bethan meet after five years apart when they are drawn to a network of caves on a remote Arctic island. Bethan and her friends are environmental activists, determined to protect the land. But Dean's group's exploitation of rare earth minerals deep in the caves unleashes an horrific contagion that has rested frozen and undisturbed for many millennia. Fleeing the terrors emerging from the caves, Dean and Bethan and their rival teams undertake a perilous journey on foot across an unpredictable and volatile landscape. The ex-friends must learn to work together again if they're to survive...and more importantly, stop the horror from spreading to the wider world.

A propulsive horror thriller - fast-moving, frightening, and shockingly relevant - this adventure will grip you until the final terrifying page."

Very Michael Crichton meets Fortitude, and I am here for that!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the E-ARC of Among the Living by Tim Lebbon. When I first saw the premise for Among the Living, I immediately pressed "request." I have read a few of Lebbon's books in the past and have enjoyed them. I am fascinated by caves and spelunking, so the first part of the book was my favorite part. In my opinion, I wish the plot would have spent more time in the subterranean setting. It would have definitely added to the claustrophobic suspense. Some of the character's choices didn't seem logical to me as well. Overall, Lebbon's books The Silence and Eden were more finely tuned (and definitely more terrifying). I will say, however, that the plot of Among the Living is pretty unique and stands out in the horror genre.

A big thank you to the folks over at NetGalley who granted me access to an eARC!

The buzz around this book existing as a mashup as The Thing and The Last of Us seems to hit the nail right on the head so to speak. A group of researchers set out to explore some dormant caves that are now accessible thanks to global warming. Of course, not all things buried remain that way and what is discovered is markedly grizzly in nature with the potential for world ending consequences.

This book was not what I expected in a few ways, namely in the examination of our role as inhibitors of our planet. The first group to discover this once buried contagion works as preliminary researchers for larger companies who can raid the land for resources. Aside the basic conflicts of survival, a second group appears to stop the first group’s actions in the name of environmental protection. This conflict wasn’t one I expected, and a larger conflict of morality between the two groups emerges. This is only amplified by the relationship between Bethan and Dean, once close friends who have grown apart over a past event.

Among the Living tackles much more than just survival in harsh elements and a deadly contagion. While there is lots of action, a large amount of time is also dedicated to getting know Bethan and Dean better through their past. However, some parts of their dynamic felt a little repetitive for me personally. This did seem to draw things out a bit further but not of major detriment to the central plot. This is a rather fast past ecological/environmental horror novel that takes a closer look at the morality of humanities role in the depletion of resources and the destruction of our own home. I highly recommend it to those who are fans of stories like The Last of Us, The Thing, or even The Ruins.

Slightly outside of my comfort zone, though reminiscent of some tv shows (1 popular one in particular that may be encroaching into spoiler territory as to the nature of this story) I've really enjoyed in the past. Plus, I'm a sucker for a survival story.

You follow two opposing groups containing estranged friends, one group exploiting the earth and the other a group of environmental activists trying to stop them, who have to work together after a cave-exploration goes wrong and unleashes a huge threat.

The stakes were high, but I didn't feel as into the story as I wanted to be. I thought the story had good bones, but I would've loved a little more character development to get me more invested. Overall a good read, though.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tim Lebbon delivers another ecological horror, this time about a long-dormant virus that threatens to break free from its arctic confines and infect the world.
The concept of an intelligent disease is a terrifying one, and combined with the growing possibly of a long dormant virus being unearthed from the melting ice caps proves to be fertile material for Lebbon to explore.
The story is largely contained to two artic exploration teams and sees the disease being carried by long dead bodies that break free of the melting ice and look to infect new hosts. These hosts are then influenced to find ways to further spread the disease.
It's a somewhat familiar story that combines elements of The Thing with Outbreak - with the narrative largely driven by the paranoia of its characters over who may or may not be infected and just how far the group will go to stop it's spread.
Readers may get a sense that they have read this one before - or at least elements of it - and it doesn't quite carry the narrative punch of his previous eco horrors Eden and The Last Storm but it's a solid horror-thriller with an action-driven finale and another fine addition to Lebbon's growing catalogue.

Emma, Wren, Lanna & Dean are a group of freelancers that travel around the world scoping out potential areas of value for mining companies, making their fortune by selling the information.

Bethan, Alile & Goyo are a group of environmental activists, who are alerted to an area of potential historical value on Hawkshead Island when Emma and the Gang stumble on a series of ancient cave paintings whilst looking for a potential mining site in an underground cave system

Venturing further into the underground, they stumble on a grisly burial site. But that is not the only thing they stumble on. They stumble on an evil that could destroy the world

Billed as The Thing meets The Last of Us, Among The Living is a monster story for the climate change generation.

Similar to the monster movies of the nineteen fifties which tapped into concerns of the nuclear age, Among the Living taps into the current fears around climate change and the effects that it can have.

Stepping into similar territory as The Last Storm, Among the Living is set in the near future, and can really be seen as a companion piece to that story, except that the dangers don’t revolve around wildfires and drought, but deals with the idea that global warming can set loose a prehistoric microorganism that can devastate humanity.

Like any good horror, Tim Lebbon taps into latent fears and exploits with chilling effect.

In Among The Living, Lebbon writes a Crichtonesque adventure story, mixed with a believable catastrophe. I mean, we know that 48.500 year old zombie viruses have been revitalised by Russian scientists, although the Pandovirus only affects amoebas, Lebbon opens and uses this pandora’s box to write a fast paced story that will have you gripped.

As usual, Lebbon has family at the heart of the story, and whilst this time it is not biological siblings, it is the relationship between Dean & Bethan at the heart of the story and the book examines the reason for their estrangement.

Added to this, Lebbon throws in a good dose of body horror. There are heads spitting open and pustules bursting galore. The book is populated with a plethora of monsters to get you squirming.

Among the Living is a nail biting race against time story that will have you on the edge of your seat right to the very end.

Among the Living details a possible heading to apocalyptic times as something ancient defrosts from its arctic resting place. As our quite large cast gets taken over, paranoia runs rampant. The cold bleak landscapes adds to the atmospheric feeling. The race to stop the infected from leaving the island makes the reader continue with 'one chapter more ' continually. Not my favourite title from the author (Relic) but still a great page turning horror, and I will definately pick up the authors next book.
3.5 Stars

Leave me by the fire to thaw because this book gave me all the chills, in this environmental horror Tim expertly delivers a terrifying glimpse into the not too distant future (maybe?) Climate crisis is the driving force behind this bloody fast paced horror that had me on edge from the start, this was full of tension and the descriptions of the harsh terrain were vivid and terrifying!