* Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve, March 9, 2019
Synopsis: When genderqueer fourteen year old Z Chilworth wakes from death after a car crash that killed her parents and sisters, they have to adjust quickly to their new status as a zombie. Always a talented witch, Z can now barely perform magic and is rapidly decaying. Faced with rejection from their remaining family members and old friends, Z moves in with Mrs. Dunnigan, an elderly witch, and befriends Aysel, a loud would-be goth classmate who is, like Z, a loner. As Z struggles to find a way to repair the broken magical seal holding her body together, Aysel fears that her classmates will discover her status as an unregistered werewolf. When a local psychiatrist is murdered in an apparent werewolf attack, the town of Salem, Oregon becomes even more hostile to monsters, and Z and Aysel are driven together in an attempt to survive a place where most people wish neither of them existed.
My thoughts: This isn't the first time zombies have been used to portray oppression, but it's not done too often. I'm a sucker for found family stories and this new zombie struggles to find their place in life with an increasingly hostile outside world. The panic at violence and blaming vulnerable people for it rings true. I'm definitely excited for this one.
* Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry, December 11, 2018
Synopsis: Ever since her mother's death, Gabriella "Gutsy" Gomez has spent her days flying under the radar. But when her mother's undead body is returned to her doorstep from the grave and Gutsy witnesses a pack of ravagers digging up Los Muertos- her mother's name for the undead- she realizes that life finds you no matter how hard you try to hide from it.
Meanwhile, Benny Imura and his gang set out on a journey to finish what Captain Joe Ledger started: they're going to find a cure. After what they went through in the Rot and Ruin, they think they've seen it all, but as they venture into new and unexplored territory, they soon learn that the zombies they fought before were nothing compared to what they'll face in the wild beyond the peace and safety of their fortified town.
My thoughts: I am so hyped to continue this series in a spin-off. I love how other of Maberry's zombie series is going to intersect with Benny's world plus expanding it to include other characters. I'm excited to meet Gutsy and see what can be so different about zombies in the wild now. Can't wait!!!
* Dead Life by Jean-Charles Gaudin, October 2, 2018
Synopsis: Classic zombie horror with a supernatural twist as the dead are brought to life with a magical chalice.
When Stephen finds, and drinks from, a medieval chalice buried in his grandparents' attic, he has no idea of the hell he's unleashed. The cursed chalice brings the undead back to walk the Earth and feed on the living. Who, if anyone, will survive the epidemic? And what will be left of them?
My thoughts: This comic book has such a striking cover that I was immediately intrigued. The supernatural element isn't seen as often as a disease, so this is a fresh take. The description is pretty vague so I'm wondering how far this is going to go and if the effect of the chalice can be reversed.
* Still of Night by Jonathan Maberry and Rachael Lavin, November 9, 2018
Synopsis: The dead rose. We fell.
But not everyone thinks the war for survival is over. Heroes rise in times of crisis, and Still of Night tells their stories...
Dahlia - a bullied high school girl with a love for edged weapons goes from victim to powerful leader as the zombie apocalypse sweeps through her world.
Rachael Elle - continues her journey from comic-con cosplayer to actual hero as she encounters a community with a dark and terrible secret.
Captain Joe Ledger and his best shooters, Top and Bunny, head to an overrun San Diego to try and save a possible cure for the virus that is bringing the dead back to unnatural life.
And in the wilderness, Joe, Dahlia, and Rachael Elle will come face-to-face with savage gangs, an army of the living dead, and the mysterious and deadly Old Man Church.
The final battle unfolds iin a little town called Happy Valley, where residents have found their own unique and terrible way to survive the end of the world. But a war is coming, and no one will escape the last great war between the living and the dead.
Still of Night is the fourth book in NY Times besteller Jonathan Maberry's bestselling Dead of Night series. George A. Romero called Dead of Night and its sequel Fall of Night, "the official prequel to Night of the Living Dead as far as I'm concerned."
My thoughts: I had no idea this series was still continuing! Dead of Night and Fall of Night are two of the best zombie novels I've read. This seems to be a short story collection, but I'm 100% on board for more visceral, gut punching zombie stories. I think I've read the Dahlia story, but the others are brand new to me and I can't wait to dive in.
1 comment:
Out Of Salem is the kind of book I'd have loved to read growing up. My shelves are packed right now with zombie-my favourite monster ever-apocalypses of all kinds, creature features, slashers and other stuff. I can't wait to read a pile next month!
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