Z is for Zombie Fiction #AtoZChallenge

by Donna Huber

For the A to Z Challenge, I'm discussing different book genres/categories. Each day, I will give a few details about the genre/category and an example or two. I would love to know your thoughts on the genre/category and if you have any reading suggestions. Be sure to check out all of my A to Z posts.

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So I couldn't find a true genre for Z so I'm going to make up my own: Zombie Fiction. 

Zombies, wight, undead, living dead, walking dead, etc. is an undead person animated by unnatural forces and it is a pretty popular character in fantasy, science fiction, and horror. It is so popular that there are enough works to consider Zombie Fiction to be a literary category.

I don't think I ever read a zombie book before I joined my post-apocalyptic book club. Now I've read several. I can't say it is my favorite type of book and I don't go looking for zombie books. I've read at least one Zombie book that wasn't for my book club: Enclave by Ann Aguirre. I looked over a list of Best Zombie Books at Goodreads and saw that Scorch Trials (book 2 of The Maze Runner) by James Dashner is on the list, but I don't remember zombies. But I did read that book. I've read only 8 books on that Goodreads list which has 1,434 books on it. There's only 2 that I actually enjoyed.

I'm not sure what the draw is for Zombie Fiction. Here are the two Zombie Fiction books that I read (both because of my book club) and enjoyed.

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself - and keeping her demons inside. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

Buy The Reapers are the Angels at Amazon

Read my review at Goodreads

The Post by Kevin A. Muñoz

Ten years after the world’s oil went sour and a pandemic killed most of the population, Sam Edison is the chief of police of The Little Five, a walled-in community near Atlanta, Georgia. Those who survived share the world with what are known as hollow-heads: creatures who are no longer fully human.

A man and a pregnant teenager arrive at the gate and are welcomed into the town. They begin to settle in when suddenly both are murdered by an unknown assailant. In the course of investigation, Chief Edison discovers that the girl was fleeing a life of sexual slavery, and that some members of the Atlanta community were complicit in the human trafficking network that had ensnared her.

In retaliation for Edison’s discoveries, agents of the network abduct the stepdaughter of the town’s mayor. Sam Edison and three companions track the kidnappers to Athens, Georgia, where they discover that the entire city is engaged in human trafficking. By the time Edison has recovered the kidnapped girl, the other three rescuers have been killed, leaving Edison alone to bring the mayor’s stepdaughter home. Further complicating their return is Sam’s realization that a prominent member of the community is in truth the ringleader of the slave-trading network. Against such great odds, will Sam ever make it to Little Five alive?

Buy The Post at Amazon

I liked The Post because it is set around where I live. Read my review at Goodreads.

If I had to choose my favorite zombie novel, it would be this book:

State of Decay by James Knapp

Just because you're dead doesn't mean you're useless... A thrilling debut novel of a dystopian future populated by a new breed of zombie They call them revivors-technologically reanimated corpses-and away from the public eye they do humanity's dirtiest work. But FBI agent Nico Wachalowski has stumbled upon a conspiracy involving revivors being custom made to kill-and a startling truth about the existence of these undead slaves.

Buy State of Decay at Amazon

This is book 1 of the Revivors series. I wish my library had the other books in the series. Read my review at Goodreads.

Do you read Zombie Fiction? If so, what appeals to you?

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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