Oasis by Joan De La Haye

July 15, 2012

2013 – The planet has been fried by solar flares turning it into a desert. The surviving population has been affected by solar radiation, turning them into Zombies. Only a handful of people remain unaffected. A family of civilians, guided by a crack army unit who has seen more action than they can handle, must make their way to the safety of a UN base at the South Pole called New Atlantis.

But can they make it to this oasis alive or will they only reach it as the undead?

I know, I know, I said less than a month ago that I was going to take a break from zombie fiction but when it comes to the undead, it’s like the Mafia – just when I thought I was out … they pull me back in. I couldn’t resist though when this novella popped into my inbox. As soon as I spotted the cover I knew I was going to read it. A zombie head partially obscured by desert sand with a bullet hole in the temple; I ask you, what’s not to love?

We follow the action through the eyes of Maxine, a young women who dares to believe that the end of the world doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the human race. Maybe she’s right but perhaps not quite in the way she is expecting.

Oasis treads classic Romero-esque ground and has a suitably downbeat ending that I really enjoyed. I have to admit I do enjoy my zombie stories to be grimmer than grim and I’m glad to say this novella delivers on that score.

This story acts as the perfect introduction to the new indie publisher on the block, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on their future releases. I’ve already had a look at their website and Joan De La Haye also recently had a serial killer novel, Requiem in E Sharp, published by Fox Spirit. I reckon I’ll check that out soon as well.

Oasis is published by Fox Spirit Books and is available now from Amazon.

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