Unfed Review

Title: Unfed (Book 2 in the Undead series)

Author: Kirsty McKay

Release date: 6^th September 2012

Publisher: Chicken House

THEY’RE BACK... AND THIS TIME THEY’RE HUNGRY.

THE GOOD NEWS: BOBBY SURVIVED HER UNREAL SCHOOL TRIP. THE BAD NEWS: HER BEST BUDDY SMITTY IS MISSING, THERE ARE UNDEAD EVERYWHERE AND THEY’RE GETTING HUNGRIER ...

IT’S A NO-BRAINER. SOMEHOW SHE MUST FIND SOME LIVING FRIENDS – AND THE ANTIDOTE – BEFORE EVERYONE’S TOAST.

Bobby wakes up and realises that maybe the worst is yet to come. Having survived the coach crash and not (yet) being bitten by the undead, she’s one of the lucky ones. With her mum and Smitty missing, Bobby must carry out a search through zombie –ridden Scotland. But with more than just zombies hot on Bobby’s tail, will she ever escape and find her loved ones?

The novel manages to maintain a fast paced chase momentum throughout detailed locations, taking the reader along for the ride. Unfed offers typical zombie story tropes, Bobby wakes up in a hospital which is also a holding/ testing facility for zombies and she gets chased across Scotland by military style mercenaries that clearly work for some evil pharmaceuticals company... ring any bells?  I’m not suggesting that this story is boring or predictable, just that it offers a comfortable narrative security (at least at the beginning of the novel) and this allowed me, as a reader, to settle into the story before it all really kicks off! As the novel progresses and Bobby searches for her mum and Smitty, clues are revealed as to what has happened with the zombie outbreak, why her mum and Smitty are gone who exactly is chasing her and why. It’s almost a murder mystery but with more intrigue!

I think my favourite part of the book was Bobby’s internal conversations with Smitty. Smitty was Bobby’s love interest in the last novel and in this book, it’s clear that Bobby misses him very much. He is the driving force urging her not to give up her search and at times their conversations are really touching (as well as funny). Without revealing too much, he doesn’t make a physical appearance until towards the end but these little occasional one liners mean that he has become my favourite character. He is the typical teenage bad boy but his clear affection for Bobby (both in her head and when they meet again) create multiple layers to his character and offer some light relief amongst all the mystery and horror that Bobby faces.

Similarly to Undead, the audience are left on a cliff-hanger… much to my annoyance! If you are a fan of apocalyptic zombie novels you’ll definitely enjoy this but I think it would also appeal to mystery lovers. There are codes to crack, clues to unravel and lots of adventure. Those who Bobby is relying on to help her often have ulterior motives, keeping her and the reader on their toes. This book kept me hooked because at each turn the danger increases and despite some mysteries being solved, there are always more in their place!  

4.5/5 Another really good book by Kirsty McKay.

Undead Review

Title: Undead

 Author: Kirsty McKay

Release date: 1st September 2011

Publisher: Chicken House

SCHOOL TRIPS. PACK A LUNCH.

AND PICK A WEAPON.

When their ski-coach pulls in at a café, everyone gets off except for new girl Bobby and bad boy Smitty.

They’re hardly best buds, but that soon changes when, through the falling snow, they see the others coming back.

Something has happened. Something bad.

TIME TO GET A LIFE….

When Bobby, English/all American girl, goes on the ski-trip from hell with her class mates, little does she know that the trip back will be far worse than the trip itself. Finding that most of the class and all of the teachers have turned into brain munching zombies becomes just one of their concerns as Bobby teams up with fellow survivors, fighting their way out of a very snowy Scotland with no transport, communication and a limited food supply. The group come up with a lot of ideas as to what caused the zombie breakout, Pete suggests that they are part of a scientific experiment, but no one would leave a bunch of school kids out there at the mercy of zombies, would they?

This book was one of the very few novels which manages to combine humour, horror, romance and family successfully. Of course what appealed to me was the title and the promise of zombie fighting fun but I am really pleased to say, I got much more than that. This novel is along the lines of Resident Evil (amongst many, many others) where there is some sort of hidden experimentation going on that goes badly wrong and the inevitable attempted cover-up.

Undead manages to capture the hierarchical nature of high school life while the students battle for their lives and that’s part of what makes this book really funny. Bobby, social outcast from America, Alice, the school b***h, Smitty, the bad boy and Pete the geek have to work together to save their lives and this offers some brilliant humour with a touch of unexpected romance on the cards. Having never even wanted to sit next to each other in class, the students have to trust one another in order to survive but it us hard for them to break the habit of a lifetime and the back biting continues throughout, despite life threatening danger. Kirsty McKay’s characterisation in this sense is great. We all know someone ‘stereotypically’ like these characters and that’s what made the book so fun.

The introduction of Scottish natives with their colloquialisms, as well as vivid descriptions, sets the book well and truly in the UK. For me, this really set the scene and introduced the remoteness and isolation that the characters feel (if you’ve ever been to Scotland, you’ll know what I mean). While Scotland’s highlands and luscious green fields are great during the day (If you haven’t been to Scotland, you should go, it is truly beautiful), the author reminds us that this can be terrifying during a snowstorm in the dark being chased by zombie hordes.

While much of the book has the characters skulking hiding from zombies and Carrot Man (who may or may not have caused all this) usually in the coach or a service station or running for their lives from the zombies… or Carrot Man, the pace of the novel kept me engaged and turning every page. However, the underlying conspiracy theory intrigued me and kept me hooked until the end where (spoiler alert?) I wasn’t disappointed.  

Overall, a really good, edge of the seat read with elements for everybody. I would say that there isn’t enough romance/family/humour to entertain readers who don’t like horror (although these things are an added bonus) and honestly, if you pick up a book called Undead and aren’t pleased by a bit of gore, teenagers wielding weapons, a few infected teachers and awesome action-packed driving (of both coaches and quad bikes) then prepare to be thoroughly disappointed as this book provides these and so much more!

4.5/5 A brilliant addition to YA horror.

Additional note: When reading this book, I didn't realise that it had been published in 2011. A copy of the playaway (an mp3 audiobook)  recently came in at my local library and I was really interested in this title, so I ordered the physical book. When blogging, I realised that the book was published in 2011 and so the sequel will actually already be released which means I can order it now.... right now!

https://capitadiscovery.co.uk/lancashire/items/1423445?query=kirsty+mckay&resultsUri=items%3Fquery%3Dkirsty%2Bmckay

I <3 libraries!!!!!!