Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Dead and The Enemy by Charles Higson

My teenaged son is a Zombie addict. Not to mention and action junky. And Charles Higson delivers - BIG TIME in these two books of his 3 part series.

Read THE DEAD (pre-qual to The Enemy) first even though it was written after THE ENEMY.

BUY IT HERE



Goodreads Blurb:
This second entry in Charlie Higson's terrifying series about children battling zombie grown-ups begins one year before the action in THE ENEMY, when the disease first strikes.

My Review:

*Read this BEFORE The Enemy*

Intense! Smart kids! Suspenseful zombie drama I could not put down. I found this while searching for a good zombie book that would keep my teenaged boy reading. There is no lovey dovie romances in this one, straight horror, fighting for your life and even death to the teens in this books. Sure there are some parts where I'm like why didn't they do this or that, but the only challenge I had was keeping up with all the characters. However, my son loved the mishmash of different characters coming and going. This is a nail biter that my husband even loved. Even though this was the 2nd book in the series (a pre-qual) I'd read this one first since the second book takes awhile to understand some of the reasons for things happening and even this book doesn't fully resolve the reason why people are getting sick and turning to zombies. I give this a 5 out of 4 stars simply because there were a few left open questions.



Goodreads Blurb:
A sickness has afflicted everyone over the age of 16; anyone who is a "grown-up" has become a decomposing, brainless creature that survives by feeding on children. The children and teens have barricaded themselves in fortified buildings, fighting off attacks from the grown-ups who travel in packs, like hungry dogs. Before long, the young survivors are promised a safe haven in Buckingham Palace and make their way to it, crossing London on a perilous journey that will test them in harrowing ways. But their fight to stay alive is far from over—the threat from within is as real as the one on the outside.

MY REVIEW:

I love it! I couldn't sleep at night, I read this instead of watching The Walking Dead. Of all the characters, I really got connected to 'Little Sam' and his survival during this "Sicko" zombie infested world. I'm glad I read the first book though because this one does little to explain the cause of this disaster. In this one, the body count is also high. It's brutal, intense, suspenseful and frightening....everything a teenaged boy or girl will love in a gory horror filled with smart, weak, hurting, surviving kids. I gave this one 4 stars out of 5 for the unanswered questions regarding the origin of the disaster.

5 comments:

cleemckenzie said...

A perfect plot for kids! What could be better than doing in adults that behave badly?

I'd have to read this one around noon. After dark I'd never get to sleep!

Lisa Gail Green said...

LOl! That's my biggest complaint with Walking Dead too! Maybe they'll reveal as they go, but it seems to be moving a bit slow. These books sound better.

English Songs said...

I m thinking of buying it...what do u say??

Elana Johnson said...

Excellent! My son would probably like these. Thanks for the rec.

LM Preston said...

go on English Songs click purchase :-D if you like horror, but don't get too attached to the characters.