I received and ARC from NET GALLEY

Classic Paul Tremblay, if I can say that after only reading "Cabin at the End of the World". I hate ZOMBIE books, but in the hands of Mr. Paul I couldn't escape this zombie-apocalypse.

I HATE the "new" Stephen King comments you see so much because they are ALL WRONG; but if I wanted to write that line it would be on both his books; ENJOY!!

Paul Tremblay has done it again. The Bram Stoker award-winning author of The Cabin at the End of the World has written another suspenseful novel about survival . Instead of a crazy home invasion story, Survivor Song focuses on the spread of an insidious rabies-like virus overtaking New England. This virus has a short incubation time before the victim succumbs to feral and violent tendencies. The story centers on a woman named Natalie, who is eight months pregnant. When her husband is killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, is bitten, she calls the only person she knows who might be able to help her: Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, and one of her closest friends. Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child. Can Dr. Ramola and Natalie make it in time? Will Natalie's child survive? You'll have to read to find out. Survivor Song is a harrowing journey through a ravaged New England landscape that resolves itself with one of the most memorable and disturbing endings I've read in a long time. And while this story is terrifying and suspenseful, Survivor Song is ultimately about the persistence of the human spirit, the bonds of friendship, and the love of mother for her unborn child. Tremblay seems to have a knack for writing about familial bonds. Natalie is a wonderful character and is easy to empathize with. She's snarky and attempts to insert humor in a terrible situation. Throughout the story she records video entries to her unborn child, and these are easily some of the most touching passages within the book.

Reading this in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic was quite the experience. Tremblay has done his homework. He effectively paints a picture of a broken health care system (lacking PPE for dealing with a virus), the fear and misinformation that spreads when a virus is attacking, and the crazy Militias that attempt to take things in their control (all things we've seen happen throughout the past few months). Survivor Song is well-researched which makes the story all the more real and frightening.

Highly recommended. For fans of M.R. Carey or Stephen King. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

With everything that’s going on in the world, I’ve been in a terrible reading rut. I haven’t been able to calm my mind and focus long enough to get through a book in a while. As much as I enjoy Paul Tremblay’s work, I certainly didn’t expect a novel about a highly contagious, highly deadly disease to snap me out of that funk. However, maybe it did. Maybe this is a case of calling Voldemort by his name; it can take some of the fear and anxiety away.
The interesting thing about this book particularly and some of Mr. Tremblay’s other works is that he can take a very big concept, in this case a potential viral apocalypse, and make it very small and intimate. While I’m not comparing this book to The Stand or the more recent Wanderers by Chuck Wendig, it does feel like it belongs in the same family tree. Those books, however were intended to be epics, with trans-continental crossings and hundreds of characters. Survivor Song deals primarily with 2 characters trying to get across town (and not a particularly big town.) Not only is the geological scope very narrow the time frame is very narrow as well. It may take a reader 6-10 hours to read this novel and aside from the Epilogue, the events seem to take place almost in real time. Late-morning A,B, and C happen; in the afternoon D,E, and F happen; in the evening/night things start to wrap up. I found this to be a surprisingly refreshing approach to an end of the world novel.
The horror is in no way supernatural, as we are all learning, reality is scary enough. Those tense moments come from animal encounters and dealings with other humans, both infected and not. The encounters with the non-infected humans were the scariest of all. There are some political undertones about an administration that was ill prepared to deal with this viral outbreak. As well as a not-so-subtle middle finger to the Anti-Vaxxers and false-flag conspiracy theorists. Good thing that’s all fiction…right?
I am a fan of Mr. Tremblay and Survivor Song, in my opinion, was another enjoyable read from him. As far as my reading funk goes, perhaps this was the book I needed.

Paul Tremblay has done it again! This book was wonderful and engrossing. I was scared for the main characters and came so close to crying in the end. The most impressive part of this book to me was the scariest part wasn't the virus but the people. Highly recommend!

Finished reading Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. It’s a chilling tale of panic when an emerging virus presents itself to the world. There are some parallels to the present, but Mr. Tremblay creates his own spin on the ability of the government and medical establishment to stop the spread of the deadly virus. My only quibble with the story, was the alternating chapters between the main protagonists. It felt disjointed at time. Overall though, a frightening tale of what if.

