CIA black ops agent Chad Halverson escapes plague- and zombie-ravaged Santa Monica with dress designer Victoria Brady and sets sail up the smoldering California coast straight into the jaws of great white sharks and shoals of zombies.
Fighting for their lives, Halverson and Brady rescue the idealistic Dr. Parnell, the cynical reporter Blake Reno, and the UCSB coed Brittany Pine, who is in a state of shock induced by the loss of her boyfriend to the walking dead.
Together, the five survivors must decide how to cope with the flesh eaters. Are the infected really dead or are they merely sick and therefore curable? Halverson leads the faction of the group that believes the infected must be destroyed, while Parnell comes to the opposite conclusion, unwilling to believe that zombies can actually exist.
Whether the infected can be cured or not, the five survivors must find refuge. They seek sanctuary from the infected in Alcatraz prison, which, they discover, is free of the flesh eaters. However, all is not as it seems on the island haven at the Rock.
In fact, they may have more to fear than the walking dead in the person of Alcatraz's reigning "Chosen One," the charismatic proponent of law and order Jefferson Bascomb, who believes zombies have the right to a fair trial and who will stop at nothing to impose his will on the island.
"'Sanctuary in Steel' is up there with the best of the zombie stories in terms of plotting and pacing, propelled by great characters and unique twists."--Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite
