Originally posted on my blog Books Forget Me Knot.

Thrilling. Gripping. Heart-pounding. A story that will have you hooked from the beginning and an ending that will leave you speechless.

I haven’t read a zombie book since the final book in Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth series. I loved her twist to zombies and the romance weaved into her books, creating an epic and unforgettable series. With that said, it was going to be pretty hard to find another zombie book that I’d completely and utterly fall in love with.

But ladies and gentleman, Sean Beaudoin did it. Beaudoin creates and enticing and heart-racing novel from the very first page, not letting you go for an instant. It’s an exhilarating roller coaster ride with a jarring and surprising ending I didn’t see coming.

At first, I was wary because it was very different then what I normally read. But once I got over that fact I couldn’t put the book down until I was absolutely finished. As I was reading about Nick “Nero” I felt like I was watching everything from a camera lens; the scenes unfolding right before my eyes. Beaudoin’s writing style is unique all on it’s own and can’t be confused with anyone’s.

Not only is his writing brilliant and full of witty, dark, twisted humor – his characters are quirky and originally out of this world. The Infects exceeded all my thoughts and expectations and let’s just say, that I have probably had my last bite of KFC.

When Nick corrupts the processing at Rebozzo’s he is sentenced to a juvenile camp, Inward Trek, and given a camp name: Nero. One the way to the camp everything is all fine and dandy until horror strikes the next morning. Nero wakes up to see one of his camp counselor’s munching down on another. Things get even more freakier and bizzare when zombies appear left and right! Before Nero and his band of misfits realize it, they’ve got a full fledged Zombie-A-Pocalypse on their hands. They do what any normal human being scared for their life would do in a situation like that. Run.

Along the way, Nero gives us very detailed and insightful ZOMBRULES. For example:

ZOMBRULE #1: Always assume there’s a zombie or six in the bushes when the orchestra begins to ramp up. Because – and this is vital – you can hear the moaning and you smell the flesh, but the sound track is like GPS – weather’s it’s speed metal or Doris Day, theme music is the one sound that will never let you down.

ZOMBRULE #15: Bedtime is when bad things happen, and dream time is even worse. Drink coffee, pound Red Bulls, snort speed, tell ghost stories, poke each other with sharp sticks, staple open your eyelids, redo that sudoku, teach yourself to cobble, learn Javanese verb conjugations, memorize Deuteronomy, guzzle sixty-two hours’ worth of 5-hour ENERGY, and/or stay up till dawn playing strip poker instead. Do. Not. Go. To. Sleep.

Another thing that made this novel brilliant was Nick/Nero’s witty, insightful, and deep observations about himself and society as a whole. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I”m taking Sociology this semester or not, but I found subtle instances where Nick blatantly says Screw You to society, especially the last chapter of the novel. I liked that part very much because…well, society has done the same to us. I won’t go into much detail, but that is how I saw it. I might be very wrong…but if there is something deeper going on I believe that that was the point.

The build up to the story was pure genius. Without Nick’s story there wouldn’t be the rising action where zombie’s are unleashed and the characters have to fight for their lives to survive. There were instances where they wanted to give up, but Nick quickly pulled the plug on that thought, which I admired. It was one of my favorite parts of the entire story. Nero is an unlikely hero, much like his name was during ancient Rome.

This book is just everything you would want out of a zombie story. It has plenty of blood and gore and witty dialogue. It’s thought provoking, has a dash of romance (where I was shipping Nero and Petal FTW) and heart-pounding suspense. Like I said at the beginning, I was really unsure about this book but Sean Beaudoin won me over in a heartbeat, writing a unique and creative story that left me completely unhinged and excited to read some more of his works.

Memorable quotes:
But Petal Gazes was a whole other universe, a different orbit, a brighter sun. She was a tenth straight espresso, pure feedback, wet-toe-in-socket beautiful.

Thing is, he’s right. Bleeding hearts? Liberals? The collapse of empire is always fueled by good intentions, the rubble presided over by the strict and the cold.

You can’t keep Z around like house pets. Leaving Petal down here ready to turn was bullshit. Like dangling James Bond over a shark tank and running away instead of just shooting his dumb ass. Sooner or later she gonna escaped, and I’m not getting eaten over that kind of foolishness.