The Little Blog of Books: Review: Outpost by Adam Baker

They took the job to escape the world.
They didn't expect the world to end.

Kasker Rampart: a derelict refinery platform moored in the Arctic Ocean. A skeleton crew of fifteen fight boredom and despair as they wait for a relief ship to take them home. But the world beyond their frozen wasteland has gone to hell. Cities lie ravaged by a global pandemic. One by one TV channels die, replaced by silent wavebands. The Rampart crew are marooned. They must survive the long Arctic winter, then make their way home alone. They battle starvation and hypothermia, unaware that the deadly contagion that has devastated the world is heading their way...

'A slow dragging sound came from below the walkway, "I don't think we're alone down here," said Punch.'

It's very rare that a zombie book delivers something new. Piking up a book like this is more entertaining stuff that you've read before, but in Outpost Adam Baker has created something a little different. A hybrid of The Thing and Dawn of the Dead Outcast presents a new setting and some new ideas for the zombie genre.

The story was interesting, well paced and well written. It was never boring and never rushed. Baker did a great job of creating his world and I had no problem getting lost in the world he created.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news. The characters were an issue for me. There was not one person I liked in this book, and Jane, the main character, was quite frankly unbearable. She was teeth grindingly irritating and ruined the book for me.

Outpost has an interesting story with some nice atmospheric moments but its characters weigh it down making it average instead of great.