Spec Ops Z

Thanks very much to the publisher and Gavin Smith for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this. I was very excited to download this!

As far as apocalyptic zombie novels go, this is one of the best I’ve read. The group of protagonists are a squad of Soviet soldiers who are used to being sent on irregular missions. No average citizen who suddenly is aces at using guns and fighting but combat operatives who actually stand a chance when it comes to surviving zombies.
I liked that the book didn’t launch immediately into man vs zombies as many novels do and that it is set in 1987 not current times. There is no despair at the loss of Facebook, Instagram, instant hand held smart communication or the ability to track events elsewhere in the world in real time the way just anyone can do so now. Already they’re prepared to function with very little information.

The squad has seen its share of combat, has done ‘bad things’, lived a hard life and are functioning well as a team after the loss of their commanding officer. Captain Vadim Scorlenski has taken over and is respected by his soldiers. They’re dispatched to New York to carry out a covert mission, the details of which they don’t know until they arrive and even afterwards find that they were not fully briefed. As a result a lot of humans in New York and around the world turn into zombies. There’s no mention of animal zombies but if a sequel is written I suspect that could then feature. The initial epicentres of infection were begun with aerosolisation and after that Infection is passed on by the traditional bite and is strong enough to keep the infected carrying on beyond death. So head shots are still the only way to stop a zombie. Its mechanism and development is not covered but the progressive effects on the body after death are described realistically. The squad is not happy with how they’ve been used and want payback.

The squad escapes the US and sails to the U.K. where we find that zombies are there too but pockets of survivors do exist. Some are even found in the traditional place of British refuge - the pub! (Did the author like Shaun of the Dead I wonder?)

Although they are a team that has worked together for a long time, there are problems on top of the strain of dealing with a world that has aggressive undead in it. A new member has joined so he has to fit in whilst an established member is being disruptive.

It’s not explained in detail but the US government at least ordered the detonation of nuclear bombs so survivors have radiation to worry about as well as the chomping undead. One is apocalyptic enough but both combined will make the survival of the human race difficult.

When a Soviet special forces team is told to retrieve an unspecified WMD from a locker in NYC’s Grand Central Station, they don’t think much of the idea. Years of conflicts in places like Afghanistan have left them as soulless bastards, sure, but isn’t there a line you shouldn’t cross? Not to mention that this looks very much like a suicide mission.

What they can’t imagine is that dying won’t be their biggest problem. Soon they find themselves at ground zero for a dual assault on America with nuclear bombs bursting over New Jersey, and a Zombie virus spreading over Manhatten. Of the original team, only Princess and New Boy escape infection, but unlike almost everyone else, their Spetnatz toughness, or maybe the fact that they lost their humanity long ago, lets them keep enough sanity to be really pissed at their leaders.

Abandoned and turned into weaponized viral vectors, nobody expected them to find their humanity and take on a new mission; to kill whoever dreamed this all up. Now all they’ve got to do is escape from a zombie-infested New York, cross an ocean, and not eat the still-living members of their team.

Spec Ops Z is a re-issue, having originally come out as Special Purposes: First Strike Weapon in 2017, but it’s got a new name, a great new cover, and it turns out that a zombie thriller is a perfect read for a pandemic. Ironically, the characters here are anything but mindless, and the mix of action and interplay within the team makes for riveting reading. Not only is it a different experience reading the story from the Zombie point of view, but you’ll find you’re drawn o the squad members and their plight. Rebellion is doing the re-issue in the hopes of drumming up enough interest to finish a trilogy, and I’m hoping they got to do it.

Zombies I associate with the 80s for a very easy reason as at a very young age my slightly laissez-faire uncle thought it would be useful to show me a VHS copy of the Dawn of the Dead. I wasn’t terrified but it was weird, strange and compelling. I definitely don’t recommend it for children at all and it has more impact I think as an adult where the themes on consumerism have more meaning. But for me I associate 80s zombies with the time of excess. It was therefore appropriate that Gavin G Smith pulls together a tale of an alternate 1980s where the end of the world is actually the beginning of a blood drenched revenge quest for one of the most unique army squads you’ll meet.

Come with me to 1987 – the Wall still stands; the Cold War was only just thawing, and a heartless conservative government was in charge of the UK (wow so different). In Afghanistan, a Russian special forces company known as the Spetsnaz is fighting a gruelling war with local Afghan groups. But the group led by Captain Vadim Scorlenski has a reputation for being both very good at what it does but also not quite following orders as the mysterious vanishing of various bossy KGB agents they may have last seen suggests. After another mission where the team lost one of their own Vadim is worried to hear President Gorbechev has been deposed, hard-liners are back in power and Vadim’s team is ordered to immediately leave Afghanistan and travel to the US by submarine for a new mission. Told very little about the new mission the group is involved in New York’s Central station for the release of a strange biological agent just as the police and army arrive and at the same time nuclear bombs fall on the US. World War 3 has arrived and to prevent any counterattacks the dead are swiftly re-animated and hungry. Several of Vadim’s team are also gunned down but find death now isn’t stopping them and unusually compared to other zombies they seem to still have their mental awareness of who they are. Vadim wants revenge on the leadership who set him up so slowly the group try to evade zombie hordes, armed police and even new nazis to get back home. It will not be easy.

