Positive

February 16, 2015
If John Wyndham had written a zombie novel, it might very well have resembled Wellington’s clever apocalyptic thriller, which has a number of parallels to Wyndham’s classic The Day of the Triffids (1951). Nineteen-year-old Finn is part of the so-called second generation, born after a zombie outbreak claimed 99% of the U.S. population. He lives in a Manhattan whose 50,000 inhabitants have been zombie-free for the past 15 years. When his mother’s latent zombie-virus infection is triggered, Finn is tattooed with the symbol indicating that he is a potential carrier. That status exiles him from the city, but the expected next step—transport to a government medical center for “positives”—is thwarted when his escort is murdered. Finn struggles to survive in a world where humans are as much a threat as the walking dead. Finn’s personal growth is plausible as he grapples with the ethics of survival, and the story displays an imagination familiar to fans of Wellington’s Chimera. Agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh.

Starred review from February 15, 2015

Born after the epidemic that created the zombie outbreak, 19-year-old Finn grew up in the walled city of New York, listening to his parents' stories of life before the apocalypse. Despite every precaution, the zombie infection can incubate for years and sometimes people still turn. One day Finn's mother does just that. Finn is then declared a "positive," tattooed and exiled from New York. He is forced to make his way in the lawless places beyond the city's walls, facing looters, government forces trying to round up positives, and the ruthless members of a growing death cult. VERDICT Combining action and horror and featuring a sympathetic if naive hero, this is a great addition to the zombie canon from Wellington (Chimera; Frostbite). Finn's journey has an epic scale that seems destined for movie screens. In this postapocalyptic world the horror arises mostly from the violent remnants of humanity.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015

In a world set years after an epidemic wiped out the population and turned millions into zombies, 19-year-old Finn is suspected of carrying the virus. Exiled from his community, he is tattooed as a "Positive" and must make his way in a hostile landscape. His fellow humans are far more dangerous than the zombies in this dark tale that shows there are still interesting stories to tell in the zombie genre.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2015
Epic in scope, this zombie story from the author of such popular horror novels as Chimera (2013) and 32 Fangs (2012) takes its young narrator, Finn, from New York City to Ohio and beyond. Exposed many years ago to the zombie virus, Finn is a positive, someone who might be infected (the incubation period is very long, measured in decades). He's supposed to be going to a government medical facility but instead winds up on a perilous cross-country odyssey, his life constantly in jeopardyand only partly because of the zombies. Like The Walking Dead, the book uses the zombie apocalypse as a backdrop for a gripping story about the shattering of human societythe real villains here aren't the zombies but rather the road pirates, looters, religious cultists, and other groups that have sprung up in the 20 years since the crisis. Wellington's most ambitious book is also his best, written with a maturity and compassion indicative of a writer who's found the story he was made to tell. Zombie groupies will eat this one up, but it should also be recommended to readers of all epic-scale fantasy, including Justin Cronin's best-selling epic vampire novel The Passage (2010).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)