Charming characters populate this fast, exuberant genre mashup.
In this debut YA thriller, a homeless teenager’s fortunes change on the eve of a zombie apocalypse.
Sixteen-year-old Madison Jacques, a homeless musician living in Boston, performs with the Reaper, her prized guitar, and stays in the boiler room of a condemned building. After years in miserable foster homes, Madison contentedly shares her life with rats and a blind harmonica player named Jeremiah Church. One night, a construction crew demolishes her building, upending her precarious existence. If not for a mysterious benefactor dragging her to safety, Madison would have died. When she awakes at Mass General, she meets officers Joe Rowe and Phil Senior. After researching her identity, the police confirm that Madison has an aunt and twin brother living in Charleston. Meanwhile, the Holbox research facility on the Yucatán Peninsula—specializing in climate science and geology—falls into chaos when workers are contaminated by rock samples from the Chicxulub crater, becoming murderous. Researcher Ami Knight takes drastic steps to contain the transmissible psychosis, yet some of the stones have already been smuggled into the United States as souvenirs. When Madison disembarks the train in Charleston, she hopes that her relatives will welcome her. Little does she realize that a gory nightmare will soon replace the seaside tranquility. Brusseau adds a hefty, world-building twist to his zombie narrative, connecting his agile hordes to what killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and to the idea that humanity started on another planet. Zombie buffs, however, won’t be disappointed by the well-paced carnage, including the walking dead devouring a bus driver (his “last gasp of air came not through his mouth, but directly through his trachea”). The characters also discuss God’s existence and intentions during the mayhem, with Madison favoring the tolerant view that “as long as we are alive,” we are “free to choose” the worldview “that makes the most sense for us individually.” Later, the guardian angel who saved her from the building reveals himself, greatly expanding the potential of Brusseau's world.
Charming characters populate this fast, exuberant genre mashup.Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9966510-0-4
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Zombie Horde Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever series starter sure to leave readers wanting more Peas and Hambone adventures.
A boy and his dog face off against a horde of zombie gorillas in this action-packed adventure by debut author Nichols.
Peter, whose nickname is “Peas,” is an ordinary 10-year-old kid with an extraordinary dog named Hambone. The dog walks and talks like a human but only when he’s alone with Peas, and he gives Hobbes (of Bill Watterson’s famous Calvin and Hobbes comic strip) a run for his money. Snarky troublemaker Hambone is determined to get even with a gorilla who threw “dirt” at him, so he and Peter break into the zoo early one morning. As they try to determine which gorilla is Hambone’s nemesis, they stumble upon an evil plot: One of the gorillas (whom Peas nicknames “Evil Doctor Crazy Gorilla”) gives the other gorillas a smoky green potion that turns them into zombies. Peas and Hambone are the only ones who stand between humanity and the zombie gorilla incursion, aside from crazy Mr. Oswalt, who’s so obsessed with World War I that he pilots a Sopwith Camel biplane around the neighborhood, and the Mama’s Boys biker gang, which fights with foam swords and squirt guns. Peas, who’s seen a lot of scary movies, knows that where there’s a potion, there must be an antidote. Hambone, who suffered a “childhood trauma involving the movie King Kong,” has a serious hatred of gorillas and zombies, and he comes up with the plan that eventually leads them to the mad scientist’s lair. Peas and Hambone’s first outing, full of chase scenes, absurd combat, cross-dressing and gross-out humor, is a madcap adventure sure to appeal to fans of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants books and Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. The vocabulary and pacing are well-suited to reluctant readers, and Nichols’ silly, coined phrases (such as “whup-butt” and “Oh-my-shnippies!”) are catchy enough that kids might adopt them.
A clever series starter sure to leave readers wanting more Peas and Hambone adventures.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-615-87100-4
Page Count: 120
Publisher: SecretSquirrel Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An epic, masterly expansion of the Outlaw’s world.
This second volume of a YA series follows a Los Angeles crime fighter whose own body is both his salvation and destruction.
Chase Jackson, a high school junior in Glendale, California, has survived the football season and his first few weeks as the costumed vigilante Outlaw. The super speed, strength, and coordination that helped him become a star quarterback also pushed him into battle against teenage slumlord Tank Ware. After a brief sabbatical from crime fighting, the Outlaw meets another superpowered individual named Carter. He explains that Chase’s abilities come from a virus that amplifies his body chemistry. And if Chase doesn’t slow down and avoid stress, the virus will either drive him insane or kill him. Slowing down is tough, however, considering that bands of rioters have been roving Los Angeles in protest of anti-immigration laws. Chase is also still in a sham relationship with cheerleader Hannah Walker, who adores him merely as an accessory. Worse, his best friend, Katie Lopez, is dating Tank, unaware that he runs a gang and is at war with a new drug lord named the Chemist. The Outlaw must contend with new players, too, like the Sniper, who’s ready to pick him off if his powers run amok, and PuckDaddy, a legendary hacker who may or may not be on his side. Janney (The Outlaw, 2015) ratchets up every component that made the first novel in this series so compelling. The central arc of a football season, however, has been replaced by the mystery of the Outlaw’s aneurysm-inducing powers. Janney’s pacing is excellent, as are the action sequences; during a riot at school, Chase “could almost literally see the angles I should throw [the ball] if I wanted to hit him” when contending with a trespasser. As in the previous book, Chase finds solace at church, where the message “Love each other. Live peacefully. Take care of the poor” proves irresistible. By the explosive end, Janney’s Los Angeles and its Infected citizens know tragedy and that harder times approach.
An epic, masterly expansion of the Outlaw’s world.Pub Date: May 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9962293-4-0
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Sparkle Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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