Kindle Edition Amazon John F Leonard Category:  Horror Publisher: John F Leonard ISBN-10:  1523680881 Type: Fiction Pages: 408 Copyright: Feb, 2016 ISBN-13: 9781523680887 Price: $2.99 (eBook) Collapse is an apocalyptic horror novel. The story of a handful individuals as they attempt to retain their humanity and survive a post-apocalyptic world where, more often than not, all you have left is yourself. The sweeping sickness, a global pandemic. Billions lie fallen, gripped by an unknown affliction. Hope is all the few survivors have. Hope that the collapsed will recover and wake again. But waking is when the real nightmare begins… A mystery illness sweeps the globe. Swifter and more virulent than anything ever recorded, enfolding the earth like a savage hand snatching a child’s marble. The City Flu in Britain. The Sweeping Sickness in America. Misnomers, semantics, swirls of the matador’s cloak, the names don’t matter. There isn’t time for that. Normal life is slipping its gears, sliding into unknown territory. The illness is never properly classified, identified or studied. The descent into disaster is too fast, the effects so debilitating that the impact is already catastrophic. Put simply, vast numbers of people become too ill to work and so things stop working. Horror is here, and greater horror lies ahead. Because the collapsed aren’t just unconscious, they’re changing. Cities lie strangely silent. Roads oddly deserted. In the countryside, the fields are empty of humanity, once more the preserve of the beast. The power is failing, the twittersphere going quiet, the fires burning unchecked. After a few unbelievable and devastating days, civilisation stands on the brink of collapse, on the precipitous edge of a fall that will be beyond comprehension. The smouldering dawn of an Apocalypse. A tiny percentage of the population remains unaffected. With incalculable numbers lying unconscious, those lucky enough to be immune are left with the impossible task of coming to terms with the situation, of grasping a horror that that is continuing to reveal itself. Recovery is still possible. The fallen may recover from their coma-like condition, their increasingly mutated state. If they come back, civilisation can be salvaged from catastrophe. But when the collapsed come back, the true Apocalypse will begin. Excerpt The sweeping sickness, a global pandemic. Billions lie fallen, gripped by an unknown affliction. Hope is all the few survivors have. Hope that the collapsed will recover and wake again. But waking is when the real nightmare begins…

Absolutely well written and highly recommended!
This was very nicely done in a number of ways. It does involve a fair number of characters and goes back and forth with them, but it holds together well and keeps the reader very involved in what is going on. All the characters are fully formed and come alive in the story. Mr. Leonard has a real way with words, almost getting poetic with the descriptions and dialogue. Some of his writing reminds me of Stephen King in the way his words flow. Make no mistake that this is a horror novel, with the creatures being much more dangerous than any regular zombie. Plenty of gruesome descriptions of the attacking creatures and also plenty of peril for all involved. A truly compelling scenario of an extinction level event with a very big bang! It seems utterly impossible that any of the characters will survive, as this collapse is unlike anything imaginable and the monsters are absolutely savage and relentless. No real reason is ever given as to what actually caused this "city flu" and that does not deter from the story in any way, it just makes things even bleaker. Overall, I very highly recommend this novel and for a first time author, Mr. Leonard really delivers the goods in every way!

Compelling Characters & Thrilling Action
An unknown affliction strikes down billions, and within the space of a few days, the world has been irrevocably changed. A small collection of survivors struggle to find safety, hopelessly outnumbered by the terrifying, ravenous creatures that were formerly the rest of humanity.

Collapse is a roller coaster thrill ride with a satisfying and poignant ending. The monsters are truly monstrous, the violence is gory and there is plenty of it, and the characters are flawed and human, and therefore all the more sympathetic and relatable.

Chomp! Chomp!
Very good reading! Not just a zombie story and that makes it even mor interesting. Full of terribly creepy descriptions of hungry creatures. You will want to read it all in one setting.