My dear late mother used to tell me I took my first steps for a book. Then as a toddler, people loved to give me books upside down to watch me turn them right side up. I remember, when I could legibly write my name, my big brother walked me over to my local library and I got my first library card. Books have always brought me joy. One of my favorite movie scenes is the one in which the Beast reveals to Belle his enormous library. OMG! My dream home definitely includes floor to ceiling shelves filled with books and a sliding ladder to reach them all. Kindles are cool but I love the feel of the real book and I’m here to tell you about a zombie book series that feel really good in my hot little hands.
Monster Island by David Wellington, Book 1 of the Monster trilogy
In which we’re introduced to Dekalb, a UN weapons inspector based in Somalia. An outbreak rages across the country and he & his daughter end up in the company of a rebel leader. In exchange for keeping his daughter safe, the warlord requests that he go to New York to get HIV drugs for their leader. They send him on a ship with a squad of East African schoolgirl soldiers to the UN building in a city overrun by zombies. The book was well written and pretty much kept me on the edge of my seat. I’m waiting for someone to adapt this into film as the sight of a squad of well-armed African girls in school uniforms would look so damn cool!
Monster Nation by David Wellington, Book 2
Follows the disease through the eyes of Nilla, a woman who wakes up dead but manages to retain her humanity, Bannerman Clark, a National Guardsman, and Dick Walters, a health official who gets infected.The book is also peppered with news reports and internet postings, detailing the zombie outbreak sweeping across America. We see the scientists who have no idea of exactly what’s happening and government officials who hope to use it to their advantage.
Monster Planet
Book 3 takes place 12 years after Monster Island. A few of the characters from that book return and it’s pretty much the aftermath of the outbreak. We’re also re-introduced to Sarah, Dekalb’s now 18-year old daughter who has become a soldier herself. This book weaves zombies, ghosts, telepathy, Amish hex signs, bog mummies and veers a little off the zombie track and adopts a more supernatural tone. Some complained about that but come on-zombies are zombies. After 12 years, what could be left? It was an interesting conclusion.
Give these books a try. You won’t be disappointed!