SOULLESS

New York City: epicenter of art, fashion and zombies. After a trio of mediums attempts a séance on daytime television, the East Coast is overwhelmed with the dead seeking to fill the hollowness within. Matt and Noah, politically opposite college students, are trekking down from Massachusetts to rescue Matt’s sister and find a solution to the re-animation when they join forces with a teenage singer and a disgraced gang member to stop the resurrections. In the heart of Manhattan, they must weigh killing one of the mediums to end the infestation against the deaths of thousands as the revenants spread. Golden’s creative postulations on human nature examine the division between personality, spirit and soul; the rest of the tale is standard zombie-movie fare. Stock characters and situations are used to great effect, with just enough individuality for readers to form a connection, but without any personality quirks that would distract from the action. A cozy horror tale, this offers thrills and chills in all the right places, but doesn’t explore any new ground. (Horror. YA)