Lockdown
(AM13 Outbreak #1)
by Samie Sands


Limitless Publishing, LLC

Limitless Publishing, LLC
Mystery & Thrillers
Sci Fi & Fantasy
Pub Date 21 Apr 2016  




I am reviewing a copy of Lockdown through Limitless Publishing and Netgalley:



Leah Watton's was pulling practical joke in order to impress a crush, unfortunately it spiraled way out of control. The prank was an online video she had planned on using to get Jake Colton’s attention. He is the cute, blond-haired, blue-eyed co-worker she's had a crush on for months. But she accidentally ends up sending the video to her boss who buys into every gory detail. After a mass panic follows, Leah comes to the realization that the video was no act.





The government is calling the virus AM13. The outbreak spreads and citizens are forced to stay indoors while they assess the gravity of the illness. Most people are quarantined in their homes, but Leah, Jake, and Leah's best friend Michelle are some of the unlucky few who are stuck at work when the Lockdown occurs. It is at work where she is Quarantined that Leah encounters a woman who is infected. The contaminated woman has devoured one of her coworkers, but that isn’t Leah’s only problem, she doesn’t know if she should stay at work as ordered, or does she ignore Government orders, break free, and try to reunite with her family. She can't do it alone-after all, because Leah has none of the skills needed to survive-but with Michelle and Jake by her side, not even a contagious virus and a sea of the dead can keep her from... Breaking out of the Lockdown...



I give Lockdown four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

**This book was reviewed for Limitless Publishing via Netgalley

*****Spoilers warning

Lockdown is one of many in the post-apocalyptic subgenre that utilises disease as the source of the apocalypse. In this case, it is the AM13 virus, a disease at first believed to be part of a hoax. Leah, our protagonist, sends a zombie virus video to her boss by mistake. He latches onto it as a vital news story, which freaks Leah out. As things become more serious, a quarantine procedure known as Lockdown is put into place. As journalists and news researchers, Leah’s boss declares that his employees will sleep on the property during Lockdown. Despite seeing some truly awful things beyond the gate leading to the news building, Leah, and two coworkers flee the office to seek out families. Outside, amongst the infected, they witness truly horrific events. They aren't properly prepared to rough it for several days, and have no weapons against the infected and rogue humans alike. Can they get to where they are going in one piece?

This story was an interesting take for me. I dislike zombie fiction, but I quite enjoy medical disaster apocalyptic fiction. Lockdown has a bit of a meandering, rambling quality though. It is written first person, from Leah’s perspective. It almost, at times, seemed very stream of consciousness. I had trouble feeling anything for Leah. There just wasn't much personality there to capture my attention. The first person perspective also didn't lend itself to developing attachments to Jake and Michelle either. None of the characters had any real development at all. There is no hero or heroine arc, and sadly the ending is about what I expected- everybody dies gruesome deaths. That final outcome I may have felt differently over if the lead, or others, had done anything remotely heroic. Even out in the world, their challenges seemed quite bland. The parts that talked about the virus itself were most interesting to me. I would have loved to know what was going on in the wider world.

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