Fifteen-year-old Jeremy Barnes would rather watch a zombie movie than shoot a real one, but he has no choice if his family wants to survive the end of the world. Their plan? Drive across the infected United States to a cabin in the Colorado Rockies without a scratch, but their trip takes a complicated detour in the middle of Nebraska when they find Kaylynn, a girl who can handle a baseball bat better than Jeremy can hold a .45 Berretta. And when they stumble into a sanctuary, Jeremy soon learns that Kaylynn is stronger than she looks—a deadly secret lies inside her.
After the radio picks up a distress call from Kansas City about a possible cure, Jeremy’s parents go with a team to investigate. They never return. The only way to find their parents is for Jeremy and his sister Jewel to rely on a dangerous girl who might just turn on them at any moment.
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MY REVIEW
King has done it again. This was the first book I read for 2016, and it was a good choice. While The Undead Road is a very different story from Woven which he coauthored with Michael Jensen (and I loved), it's still an engaging tale nonetheless. While it's a tad bit graphic (it IS a Zombie Apocalypse story after all), it's full of dark humor.
I found the characters engaging and fun. There's some tough stuff that happens--again, no surprise--and some wins and losses for the characters. This is the first in a series, but the story arc for this book is complete. I'm really looking forward to reading the next one.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. How old were you when you realized Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny probably never actually knew one another in real life?
Wait, they've never met each other? I thought there was some kind of holiday character convention, in July in Florida. You just turned my world upside down, Donna.
*Hangs head in shame*2. Who was your favorite character to write in The Undead Road, My Zombie Summer? Why?
That would be Jewel, the main character's little sister. I was the youngest in my family and often entertained the idea of having a little sister, so I wrote Jewel in as an alternate universe version of myself. Jewel is the glue and is well worth her weight in, well ... jewels.
Jewel was a treat of a character. She was tough and an awesome shot, but she was also a little girl and fragile in other ways.3. What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
That time as an early teen when I got busted by mall security for switching sale signs in the lingerie section of a department store. My mom never took me clothes shopping after that.
Ha! I burst out laughing when I read that. I can so see you doing something like this. Just wait for your own kids' antics ...4. What was your inspiration for The Undead Road, My Zombie Summer and what comes next in the series?
When I was about 15, my family went on a huge road trip to the Midwest and I visited many of the locations found inside The Undead Road. I also had zombies on the brain and would imagine entering each town being filled with zombies and pretending that my family was trying to escape them. After watching the first episode of The Walking Dead, my memory of that trip and the presentation of that show created a perfect brainstorm and off to work I went.
In Part Two of My Zombie Summer, the story picks up where it left off. Jeremy's family will undergo a new set of challenges and make new alliances while Jeremy deals with an unexpected change. Imagine Children of the Corn with zombies.
I can't wait!
ABOUT THE AUTHORDavid Powers King was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to be a writer. He is the co-author of the YA fantasy novel WOVEN, published by Scholastic. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, David also has a soft spot for zombies and the paranormal. He currently lives deep in the mountain West with his wife and three children.
