The Alpha Plague by Michael Robertson, is a futuristic zombie novel, set in a fictitious time after the second Cold War struck, causing governments to enforce laws that forbid any kind of weaponry and established an endless feud that could be the cause for conflict at any minute. 

Rhys spends his daily life travelling into the city for work so that he can make enough money to pay the solicitor dealing with his son's custody case. On a morning like no other, Rhys picks up his best friend, wishes he could see his son, and spends another day at the job he hates. While he sits on his lunch break, a large commotion develops into a confusing and fast-evolving panic, a fight for life. As a zombie plague has broken out from the city's centre, Rhys forgets his boring life as he is forced into always being on the run. When he bumps into a young woman who knows what she's doing, they quickly learn that the spread of this terrifying disease may not have been an accident. The two fight for survival as the government allows what normal life they had go to chaos.

Although I definitely enjoy zombie science-fiction, this novel lackd in very much substance. The story behind the outbreak and the creatures themselves was well thought out and developed nicely, but I found the two main characters, Rhys and Vicky too wishy-washy. I understand that the author wanted to create a motive for the character's survival, but the use of Rhys' hidden away son became obsessive and annoying. The character was constantly talking about his relationship and his love for his little boy, which really made me feel as irritated as his companion. As well as his focus being more on that than his survival, the relationship between Vicky and Rhys also seemed far-fetched. The two went from strangers to soulmates in the course of one zombie-filled day, which paced the book very fast and just gave even more of a cheap effect to the story.

Although I really did not like these aspects of The Alpha Plague, I loved the setting, the outbreak story, and the author's style of writing. I may give the second book in this series a go, as I do believe the story has potential.