Review: Devil's Wake

Devil's Wake by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due

Devil's Wake #1

278 pages -Fiction, Young Adult, Zombie 

July 31, 2012 -Atria Books 

http://www.tananarivedue.com/

http://www.lifewrite.com/

Facebook: Yes 

Twitter: @TananariveDue 

Source: Louisville Free Public Library 

Purpose: Review Related

From Goodreads: What happens when an unprecedented infection sweeps the world, leaving the earth on the brink of the Apocalypse? But this infection goes far beyond disease. Beyond even the nightmare images of walking dead or flesh-eating ghouls. The infected are turning into creatures unlike anything ever dreamed of . . . more complex, more mysterious, and more deadly.

Trapped in the northwestern United States as winter begins to fall, Terry and Kendra have only one choice: they and their friends must cross a thousand miles of no-man’s-land in a rickety school bus, battling ravenous hordes, human raiders, and their own fears. In the midst of apocalypse, they find something no one could have anticipated . . . love.

My Thoughts: I have a confession to make- I haven’t caught up in the zombie craze that’s been hitting the nation. At least I hadn’t when I started reading this book.  Jonathan Maberry’s Flesh and Blood caught my attention enough to pick up a copy, but I haven’t cracked its cover. Not even a peek. There isn’t even a good reason other than book ADD. I even remember passing a copy of Devil’s Wake in a store and thinking that it looked interesting. If not for receiving the sequel for review, it would have been nothing more than a passing thought.

          But I am so thankful that I had reason to pick it up. It was an awesome read! I couldn’t put the book down. In the beginning I found it difficult to read at night. Now, I’m not normally a chicken but my house makes strange noises. My dogs make strange noises. And this book had a huge dose of creepiness bordering on scary.  Darkness and rustling leaves is not a good combination while reading Devil’s Wake.

          The story begins with the beginning of the infected, but it moves on to people learning to deal with the outbreak and how to survive it. In other words, this is where the story picks up.  People are trying to survive and normal is far away and long gone.  When I first started reading I didn’t know that the main characters would turn out to be teenagers. This particular story could have been just as easily told from the adult’s perspective. I like that we meet Kendra, Terry and the crew separately. They are more than just a group trying to survive. They have their own backstory and we grow to care about them. Which in a world where anything goes and everything is changing, it’s important to have people you care about, that you want to make it. They all come together and turn into the family none of them knew they needed. As a reader, I felt like an extra passenger on the bus-watching and absorbing everything. I felt as if I was on the journey with them. There were moments I couldn’t help but feel their hopelessness, their frustration and their fear. Whenever they were not on the bus I was nervous and scared for them.  When they encountered someone new I was curious about the stranger as well as worried about whether they were infected. There were nuggets of beauty and peace amongst the backdrop of chaos.

4 stars ****

What’s Next? Domino Falls

Always Shine,

Starr K