It is already quite unusual that we are effectively on the side of the ‘bad guys’ fortunately Smith is at pains to show that Vadim’s team are not indoctrinated soldiers they are here for a job that they do well but they don’t glorify violence or make political statements in favour of a hard line regime. In the form of Vadim, a Stalingrad survivor we have a leader used to war but taking no pleasure in it just dangerously good at it. Honourable with a dark sense of humour we warm to him and feel his loyalty to his team and disgust at finding they are involved in what he feels is an insane and dishonourable attack on the US. We get to know the team from the Muslim sniper Skull, ex-weightlifter and second in command The Fraulein and also the belligerent Gulag who doesn’t like to do what he is told and often fights Gulag. They create that typical group of certain tensions that when weird events start to apply hard pressure to them, they become truly awesome in battle and rarely give up. This puts us in an interesting place when they’re up against both western forces and zombies to escape and you’re still willing them to get free!

Rarely in zombie stories do things ever go right and in this case Smith adds a fascinating piece of new zombie lore. The idea that Vadim and his teammates survive death is because that they are so good at what they do; so competent that they can keep a sense of self beyond death and re-animation. Imagine elite soldiers who cannot easily be killed. Patching the undead with the few surviving members of Vadmin’s living team we then go through several gripping set pieces as they start to make their way back to Russia. Unlike say those zombie dramas where everyone is confined to one set per season here, we get a brilliant set of set pieces – escaping hordes in New York, gunfights and betrayals on a ship and a gripping finale where a group of armed neo-nazis try to take on our crew. Smith mixes it up and gives the team challenges that are not just physical but often mental and sometimes even moral ones. Can Vadim and his team keep hold of their humanity or does their desire to feed take control.

One feeling that came out here which I think is often a hall mark of zombie tales is that this is a moral pressure cooker of a story. Our leads may have accidentally helped start WW3 and can you ever really atone for that. We see the stresses on Vadim and his crew plus those they meet or take hostage. Despite that there is still a little bit of hope – people will still try to survive and help others. Humanity versus monsters may not just mean the undead and the final set-piece as the team arrive in the UK really gives us a chance to see what this team is capable of. It has an open ending that could pave the way for more adventures in this world and I would be very happy to see more with such a unique crew.

This is a lean tight action focused thriller that delivers gun battle set-pieces, rivals building tensions and unexpected left turns in a often dark, grim and bleak tale of revenge. If we took out the zombie element, we would have a WW3 thriller that is tense, well-plotted and character focused. But add in zombies it becomes the kind of cinematic story that you could see Romero enjoy putting on screen. Strongly recommended if you enjoy action, horror and battles for survival. Entertaining but also asks some interesting moral questions about what would you do? Highly recommended

Spec Ops Z is one of those actions books that check all the boxes - motivated and authentic characters, vivid action scenes, and an overall sensation and ambience that makes you feel like you're accompanying the narrator throughout the story. Gavin Smith's characters seem plucked out of 1980's Cold War pulp stories at first glance, but he masterfully dives into their personalities and passions, forcing the reader to understand their motivations and desires, placing them as the (sort-of) heroes of the story. Smith writes action as well as anyone; the combat feels visceral (as it should, in a zombie-filled story) and he's willing to put his protagonists into dire situations that they aren't guaranteed to survive. His word and language choice left me with a sensation of gloom and hope throughout the story, perfect for a zombie novel. All in all, this is one that I could see myself coming back to whenever I got the itch for more than just another zombie novel.

Smith’s new novel takes an often-tired genre and turns it on its head giving a truly individual story that landmarks the zombie novel and claims it as his very own.

The book starts out with the Russian special ops team located in the Middle East on a special operation and establishes its characters before getting into the meat of the story and driving it forward. This is an interesting feel and makes it truly individual as we are dealing with a group of people who are incredibly unique and should be the villians of the piece and makes them the anti-heroes. This is an impossible feat to accomplish but Smith does this and my hat is off to him because you end up caring for this team of people who on the surface are not very likeable, but you root for them until the end.

The plot is very well thought out and drives itself forward with a total understanding on the mechanics of weaponry, armed forces and technical understanding on how this world works. Smith has done his research and he ensures that the reader does not for once get lost in the jargon. This is an accomplishment as some authors tend to get caught up with these technicalities getting lost in juxtaposition causing the reader’s brain to fall asleep due to the text book stance they choose to take. Smith doesn’t do this; he folds this into the plot educating the reader but keeping them involved with the plot.

The plot does world travelling very well and takes the reader from place to place adding an interesting flavour to the proceedings. The book is densely written with context and he never once drops the ball to ensure that reader never gets lost along the way.

The characters are very professionally written and personality traits are true from the beginning to the very end. We have fully formed cast of characters whose faults are truly human whilst mixing their understanding and determination.

Overall, this is an excellent read that takes the zombie genre and makes it an individual experience and turns it on its head. This is an excellent read and one that keeps the reader involved. Smith has shown how with talent and know how you can take a genre and make it your own which is a real accomplishment. The only drawback is personally, I wish it was not set in 1987 as it would have more beneficial to set the story in the near future but this is a very minor.