Dead Lock
A downloadable book
In the near future, a far right government jails its undesirable elements: murderers, rapists and leftist enemies of the state.
Once every three months, the inmates are given one chance to escape the fortified zombie infested island of Mortwich. One prison for men, another for women - all with the equal opportunity to win parole through a deadly race called Dead Lock.
The winner gets to live as a free man or woman. The losers join the undead.
Jim, Mike, Tony, and Kate, are thrown together in their desperate bid to escape. Just one question: is one of the companions just another of the many imprisoned political opponents of the government, or a serial killer?
This is an alternate universe version of horror-comedy Dead Heat. For readers of the other book, this is an alternate blurb:
If you could see your story in a mirror, what would it look like? Imagine the same people on the same island in a different time and place. Three strangers, not three friends. Where what is a blossoming romance in one world is a long-since finished relationship in another.
In this alternate world, Mortwich Island is not a leisure facility where actors dressed as zombies chase people on corporate team building days to improve their morale. It is not where couples get married against a beautiful coastline or where the local cricket club practice.
It is a maximum security prison linked to the mainland by a single heavily-fortified bridge, high cliffs, even higher walls and hundreds of zombies outside the prison gates.
It is a world where the trust between friends becomes the mistrust of strangers, knowing that not everybody incarcerated by a dictatorship is innocent. Is your companion one of the many imprisoned political opponents of the government, or is he a mass murderer?
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This is certainly one of the cleverest zombie stories I've read. There's much more going on in Dead Lock than I expected, and if you're looking for something in the zombie genre that's a little different then this is definitely worth picking up.
Set in an alternate England controlled by a 1984-style government the story feels like a horror, thriller and dystopian drama all at once, the genres blending together seamlessly. Most of the scenes takes place in the grounds of a prison as inmates face off against hordes of undead in order to win freedom, so there's plenty of zombie action, but also enough ominous hints and references for the reader to easily picture the threatening outside world these characters also live in. It all makes for a very effective atmosphere.
Scenes which flash back to different times can sometimes feel distracting but in this story they're well written, fit in naturally and make for interesting plot additions. There are a lot of twists and turns, surprises and enjoyable moments of dark comedy. Great fun to read