Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

No Spoiler Book Review

Survivor Song is about a super-rabies epidemic. The nut jobs in the book refer to the infected as “zombies”, and not without cause. The disease is fast moving and aggressive, causing victims to become incoherent and violent. The victims also have an undeniable need to aggressively spread the infection. Like zombies.

The story centers on Dr. Ramola and her pregnant best friend, Natalie. Natalie is brutally attacked by an infected man. She escapes to Ramola’s house and the two of them head out in search of treatment. This is ultimately a race against time story.
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Apocalyptic Fiction is typically my favorite genre. Several of my “Book of the Year” selections have been from this genre.

When COVID started and everyone was on lockdown, I couldn’t handle these titles. I was stressed and felt like we were very close to living one of these horrific stories. When things started getting better and there were stocked shelves at the grocery again, I began to relax. I added Survivor Song to my July 2020 Can’t Wait Book List, and checked it out as soon as it was published.

It was just good timing for me, emotionally.

Once I got into it, I could not stop reading it! I listened to this book on audio, the narrator was perfect, it was well performed and immersive. I had moments where I caught myself holding my breath along with the characters. I had to keep reminding myself to breath! It was an intense, fast paced nightmare!

Survivor Song is great for anyone who likes horror, pandemic and end of the world fiction. Fans of Stephen King’s The Stand and Chuck Wendig’s The Wanderers will love Survivor Song.

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Goodreads Summary

In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government's emergency protocols are faltering.

Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie's husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child.

Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink. 

Paul Tremblay once again demonstrates his mastery in this chilling and all-too-plausible novel that will leave readers racing through the pages . . . and shake them to their core.
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