Life As We Knew It meets Lord of the Flies
in a mall that looks just like yours
A
biological bomb has just been discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban
mall. At first nobody knows if it's even life threatening, but then the entire
complex is quarantined, people start getting sick, supplies start running low,
and there's no way out. Among the hundreds of trapped shoppers are four teens.
These
four different narrators, each with their own stories, must cope in unique,
surprising styles, changing in ways they wouldn't have predicted, trying to
find solace, safety, and escape at a time when the adults are behaving
badly.
This is
a gripping look at people and how they can--and must--change under the most
dire of circumstances.And not always
for the better.
Welcome
to Cover Wars, the place where covers put their trust in your hands for you to
pick who is the best representative for the story they represent, so remember
it is up to you to pick a winner. Last week we had Steel Kiss by Bec McMaster
and after almost a week and a little technical problem with the poll the winner
is…
Victorian society may not approve cover
Now
that we know which cover caught your heart let’s take a look at this week’s contestant,
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville and for those of us that need to get acquainted
with the Perdido Street Station here is
the book blurb:
New
Crobuzon is a squalid city where humans, Re-mades, and arcane races live in
perpetual fear of Parliament and its brutal militia. Isaac, a brilliant
scientist, is asked by a bird-man Garuda to restore his power of flight. But
one lab specimen threatens the whole city. A vividly colored caterpillar eating
a hallucinatory drug grows in order to consume all.
Now
that we know at least a bit of what this story hides it is time to take a look
at the covers that are claiming the face of this story.
First
up we have the glimpse at the city cover, one that tries to paint a version of
what this world could be about and the silent vigilante un top of it.
Up next
we have the New Crobuzon and the bird-man’s wing that seem to show the place
where the action will be taking place and what put this all in motion.
Last
but not least we have a cover split in half although the meaning of the two
elements that make this cover are more of an interesting blend in which their
meaning is more of a mystery for me but conspiracy theories are accepted.
After
this little cover runaway have you found a favorite cover? Is there one that
you would like to adopt in your bookshelf? Please let us know what you think by
commenting and voting on this week’s poll.
Evie
O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the
bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York
is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is
running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch
is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American
Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the
Creepy Crawlies."
When a
rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in
the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a
mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her
first
It all waits to be discovered in Miss
Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes
fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.
As
our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob
journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the
crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob
explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the
children who once lived here - one of whom was his own grandfather - were more
than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been
quarantined on a desolate island for good reason.
And somehow
- impossible though it seems - they may still be alive
A virus that had once been contained has returned, and
soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when
seventeen-year-old Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut
off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a
chance at survival.
At first, Elysian Fields, with its beautiful houses and
manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's
heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are
tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation,
Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.
The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is
now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the
most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to
remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how
to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.
If they play it right, then they'll be safe. But
if they play it wrong, they'll die.
Her dreams of Rumspringa where now gone, the outside world was no more, gone with it where her dreams of long afternoons enjoying a Coke and going to the movies.
Katie has always been a rebel among the Amish, the elders pay her extra attention. You would think that when the world outside turn deadly that she would obey the elders and not question their decision, but when a life is at stake she will risk everything and everyone to do what is right.
After rescuing Alex a 24 year old Canadian she discovers more about what happened in the outside, if Alex is to be believed the outside world is falling in the hands of vampires and not the shiny ones, no this ruthless creatures have a blood lust and an evil inside of them that the destruction they havoc comes from beyond your gory imagination.
Review
When I heard about this book all I heard was Amish + End of the world + Evil Vampires, it all screamed to me READ ME LIL BERRY READ ME NOW. And how right it was, this book is dark, gory and not something I would call Young Adult, it can fall under that category but I feel that readers that enjoy adult books will enjoy it too, it's one of those book that has a little something for everyone.
I laughed, almost cried and bite my nails with this book, honestly, Laura Bickle is such a tease and an excellent writer. She got me all jumpy, all excited, kinda stressed out (the good kind) for something to happened yes she toyed with me and my feelings but I liked it, it made me feel more a part of the story, more of a secret accomplice to Katie and Alex then an spectator.
Highly recommend this book, and for those fans of this book, it is official this is now a series and we can expect the second book "The Outside" sometime in 2013. If you would like to know more about the book please let me know, I could talk about this book for hours. Rating:
I am a teacher. At least, I was
before it all happened, before I was forced to survive. I taught social studies
at the high school. I was also the coach of the school's successful debate
team. It was a cold Saturday in January when I heard the first rumor of
trouble...
You know, pop culture had defined
the zombie apocalypse time and time again, all coming from the minds of horror
writers, film producers, and video game designers. Who knew that when it really
happened, it wouldn't be anything like they all predicted. Oh sure, the dead
reanimated, and they were certainly hungry for living flesh...but what were the
mysterious red-eyes, zombies that moved faster than their stumbling
counterparts and seemed to not only communicate, but to exert some kind of
control over the others.
