Undead with Benefits

July 1, 2014
Zombies Jake and Amanda head to Iowa for a hoped-for cure, psychic ex-government agent Cass in tow.As in the first book (Eat, Brains, Love, 2012), the narration alternates between underachiever Jake, kicking himself at his good fortune to have become beloved of the superhot Amanda, and insecure, maladjusted Cass, reluctantly acknowledging that her psychic attraction to Jake is both insane and hopeless. Iowa is something of a new Wild West, all access points barricaded to keep zombies (and the dwindling human population) in and humans out. Once on the other side, a series of misadventures separates the teens, forcing Cass and Amanda into an uneasy truce and sending Jake on his own into Des Moines, shambling after the mythic cure. Des Moines, under the control of zombie overlord Lord Wesley, consciously recalls the horrors of such catastrophically lawless zones as Mogadishu, though with a better soundtrack. Hart balances humor and heartbreak with expert precision, Jake's slacker voice lending itself to some pretty funny reflections: "What if [Amanda and Cass had] been eaten? Or, well, what if one of them had eaten the other? And the noneaten one was all mad at me?" But Hart never lets readers forget that this is the zombie apocalypse, man, with all the spilling entrails that entails, and the emotions ring true.These zombies are so touchingly human it's impossible not to love them. (Horror. 14-18)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Jake Stephens and Amanda Blake have been on the run since they unexpectedly "necrotized" in their school cafeteria and consumed half of the senior class in Eat, Brains, Love (HarperCollins, 2013). Being tracked by Cass, a teen psychic, they narrowly escaped from the Necrotic Control Division, a top-secret military unit that unsuccessfully tried to control and conceal the zombie threat. Now the dynamic duo has an ally in Cass who has abandoned the misguided NCD in order to travel to Iowa where there are rumors of a zombie cure. But the obsessed Dr. Alastaire is not willing to let Cass just walk away. He also wants the cure and will do whatever it takes to get it. What ensues is a haphazard mission where the unlikely trio must learn to maneuver among the rational undead, the zombiefied undead, a zombie warlord and his minions, ex-NCD army dudes, and a truly psycho doctor. Hart's action-packed story unfolds through the alternating narratives of Cass, Amanda, and Jake. It is witty and full of plots twists and turns, suspense, and intrigue. Faced with difficult decisions, the protagonists must do some soul-searching while struggling to survive in an undead world. Readers will be anxiously awaiting the next installment of this out-of-control adventure.-Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

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