480 pagesAlex sets out into the wilderness carrying some pretty heavy stuff. She's got the ashes of her parents, who were recently killed in a car accident, to spread on the mountain. She's also got a brain tumor that's starting to kill her. Obviously her life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but then things get even worse. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) flashes through the countryside, killing animals and destroying all electronic devices. Alex quickly teams up with Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP, and Tom, an attractive young soldier. As they move forward in search of civilization, all signs indicate that the waves went through a much bigger area than they'd originally thought--perhaps even the entire world. Even worse: the EMP seems to have transformed certain people into flesh-eating zombies. But why did Alex, Tom, and Ellie remain normal? And how will they survive in a world full of monsters?
This is a pretty unique zombie story; I've never come across one that features electromagnetic energy as a catalyst to a plague. Alex is a character that a lot of people can relate to, as she has some big problems and vulnerabilities. She remains strong, though, even carrying other characters throughout the story. I would have a liked a little more explanation about certain things, but this is only the first book in the trilogy so I can't judge that aspect of it yet. I'm certainly hooked and looking forward to finding out what happens next.
The writing is vivid and imaginataive with some interesting phrasing (though there is the odd bit of distracting grammar), and this definitely applies to the gory bits - this book is quite brutal and has a great deal of graphic violence. However, Bick's writing really drew me in and I loved how she was able to create tension, even when there wasn't much action. She also used omnicient narrator quips that set reader up for tension, because we then know things that the characters don't.
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