Zom-B

Zom-B (Zom-B, 1) by Darren Shan, October 16, 2012. 174 pages. Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Source: Publisher.

When news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's racist father thinks it's a joke-- but even if it isn't, he figures, it's ok to lose a few Irish.
B doesn't fully buy into Dad's racism, but figures it's easier to go along with it than to risk the fights and abuse that will surely follow sticking up for Muslims, blacks, or immigrants. And when dodging his fists doesn't work, B doesn't hesitate to take the piss out of kids at school with a few slaps or cruel remarks.
That is, until zombies attack the school. B is forced on a mad dash through the serpentine corridors of high school, making allegiances with anyone with enough gall to fight off their pursuers. 

First Sentence:

It was the darkest, most wretched hour of the night when the dead came back to life and spread like a plague of monstrous locusts through the village of Pallaskenry.

I'll just come right and say it. I did not read the synopsis before asking to review Darren Shan's newest book, Zom-B. All I knew going into the book was that it was by an author I like and that title mentioned zombies, so I decided I wanted to read it...based on the author alone.

Zom-B, while written by a favorite author of mine had its good and bad factors. But in the end the story and writing were worth the short time that went into reading it. I liked that it was extremely fast paced and that the plot never let up from the time the zombie attack in Pallaskenry was first mentioned.

Now I like a good gruesome read every now and again, and Zom-B delivers on the front. I should mention that the only other zombie book I've read was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I liked but was not nearly as dark as I thought it would be. So this one was an interesting foray into zombie books for me because it actually felt like a horror read even if it didn't scare me or give me nightmares.

While Zom-B is fast past horror read perfect for Halloween with great writing, I was shocked and maybe a little thrown by the final revelation in the last five pages of the book. Is was just so unexpected and out of nowhere that I cannot believe that it actually happened. My mind is still reeling from what was revealed at the end of the book, and what makes it worse there was a cliff-hanger ending. Talk about cruel. *needs book two now*

B, what can I honestly say about this character...  When B was first introduced I hated the character. I hated the way B would kowtow to the father's beliefs. I was eternally wishing that B would get the nerve to realize that that the way he acted was wrong and that his father was not one to be looked up to or deserving of his respect. While I highly dislike writing such strong words against the character's dad, there is just no other way to look at it because he was evil and what B did at the end of the book has stained both of their hands...in the book.

The format of the chapters is what I liked most while reading Zom-B. Why, because the shortness of each chapter and the way they stated out white writing on blog, mixed with some gruesome artwork definitely amped up the creepy factor while I read this book. I don't know why, but the way the book was laid out and the addition of sketches made the book feel more like a horror read and practically impossble to out down because it made the story fly by.

While the writing is exceptional and this may just be the most suspenseful book Darren Shan has written, I had some trouble with a couple of things in Zom-B. What I did not like, and I mean really did not like, was how B's father was so racist and how B went along with it. If it wasn't bad enough that the dad was racist, he was also abusive to his wife and B, which made it hard to rad because I just wanted B and the mom to open their eyes to the wrongness of his actions and for them to get out of there. So, while those two things make this a difficult book to read at times, I really enjoyed the author's writing and the rest of the story.

Final Verdict: Zom-B a darkly gruesome tale of zombies and life changing decisions.

Zom-B earns 4 out of 5 pieapples.