Author: Rusty Fischer
Publisher: Medallion Press
Publication Date: March 2011
Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal / Teen / Young Adult
Buy The Book: Amazon
Description: Maddy Swift is just a normal girl—a high school junior surviving class with her best friend and hoping the yummy new kid, Stamp, will ask her out. When he finally does, her whole life changes.
Sneaking out to meet Stamp at a party one rainy night, Maddy is struck by lightning. After awakening, she feels lucky to be alive. Over time, however, Maddy realizes that she’s become the thing she and everyone else fear most: the living dead.
With no heartbeat and no breath in her lungs, Maddy must learn how to survive as a zombie. Turns out there’s a lot more to it than shuffling around 24/7 growling, “Brains.” Needing an afterlife makeover is only the beginning of her problems. As Barracuda Bay High faces zombie Armageddon, Maddy must summon all of her strength to protect what matters most—just as soon as she figures out exactly what that is.
My Thoughts: Enjoyable story directed to the teen generation about a normal girl trying to live through puberty and survive high school where several students have died suddenly. After sneaking out to meet the cute new guy at a party, Maddy is struck by lightning and wakes up face down in the mud, only to discover that passing Home Ec is the least of her problems. Maddy is dead and now thanks to electricity and the gaping hole in the top of her head, she’s now a member of the living dead.
Learning how to eat brains and arranging her appearance so normal breathing humans don’t catch on become Maddy’s priority with the help of a couple of students who are also zombies. Maddy learns there are rules and laws in the zombie world that are strictly enforced if she fails to abide by them. She also discovers the existence of evil zombies, known as zerkers, who are hunting her and pretty much everyone she cares about. I’m starting to think my high school experience was a walk in the park compared to Maddy’s.
This story hints at a romance, but that may be explored in more depth in the rest of the series. Personally, I believe Maddy has more than enough on her plate without adding relationship drama to the mix.
This story was engaging and held my interest. As a fan of zombie fiction, I enjoyed the theory that electricity can create and kill zombies and they retain their minds, memories and emotions, but zerkers are bitten and lose pretty much all traces of any humanity they had.
My Final Verdict: A good start to a series that I recommend to fans of zombies, be they teenage or adult. This story had a few surprises towards the end that I wasn’t expecting but found entertaining.
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