This may be the best Tremblay book yet. Gripping, fast-paced, horrifying, heartfelt, and scary, all in one book. The story of the spread of a super-rabies, hospitals overrun by sick or feared-sick, vigilantes, attempts to vaccinate wild animals, this book was just all about fear. What happens when we are afraid, what kind of person will you become? The main story of Natalie and Ramola was really compelling and interesting, and it just didn't end like I expected. Tremblay always takes a moment to philosophize and explain the "nature of humanity," which he still managed to do, but in this book it didn't feel as intrusive. Though I may not always love his books, I look forward to reading each one as it emerges, crawling from his crazy crazy head.

I've read a couple books by Paul Tremblay and, while Cabin at the End of the World is still my favorite, Survivor Song is right up there behind it. If our everyday reality weren't already pandemic-weird, Tremblay turns it up a notch. A doctor's pregnant college friend is bitten by an infected neighbor and the race is on to save her friend and the unborn child. Great twists that kept me engrossed right up the the last sentence.

This is a classic horror movie of a novel, an actual yell at the characters book (seriously, everyone get back to me when they get to the part that had me shouting "Get down the stairs!" at the phone on which I was reading this and let's commiserate) that's full of tension, gore, wise-cracking teens, and shitty militia dipshits. Now that we're all a lot more familiar with epidemics and quarantines and resources being stretched to their absolute limit than we ever wanted to be, the only thing I think Tremblay really got wrong is that "The National Guard is overseeing the distribution of rations." This was messed up enough that I had to stop reading it after the sun went down and that's good praise from me.

I read this book seven weeks into the pandemic and I am someone who has leaned into consuming fiction and films about pandemics/disasters/apocalyptic scenarios. I found this to be a thrilling read- frightening at times and uncomfortably relatable. It's basically a zombie apocalypses except the zombies are not the undead- they are infected with rabies. I recommend this book if you are interested in engaging with the disaster scenario central to the book.

Survivor Song was frighteningly/coincidentally well-timed for the current pandemic going on. The book illustrates well, the start of and spread of an infections rabies-like disease that has a very short incubation period (hours instead of days to weeks).

Set from the perspective of a doctor, Ramola (or Rams), and her very pregnant friend Natalie. Dr. Ramola is racing to attempt to save her friend’s life, who was attacked by a sick man, who broke into her home and killed her husband in a disease-infected rage. The entire book is set over the course of mere hours- desperately seeking out help for Natalie and her unborn child while navigating the obstacles of a horrifying, chaotic, community that is unpredictable and dangerous.

While clearly fictional, it created a realistic enough portrayal of events (shockingly similar to current events)-quarantines to limit spread, hospitals that are overrun- that allowed for the mind to wonder “what if” several times throughout the story.

I appreciate the inner workings of the character’s minds as they contemplate what is going on and how to handle each situation thrown their way. I honestly think my only critique would be the use of so many “4 dollar words.” While I’m an unapologetic word-fiend, there seem to be an excessive amount of them, it was especially distracting when they came from the perspective of characters least likely to even know those words exist. However, the story was not lost- just interrupted by dictionary visits.

I read this in two sittings and thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of it and mourned the loss of characters I came to appreciate. If you’re looking for a page turner, you’ve come to the right place!

Survivor Song is a break-neck paced thriller about a rabies virus outbreak in New England. Pregnant Natalie is attacked and her husband killed by someone who is infected, leaving Natalie to turn to her closest friend, Ramola, who also happens to be a doctor. While worrying about whether or not Natalie is infected, the two women desperately race to get her baby delivered just in case. Along the way they encounter more infected people, infected animals, two teenage zombie hunters and a group of militia vigilantes convinced that foreign governments deliberately caused an outbreak. While completely different than the current pandemic the world is battling, the book paints a stark picture of how quickly people can spiral out of control during deadly circumstances, and how difficult it can be to contain something that spreads easily and quickly. This is a good story, but intense, and may not be for everyone in normal times - let alone in 2020!

Gripping read! An eerily similar book to read during a pandemic. Once you start reading be prepared to stay up well past your bedtime turning the pages.

Well, this was definitely a very timely read, considering the Coronavirus crisis we're currently in. I was super excited to receive this arc but unfortunately it didn't blow me away like I was hoping it would.

