| Number | Call Number | Branch | Status | Volume |
| 1 |
YA F Higson Charles |
CP |
Out: Due May 28 2013 |
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| 2 |
YA F Higson Charles |
DR |
Out: Due Apr 4 2013 |
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| 3 |
YA F Higson Charles |
KR |
In at KR (Kisker Road) |
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| 4 |
YA F Higson Charles |
MK |
Out: Due May 29 2013 |
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| 5 |
YA F Higson Charles |
SP |
In at CP (Corporate Parkway); Reserve-On Hold Shelf |
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| 6 |
YA F Higson Charles |
WH |
Out: Due May 17 2013 |
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| "Instead of following the zombie-apocalypse survivors introduced in The Enemy (2010), Higson instead cranks the clock back a year to see what it was like just a week or so after everyone over the age of 16 became slavering cannibals. The mostly new cast is fronted by two friends—impulsive Jack and sensitive Ed—as they lead a gang of their boarding-school buds across London toward safer quarters. This is not an origin story; in fact, it plays out much like The Enemy, except from a different, though similar, perspective. Once again, what Higson lacks in innovation he makes up for in bravado, effortlessly orchestrating a huge cast, logistically complicated battles, and a series of deaths both gruesome and surprising. The whole affair is awash in the blood, bile, and mucus trademark to the zombie "sickos," with grotesqueries waiting at every turn (if you've never read a scab-licking scene, now's your chance). There's virtually no fat on this thing—no setup or ending either—which helps make it fast, sometimes funny, and always (burp) satisfying." Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews. | | | |
| In this prequel to the apocalyptic thriller The Enemy, a band of school boys journeys to London. The kids join other children struggling to survive attacks by the disease-ridden, cannibalistic adult population. Higson's frequent slaughtering of his protagonists conveys the grim and gory violence of this dystopian society. The chilling chases and gory horror will appeal to the first book's fans. Copyright 2011 Horn Book Guide Reviews. | | | |
When all adults turn into zombies, kids must fend for themselves. Before London was filled with shambling husks craving fresh meat, there was an Internet video of a scared boy ranting about adults killing children. Months later, both video and Internet have disappeared. After constant battles with ravening adults, 15-year-olds Jack and Ed rescue the trapped Frédérique and break out of their barricaded school to find food and stronger shelter. Despite a misadventure with a cannibalistic bus driver, the youths arrive at the Imperial War Museum only to discover others have claimed the space. When London starts to burn again, they all must work together to flee the coming firestorm. Higson delivers this prequel to The Enemy (2010) in similar style, with multiple narrators allowing for even more action than the first offering. While most of these threads lack strong emotional resonance, Frédérique's narrative harrows, as she descends into madness when infection overtakes her. Jack and Ed have a good rapport, too, though there's a bit too much sentimentality toward the end. Gun combat takes precedence over melee here, a choice that makes sense given the protagonists' ages and the setting, though it tends to break the action more than the fisticuffs that dominated the first work. With giant firestorms, rampaging hoards and continual life-and-death scenarios, though, Higson delivers an action-packed summer read. (Horror. 13-16) Copyright Kirkus 2011 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. | | | |
| In this prequel to The Enemy (Disney-Hyperion, 2010), Higson explores the early days of the zombie apocalypse in England. Everyone over 16 is infected with a virus that leaves them either dead or hungering for young human flesh, while those younger are trying to understand the implications and find safety. The focus here is on a group of students from a boys' school as they try to get to the perceived safety of London. This is a fast-paced adventure, with the bulk of the story taking place over just a few days, but it is not a happy story; children die violently, and are often eaten; no character is safe. Still, there is a sense of hope, and the book stands firmly on its own. Susan A.M. Poulter, Cataloguing Librarian, Nashville (Tennessee) Public Library. RECOMMENDED ¬ 2011 Linworth Publishing, Inc. | | | |
In this gore-soaked prequel to The Enemy (2010), Higson expands on the horror inherent in a world where disease has ravaged everyone over age 16, killing many and turning the rest into flesh-eating monsters. When the disease struck the Rowhurst School near London, a handful of students survived, including popular Ed, self-conscious Jack, rugby star Bam, and know-it-all Wiki. Aware that their school is no longer safe, the Rowhurst boys break out, embarking on a brutal quest for a new haven. Along the way they gather more refugees, even as they experience steady attrition due to constant "sicko" attacks and other threats. With religious fanatic Matt, military-minded Jordan, unpredictable adult Greg, and alpha-male David vying for dominance, the future looks rocky. This visceral tale sheds light on several key players in The Enemy, while sealing the fate of others. With the book's immense cast and substantial body count, it doesn't pay to get too attached to any one character, while the intense descriptions of violence and sickness will get under readers' skin. Ages 14–up. (June) [Page ]. Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC | | | |
Gr 8 Up—Events in this prequel take place just over a year before those in Higson's The Enemy (Hyperion/Disney, 2010). A disease has infected everyone over the age of 16, beginning with coldlike symptoms and progressing to hideous boils. Many people are killed outright but others become mindless cannibals who seek out the flesh of young teens and children. The living dead are described in hideous detail—flesh decomposing, boils oozing pus, mucus, and blood dripping from what is left of their noses. Ed, Jack, Bam, and their mates are overmatched by these horrors but must try their best to protect the younger kids around them as well as scavenge food and water in a world with no functioning power supply, distribution network, Internet, or media. Jack leads them from a rural school into London in the hope of finding food and a defensible location. Inevitably, in a story of a handful of children against a good fraction of the adult population of London, the casualty list is extensive. The cast is large but the author does a fine job distinguishing his myriad characters and giving them their particular motivations, going so far as to present the viewpoints of some of the diseased. This is definitely not for the squeamish, but zombie stories are on the rise, so this action-packed tale ought to have a wide audience.—Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI [Page 106]. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. | | | |
| A mysterious disease breaks out across the world and spreads like wildfire, affecting everyone over the age of sixteen. It rots their brains and bodies from the inside out, and makes them hungry for the flesh of healthy children. The students at Rowhurst School are left to fend for themselves as their teachers become zombies and begin to attack. The students journey to London, hoping they will find relative safety. Along the way they join others trying to survive, but quickly learn that no one can be trusted, not even their own. Power shifts as strong characters fall, while the weak manage to prove their own value to the group The Dead is a companion book to Higson's The Enemy (Disney Hyperion, 2009) showing how another group of children faces the Disaster. It is definitely not for the faint of heart; descriptions of violence, death, and decay are startlingly graphic. These descriptions sometimes overshadow the stories of survival and Lord of the Flies-type power struggle among the teenagers. Readers will not know who the true protagonists are until the end, as major characters die off or become zombies with little warning throughout the book Those who enjoyed reading about the brutality of The Hunger Games (Scholastic, 2008/VOYA October 2008) may be drawn to the same in The Dead, although neither the world nor the characters are nearly so well developed. Though it is a longer novel, it reads quickly and may be a good pick for reluctant readers.—Stephanie Petruso 3Q 3P J S Copyright 2011 Voya Reviews. | | |
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