The Dead (Enemy Series #2)

by Charlie Higson

Overview

THE DEAD begins one year before the action in THE ENEMY, just after the Disaster. A terrible disease has struck everyone sixteen and over, leaving them either dead or a decomposing, flesh-eating creature. The action starts in a boarding school just outside London, where all the teachers have turned into sickos. A few kids survive and travel by bus into the city. The bus driver, an adult named Greg, seems to be unaffected by the disease. Then he begins to show the dreaded signs: outer blisters and inner madness. The kids escape Greg and end up at the Imperial War Museum. A huge fire in South London drives them all to the Thames, and eventually over the river to the Tower of London. It is there they will meet up with the kids in THE ENEMY in Book 3, THE FEAR.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484721452
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/20/2014
Series:	Enemy Novel Series , #2
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	92,015
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Charlie Higson is an acclaimed comedy writer, producer, actor, and genuine James Bond aficionado. He is the author of the adult thrillers Full Whack and King of the Ants the internationally best-selling Young Bond series: SilverFin, Blood Fever, Double or Die, Hurricane Gold, and By Royal Command and four books in the Enemy series.Charlie is a fan of zombie movies and believes that we shouldn't try to prevent young people from experiencing fear, because it helps prepare them for later life. When writingThe Enemy, he kept rachetting up the action and description in an attempt to frighten the pants off his ten-year-old son. He lives in London. Follow him on Twitter at: twitter.com/monstroso.

Editorial Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE ENEMY

" The Enemy grabs you by the throat . . . and bites off your ear. It's kids versus zombies and no one is playing nice. The action—and boy, is there action—takes us through a London transformed by the unexplained illness that has turned every adult into a shuffling, drooling, kid-crunching machine. Bonus: zombie royals. Sheer fun."— Michael Grant, author of the Gone series

PRAISE FOR THE ENEMY

"...the action is of the first order-Higson writes with a firestorm velocity that inspires to the sweeping reach of Stephen King's The Stand."— ALA Booklist

PRAISE FOR THE DEAD

". . . Higson delivers an action-packed summer read."— Kirkus

PRAISE FOR THE FEAR

"The third book in Higson's terrifying zombie series will continue to enthrall horror fans."— VOYA

From the Publisher

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)

Publishers Weekly

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

School Library Journal

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 toThe 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)

Kirkus Reviews

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