Ed Undead – The Chronicles of a Teenage Zombie

Approved by Awesome Indies

May 18, 2012

4 Stars

As expected, zombies populate this book, complete with rotting flesh, sunken eyes and mindless shuffling gait. They’re not my favourite characters, but if you like zombies, you’ll like Ed Undead. It’s a strong story that never bores, and Ed, the 16 year old almost Zombie, shows us what true courage is.

The story is set in a post apocalyptic world, where a plague has turned most of the population into zombies whose only concern is finding some living flesh to tear into to satiate their hunger. Ed has the virus but hasn’t turned into a zombie – yet. He hopes he never will and aims to find someone with a cure, if there is one, before the virus takes him over the edge. The living dead are after him and he and his girlfriend, Lisa Jane are running and fighting for their survival.

They team up with a mother and her child, and for a short while with Ed’s rival from school. Lisa sends him off when he shows himself too cowardly to help her out of a sticky situation. Throughout the story, Ed has flashbacks to life as it was and these are very well handled. He faces zombies that were once people he knew and the remains of others who became their food. It’s gruesome stuff, but the writing keeps a good balance between description of the details and not over doing the horror. His grief as he recalls what he has lost is real and moving.

The author called it a paranormal romance, but I’d call it urban fantasy. Ed and his girlfriend are in love, but that doesn’t make it a romance. This is more action based than character and relationship based, and the main issue is escaping the zombies and the strange ‘boss’ that some of them refer to, rather than overcoming obstacles to a relationship as in a romance.

Regardless of what genre you stick it in, it’s a good yarn and I think boys in particular would like it. The two main characters are strong, but I would have liked to have got to know the mother and daughter better, and Sam Ed’s little sister seemed a bit silly for a ten year old. I think her character could be developed further.

I give it 4 stars and a place in the Awesome Indies listing. Ed and Lisa are great characters to spend time with, even if it is in a zombie infested town.