While I enjoyed the dual narration of Ramola and Natalie, I never fully connected with them, and the secondary characters were very underdeveloped. I would have liked more world building, especially in regards to the early days of the virus, since the novel takes place after it has already begun and only takes place over the course of several hours. The pacing was also lacking, as there were no surprising turn of events or twists to wow me. It was very formulaic, with nothing that made it stand out from the hordes (pun intended) of other zombie novels.

Survivor's Song by Paul Tremblay

Within weeks of the first known symptoms, a virus invades the United States turning ordinary people into zombie-like cannibals. The American Health Care system is overrun and overwhelmed as the federal officials are unable to enforce emergency protocols while total chaos ensues.
A pediatrician, Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman, receives a phone call from her desperate friend, Natalie, who is eight months pregnant and has been bitten while fighting a zombie attack. Her only hope is a rabies vaccine.
They fight for their lives in a hostile and nightmarish landscape while the clock ticks for Natalie and her unborn child.
Paul Tremblay is at his finest in the Survivor Song. He ratchets the tension at a spellbinding speed to leave the reader gasping, uncomfortable and questioning what the reader would do in similar circumstances. This novel will stay with you long after you finish.

Boy, talk about a timely book. With all it's mentions of social distancing, quarantine, PPE, and so forth, this book couldn't have come at a better time. Tremblay's novel concerns an outbreak of a super-rabies virus in the Boston area and the travails that follow two women friends, one in the late stages of pregnancy, the other a doctor, as they try to get to a hospital so one of them, possibly infected, can give birth before it's too late. Much of the novel is very tense and scary and quite realistic--a zombie novel in real time, tracking their movements across the city as they try to get medical attention. There are rioters, looters, right wing nutcases, a number of infected humans, and a lot of infected animals, all of which our intrepid pair must navigate. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of downtime, as we flashback to when the two became friends, chronicle the course of their friendship, and get some cutesy stuff with the expectant mother trying to record some memories for her child on a cell phone. Interestingly, two teenage boys on bicycles make an appearance somewhere past the novel's midpoint, straight out of Tremblay's earlier novel Disappearance at Devil's Rock (is he setting the stage for a shared universe, ala Stephen King? If there were allusions to his other work, they went over my head). It isn't a bad book and parts of it had me gripped and reading long past when I should have been thinking of sleep. But, ultimately, it seems a bit lacking. In its laser focus on these two women, the other characters are largely undeveloped and the incidents surrounding their cross-city journey seem a bit underdeveloped as well. I'm still waiting for Tremblay to completely knock me out with one of his books and I thought this might finally be the one, but, ultimately, it proved to be something of a disappointment.

This feels like a quick read even though it's a little over 300 pages. It takes place in one day during a rabies outbreak that is spreading quickly among animals and has a short incubation period in humans. When Natalie and her husband are bitten by an infected human, Natalie meets her friend Ramola who is a doctor. They spend the day trying to get help for Natalie and her unborn baby. It is a story of survival because the infected people act like deranged zombies, uninfected humans are dangerous as well and the hospitals and emergency personnel are overwhelmed. The chapters alternate between Natalie and Ramola and it's interesting to read from an infected person's point of view.

*SIGH* It was a little to politically-motivated for me, and the "epidemic" hit a bit too hard right now during the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't really get into the book, didn't care for the characters and would say that I would not recommend it unless you are desperate for something to read.

Reading about a pandemic during a pandemic may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this story held my interest from the beginning.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins/William Morrow for sharing Paul Tremblay’s latest. Due to its subject matter (a rabies pandemic) and the current state of the world I’m not sure my review could ever be fair to the author. This book made me feel exceptionally uneasy and nervous, and not in the typical good thriller way. Despite not feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety about the coronavirus situation, this book sent me over the edge. If you’re a fan of the author’s, I would recommend the book, but I wouldn’t read it until the real world settles a bit. Too distressing.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading more from him. This book is full of suspense and characters that fight for their survival. I had no problems connecting to the characters and they pulled me into the story from the beginning. There is a new strain of rabies terrorizing people. Natalie gets bitten by a rabid person and finds herself in a fight for her life and the life of her baby. Can her friend Ramola save her before it is too late? I highly recommend this book.