As I promised on Saturday evening here is my review of the Excellent “The Sole Survivors’ Club” by Zoe Whitten.
After losing her parents in a multi-car pile-up, Monica Harper lives alone. An accident magnet drawn to car wrecks, she works next to the section of highway where her parents were killed. But it isn’t survivors’ guilt trapping Monica in her dead-end life. Caught in the grip of invisible enemies, Monica must face her worst fears and take on an army of living spirits that she can’t see or touch.
A few years back Zoe Whitten and I frequented the same writing forum. At one point she asked if anyone would alpha read an early draft of “The Sole Survivors’ Club”. I was one of the volunteers, because in spite of having the various flaws you’d expect in a early draft it was a bloody good story.
So I was delighted when, a few weeks back, she announced on Twitter that she was releasing it as an ebook for the reasonable price of $1.99. I purchased it at Smashwords and read it again. With the flaws of the first draft corrected it was even better.
This is a rich and beautifully researched dark fantasy novel which balances its world building and necessary introspection and explanation with moments of vivid and sometimes shocking action.
I don’t really have anything negative to say about this story. It’s well worth reading. My only caveat is something I’ve also said in my reviews of Zoe’s weblit offerings (see the old blog since they aren’t posted here yet). Her style is idiosyncratic and it’s the literary equivalent of marmite. You either love it or hate it, and you know which it is straight away.
Four Stars
The Soul Survivors Club is available at Smashwords, Mobipocket and the Amazon Kindle store.