"James
Lacey takes the classic zombie story that we all know and love, and then twists
it off into the new directions and unexplored territory. Perseverance is fresh,
exciting, and edge-of-the-seat spell-binding."
- Samantha Murphy, 13 Nights of Blood:
Legends of the Vampire
Book Excerpt:
It is close
at hand...
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in
my holy mountain:
let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for
the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of
clouds and of thick darkness,
as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any
more after it, even to the years of many
generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a
flame burneth:
the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and
behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joel 2:1-3
When
it happened I was excited – at first. I was a fan of the movies, the books, the
games...all of it. So when those first reports came on the television and hit
the net I was probably the most excited person on the planet. I mean, you
always wonder “what if” when you see it in films, but then to have it actually
happen, it really gets you going. That is, until they’re banging on your front
door. Or the door of someone you really, truly care about. Someone you love.
That
is when the excitement fades to fear. The fear can turn to horror. But right
before that there is a brief moment where human instinct takes over and you
choose to either fight or run. You don’t think, you just act. That is how I’m
still alive. And it is probably why she is dead.
My
story is not a happy one. It is not about heroics or unity or the fight to
persevere. It is the story of survival. The only thing a person could really do
during the crisis. It is the story of trying to protect someone you love and
failing. It is a story of love, friendship and ultimately death. I’m not
holding back. I am going to tell you everything. For some, this story will be
harder to read then it was to write. For others, it won’t. Either way, this is
my story. This is my account of the zombie apocalypse.
I
was trying to be reassuring and bring my students back to the mood they were in
before we stopped to eat, which not many were doing. But I knew there was
something big going on.
I
could hear the words “ bio-terrorism,” “widespread” and “thousands dead.” I could
hear people talking about countries all over the world. CNN had this gorgeous
new anchor,
Rebecca
Mailey and I had a sort of boyhood crush on her. I was 29 and still entitled to
fantasize about celebrities. So when she was the one who sent a chill down my
spine, I thought it was sort of ironic and could not help but laugh. I’ll never
forget the colorless look on her face when she uttered, “We are now getting
scattered reports of incidents here in the United States.”
I
never finished booting up my laptop. My instincts told me to get everyone out
of the rest area and back on the bus. It was a quiet on the way home. I told
everyone to call their parents and let them know that they were okay and would
be home soon. As we boarded the bus two police cruisers went speeding in the
opposite direction, sirens blaring. It was unnerving, given what we just heard.
The rest of the ride home was dead quiet.
“It’s
happening everywhere.”
“What
is?”
“This...thing.
People are dying. Riots happening
everywhere.
They said that there are drugs in the water supply that makes you want to hurt
others. Then they said it wasn't drugs, but a massive psychological event
caused by a solar flare or something. Another guy said it’s been happening for
a few weeks, but until now the government had it bottled up. And then...”
“Keith.”
I had to stop him. The talking heads on TV had him all turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Take
a breath. Clearly they don’t really know what is happening. So the question
remains. Now, what do you know for sure? What do they know for certain? Think
simple, Keith.”
“I
don’t know. People are killing each other, I guess. They haven’t really said
why or how, just that it’s happening.”
That
part bothered me. If it were a terrorist event, then someone would be taking
credit by now. If it were a disaster, then they would know the cause. Not
knowing information...that is when I became hooked. That is when it
became...interesting.
I
looked up at the clock on the microwave. It was almost 10 AM. I really slept in
late. I went and checked my cell phone. Seven missed calls? I realized then
that I still had the phone on silent from the tournament. One call from Keith’s
mom. Two from my parents? That was
odd. Four from Ashley. Damn...I had promised to go over early this morning.
She’s probably pissed right now. I went back into the bedroom and turned the TV
on as I checked my voice-mail.
“Hi,
it’s Keith’s Mom. Sorry I’m home so late. Thanks for watching him.”
All over the country
people are fighting against...
“It’s
mom. Calling to see if you’re okay. Call me back.”
Military response is
beginning to organize...
“I
need you! Now! Please hurry! Call me back!”
We have confirmed video
reports of...
“Why
aren’t you answering?! Oh good...I hope...call me back...”
Rising from the dead and
attacking...
“They’re
outside! Help me! I need you! I need to hear your voice!”
All over the world people
are coming back from the dead and killing others.
“I
love you...Mom! Look out!” There’s a crash of glass on the phone.
Stay indoors. Lock your
doors. Board up your windows. Do not go outside.
No
words on the last message...just another crash and the sound of a scream.
I
was paralyzed.
The
phone fell from my hand.
About
the Author:
James Lacey lives in the Pocono
Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
When not writing, he works with disabled adults and children as a
paraprofessional and Special Olympics coach.
James also enjoys hiking, camping and watching football.
A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel. R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead. Those of you that have read the book, will you be re-reading this book before watching it? do you even want to watch it? I am seriously thinking of reading it before it hits the big screen, are you??
Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.
Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?
