The Fall: Book 1 - Conversion

I always start P.A. books with high hopes, but I'm eventually let down in the end. So, it was nice to realise that I was halfway finished with this story and didn't want it to end. Another 500 pages of it would have been alright with me! It started off reminding me a bit of Justin Cronin's The Passage, which is one of my favorites in PA fiction. But Mr. Campitelli quickly made this story his own. Best thing of all is the big bad isn't zombies. They're very much alive, and transformed, and freaking terrifying. Great writing and characters make this a must read book. I liked it so much that although I received this book initially through Netgalley to read and review, I went to Amazon and bought my own copy! Can't wait for the next book in the series. Highly recommended.

This is the first book in a series by a new author, set in post-apocalypse Australia, where humanity has been overrun by people infected with an unknown virus, named Jackson virus, which may possibly have come from outer space, which turns them into mindless ravenous monsters - not quite zombies, who fear daylight - not quite vampires.

Set in 2050, two years after the titular "Fall" of civilisation, survivors live in isolated communities, the most successful being in "wallcoms" - walled mini towns that were built before the end of the world, the reasons for this are not explained. Living reasonably contentedly under martial law, they are organised into teams, some who "search and destroy" (SD) the IPs (infected people!), known as jacks, and some work in recovery (R&R, I forget what the 2nd R is for!), who venture out into the wastelands to find things they can't make for themselves. A plan is made to visit a large mall, known to be infested with IPs, but with a secondary plan to rescue a scientist living in a bunker underneath it, who may hold the solution to dealing with the jacks. Most of the plot revolves around the planning and execution of the mall, where of course things go spectacularly wrong, thanks in part to traitors from within, and envious enemies living outside the walls.

This is part Walking Dead, part The Passage, and part I Am Legend, against a Mad Max backdrop (the author acknowledges this influence in ?his afterword.) Whilst highly derivative, if you like the genre, this is a good example, and what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in interesting and mostly appealing characters. It is told from multiple points of view, which works well, so you get to see the world from both the heroes (especially John, former professor, now recovery specialist and reluctant leader - like the Noah Wyle character in Falling Skies) and Skylar, former rock star, and his super cool Japanese girlfriend, but also the baddies, the psychopathic Headhunter (a direct copy of WD's Negan) and Dustin, racist bullying soldier, playing off both sides, POV.

I liked all the minor futuristic details, like the communications and medical technology they all take for granted, and there's plenty of suspense and action, but also enough interactions between the characters to make me care about them. I would've liked to know more about the Jackson virus' origins, including whether the rest of the world is also infected - I suspect we are kept deliberately in the dark here as our characters have no idea either. I find PA books are often let down by their endings, as there's no way to really have a happy conclusion, but this resolves that problem by leaving things open for the next book, without an annoying cliffhanger.

Overall I enjoyed this, and I would definitely read the next one and hope it's not too long in the writing.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The wallcoms (walled communities) have protected the remnants of the human population from "the jacks," infected nocturnal predators. In this dystopian future, humans have banded and bonded together to stay safe. The necessity for supplies forces a trip to the Southstone Supermall, but they are hounded on all sides. Well written and exciting, very suspenseful!