ZOMBIE SEASON 2

In this second series entry, teenagers battle a power-hungry corporate executive touting a faulty zombie-control measure that only makes humanity’s doom seem even more certain.

As if roving hordes of zombies laying waste to town after West Coast town as residents huddle in “zomb shelters” aren’t bad enough, now more undead are coming out of the sea. They’re swollen sometimes to giant size and, in an even more terrifying development, showing signs of being directed by a malign intelligence. Smooth-talking mouthpiece Sky Stone promises that HumaniTeam’s new Cloudbuster rockets will neutralize the invaders. Thanks to previous events, Regina Herrera and her allies, Oliver Wachs and Joule Artis, know the weapon actually makes zombies tougher. But can they find ways to both expose Stone’s lies and head off the imminent consumption of San Francisco? Having people turning on one another rather than uniting to face a common threat does add a realistic touch to the scenario. The discovery that immense masses of undead are roaming sea bottoms eating everything they encounter—including all the plastic waste—is just one of several other ways tongue strays toward cheek here. Still, though the climactic save Weinberger contrives is strictly a short-term one, he does inject satisfying quantities of terror and triumph into his tale—along with betrayals, courageous exploits, and rapidly rising stakes—to build anticipation for further disastrous developments.

More dastardly doings with twists both dark and deadpan.