I thought maybe we could discuss a creepy book in honor of all hollows eve, the book is Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts, this book is really good, if you haven't read it yet and are wondering what it's about come take a look at my of Dark Inside.
Now lets talk about which of this covers makes the best for this book where humanity turns against itself thanks to an old evil that wakes up to bring us down turning our neighbors and loved ones into crazy killing machines. And the four teens we follow on their road to survival.
First we have the original cover by Simon and Schuster:
The first MacMillan cover:
The second MacMillan cover
First of all I like all the covers in different ways, the first cover gets the most creepy/scary points of them all, the second contestant has a visual appeal to itself but sadly I cannot distinguish the boys from the girls and all the voices that show us this world are equally important; the third cover I love for a movie poster and DVD cover, if this book ever got made into a movie or mini-series.
What do you guys think??? Which one do you prefer? Do you dislike any of them? Please share your opinion with us.
By the way guys, this is the cover for the second book, which I just adore
This are books that have been recommended by friends be it friends I know in real life, Goodreads or recommendations I get from San Diego Comic-Com and I've been thinking of reading them but honestly in some of them I've been to much of a coward to start.
#5 Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts
Who recommended it?
Well this book is more of a follow up of last year when I got Dark Inside By Jeyn Roberts at Comic-Con, I know this book doesn't fall right into the zombie category but I've found it's the closest it has, the first book takes us throw the end of the world as we know it and the quick changes 5 teenagers have to do in order to stay alive, I loved Dark Inside and I honestly can't wait to get my hands on Rage Within.
Book description:
Aries, Clementine, Michael, and Mason have survived the first wave of the apocalypse that wiped out most of the world’s population and turned many of the rest into murderous Baggers. Now they’re hiding out in an abandoned house in Vancouver with a ragtag group of fellow teen survivors, trying to figure out their next move. Aries is trying to lead, but it’s hard to be a leader when there are no easy answers and every move feels wrong. Clementine is desperate to find her brother Heath, but it’s impossible to know where he’d be, assuming he’s alive. Michael is haunted by the memories of his actions during his harrowing struggle to survive. And Mason is struggling with something far worse: the fear that he may be a danger to his friends. As the Baggers begin to create a new world order, these four teens will have to trust and rely on each other in order to survive.
Labels: Young Adult, Post-Apocaliptic, Zombies, Science Fiction, Survival, Action, Paranormal.
#4 Breathers by S. G. Browne
Who recommended it?
The author was in a panel at Comic-Con and he was excited promoting his new book "Lucky Bastard" when suddenly we starts to talk that it's a different direction from Breathers, where zombies are fighting in San Francisco for their civil rights and as he kept talking all I could think of was a combination between "I want to go to there" and "shut up and take my money"
Book description:
Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased every man and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence. But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for the formaldehyde in cosmetic products, and Jerry, a twenty-one-year-old car-crash victim with an exposed brain and a penchant for Renaissance pornography. When the group meets a rogue zombie who teaches them the joys of human flesh, things start to get messy, and Andy embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will take him from his casket to the SPCA to a media-driven class-action lawsuit on behalf of the rights of zombies everywhere.
Darkly funny, surprisingly touching, and gory enough to satisfy even the most discerning reader, Breathers is a romantic zombie comedy (rom-zom-com, for short) that will leave you laughing, squirming, and clamoring for more.
Labels: Zombies, Horror, Humor, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy
#3 Feed by Mira Grant
Who recommended it?
I was in a panel that talked about Urban Fantasy and suddenly this swedish woman asks if the authors could help her deffend a program from the university she worked in saying they wanted to shut down their Urban Fantasy program and Mira Grant stands up and says one of the most amazing thing that included "Urban Fantasy is the same as the Grimm stories once where to people living in the eighteen hundreds" and how "Urban Fantasy is a little escape we can give our self's from a world where everything logical and that involves our every day life" she said so much more that I do hope someone was recording it so that we can get our hands on it because she speaks with such passion and conviction that you know she will also translate it to her books.
Book Description:
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them
Labels: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Zombie, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Thriller
#2 Graveminder by Melissa Marr
Who recommended it?
This was recommended by the staff from HarperCollins who where nice enough to tell me a little about this book, that combined with Melissa Marr's book "Carnival of Souls" make me even more excited. I mean how many grandmas had a job as cool as Rebekkah's??
Book Description:
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene's death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.
Labels: Zombie, Adult, Paranormal, Mystery, Urban Fantasy
#1 World War Z
Who recommended it?
This was recommended by a dear friend of mind that said something along the lines "This book is really interesting, here we get to hear about the survivors of the zombie attacks that have taken a toll on our world, it's one of a kind and a most read"
Book Description:
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time.World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”
Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.
Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war
“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China
“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers
“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Labels: Horror, Zombie, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, War, Adult
Another reason you should be reading World War Z is becuase the movie will come out on June 21, 2o13, here is the trailer.
Can't get enough zombies? then continue the zombie walk here
