Virulent: The Release

The dogs died first. Then humans started getting sick. The manmade virus, an act of planned bioterrorism, spread quickly and acted fast. By day two, tens of millions were dead. (Sorry folks, no zombies in this one.) Trapped in the high school, Lucy King and her best friend, Salem, are two of the few survivors. There's also a boy named Grant with them. And the principal who's gone a bit mad. The school offers them food and water and some safety, but there's a chance Lucy's family is still alive. Outside. In a changed world where Lucy's real fight for survival is about to begin.

This is the first book in Shelbi Wescott's end-of-the-world apocalyptic series, and I liked it. It's not a perfect read. Some of the set up, like how Lucy got stuck at the high school in the first place, felt a little contrived. And both Lucy and Salem have a few annoying moments of teen angst, but overall, I liked Lucy and the other characters. Virulent: The Release is an entertaining, fast-paced and enjoyable read. And I'm looking forward to seeing how Lucy's journey continues in the next book.

Happy Reading!

Another zombie read...

"Twenty-two days. Michael lifted his finger from the Sharpie'd tally in his journal. Wow. Man. Twenty-two days since Halloween. Twenty-two days since Michael followed the Game Master's instructions and carried Patrick through a door into the night and saw their first Bellow. Twenty-two days since that moment, since the world seemed to end, but then instantaneously resurrected to a frightening and beautiful life."

T. Michael Martin's The End Games is a novel about zombies (called Bellows here) and surviving the end of the world. It is also a novel about love and loyalty between two brothers. Because seventeen-year-old Michael Faris will do anything to protect his little brother, Patrick. Even invent a Game involving the Bellows and earning points and following a mysterious Game Master's instructions until they reach the Safe Zone in Charleston, West Virginia, where they hope to find their mom. And five-year-old Patrick, who suffers from extreme anxiety, believes and plays along. Because Michael is his hero. But it's not just the undead that they have to worry about. There's the crazy cult of religious fanatics in Coaltown, and the army soldier in Charleston who promises to protect them. The one thing Michael knows for sure is that he has to keep his little brother safe.

"Because Patrick ... looked so small, so sweet, that Michael thought, not for the first or final time, that he would shoot all the monsters in the world he had to, he would do anything to reach the Safe Zone in the capital city of Charleston, to win the Game for Patrick."

There are a lot of mediocre and disappointing zombie reads out there, but this is one of the good ones. I liked Martin's style of writing and his take on the undead is different and fun. But his main focus is on his characters. I may not have liked all of them, but I did really like Michael. And as I learned more about his and Patrick's back story, I liked him even more. This entertaining apocalyptic novel ended up being a perfect end-of-summer read for me.

Happy Reading!

Other good zombie reads:

Devil's Wake

Positive 

Feed
Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End
World War Z

An A+ Read...

"Apparently, even after the end of the world, friendship still counts for something."

David Wellington writes quite the story in Positive. His main character, Finn, wasn't even born when the zombie plague killed 99% of the population. He's part of the second generation, growing up in a safe Manhattan where there are no zombies. He goes crabbing in the flooded subway tunnels with his friend, Ike, and takes his turn working in the rooftop gardens. But then his mother goes zombie, and nineteen-year-old Finn is presumed to be infected, too. Marked as a "positive", Finn is banished from the city. He's supposed to be taken to a safe medical center in Ohio to wait out the incubation period, but his ride never shows up. Instead, he's on his own in a post-apocalpytic America with the looters, the crazy road pirates, death cultists and murderous marauders. Oh, and the zombies.

There are a lot of firsts for Finn in this novel:  the first time he's forced to survive on his own; the first time he drives a car; the first time he shoots a gun; and the first time he falls in love with a girl. Positive really is a coming-of-age story set in a zombie world. It's fast-paced, compelling, and very character-driven. I liked Finn and all the other quirky characters he meets along the way, both good and bad. Finn has to grow up fast, but he does it well; I admired him more with each hard decision he had to make. Other good things about this book:  the writing, Wellington's well-developed dystopian future, Kylie, Finn's scarred and traumatized girlfriend who is also a survivor like him, and Finn's unwavering optimism. He believes things can get better. And I liked that. This novel has humor. And action. And suspense. And hope. It's a good read; all 437 pages of it.

Happy Reading!

Devil's Wake

Don't let them bite you!

Wear thick clothing.

Avoid exposing your skin.

Take drastic measures if necessary.

And if you are bitten...don't go to sleep!

No one knows what caused the outbreak; no one knows how to cure it, only that it's spreading fast--infecting thousands, leaving chaos, fear, and death in its wake. In order to survive, six teens will have to band together. They have an old school bus and a little bit of food, but can they make it past the freaks and monsters to safety without becoming infected themselves?

"We're on our way to Threadville. And if that doesn't work, maybe to Devil's Wake. We're trying to believe in something, but some of us believe more than others. I don't know what I believe yet, or if believing matters. Maybe there are no schools, no safety, no such thing as family anymore. All I know is that I want to survive."

So how do you stay alive as civilization dies and the world around you falls apart? And what would you be willing to do in order to survive? That's always the question in stories like this one. Life and death situations seem to bring out the best...and worst in people. And it's that exploration of the human spirit that draws me to these kind of apocalyptic novels. That and the fact that they're fast-paced and fun to read.

I admit that not every disaster/survival novel is worth reading. In fact, a lot of them are poorly written and downright dumb. But I enjoyed this one. It's very readable and I liked the characters, especially 16-year-old Kendra, who loses her family to the infection and has to survive on her own until she crosses paths with Terry and his friends. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Domino Falls. So if you like reading about apocalyptic disasters, check this book out. It's a fun ride.

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

     Trapped by Michael Northrop

     World War Z by Max Brooks