Viral Dawn: A Dystopian, Zombie Apocalypse Thriller by Jade Lazlow – What if your world collapsed in seconds, thrusting you into an apocalyptic nightmare where your every move might be your last? An explosion at the army depot unleashes a deadly genetically-engineered virus that turns people into flesh-eating zombies. Senior, Casey Williams shelters at her high school with friends and other … other survivors of the zombie outbreak. They’re safe for now, but supplies are running short, and tempers are running shorter. Casey anticipates the looming humanitarian crisis and knows they must find other refuge or face chaos inside. She braves the savage post-apocalyptic world beyond the school’s security fence in an attempt to save herself and her friends. With sheer grit, she leads a small party to find help at the militarized safe zone. Once there, she arranges for her friends to be transported to safety only to learn she’s placed them in even greater danger. As it turns out, the zombies aren’t the only thing they should fear. Determined to seek justice, she fights the living and the undead in her quest to survive in this new dystopian reality.
Jade Lazlow spawns a new dystopian series for young adults and adult readers. The book begins with teenager, Casey Williams, living her less than happy life with her mother and foster brother, Derek after the death of her father. With a largely absentee workaholic mother, Casey is often charged with caring for Derek. The story spends considerable time establishing her life and the lives of her friends. Casey is at school when an explosion occurs at a nearby military chemical weapons facility. The explosion unleashes a biochemical warfare agent that transforms humans into flesh-eating zombies.
Jade Lazlow’s second book in the Viral Series, entitled Viral Storm is on sale now. The non-stop tension in book two will leave readers craving more dystopian, zombie apocalypse action.
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When you read a lot of books in a certain genre, you come to expect certain things in that genre. In books about a zombie apocalypse, here are a few of those:
A main character that rises above anyone’s expectations and becomes a Kickass hero/heroine
An evil group (often military) that has its own agenda, often working against the survivors
At least a little romantic interest
Deaths of a few characters that the reader has come to know and care about
Plenty of descriptions of zombie battles, gore, blood and rotten flesh
And, I have to say, “Viral Dawn” has all of these elements! But, I would categorize this book as a YA Zombie book since it focuses so heavily on the teenaged characters.
The main protagonist, Casey Williams, is a high school student facing a lot in her life. Her father has just died, her mother is more interested in her job than in Casey’s welfare, she has a foster brother with major developmental disabilities and she is suffering from depression (you think?). After a horrible start to her day, she is forced to stay after school for detention. And, that’s when it hits the fan!
As Casey’s father says, “Things are never so bad that they can’t get worse. Be thankful for what you have.” This is the main theme of this book and is proven over and over again.
At first, I had a little difficulty getting into this book. The first third or so is pretty slow going, with a lot of descriptions of Casey’s home life, problems with her foster brother, and typical teenaged angst. Then, after the zombies come, Casey and her friends are locked in at the high school, which is used as a shelter for those lucky enough to be inside.
But, there is plenty of action, too. In this scenario, there is (supposedly) a release of a virus from a local military facility that is infecting people and turning them into zombies. Our intrepid heroine and her three friends seem to be the most mature and most intelligent of all of the people in their shelter (which is a little hard to believe). The military personnel that show up to “help” have to be assisted by Casey’s friend, Matt, in order to venture out into the infected zone. Then, you have several adults who turn into total jerks and/or wimps at the first sign of trouble. But, our Gang of Four is able to conduct scientific experiments and accomplish more than all of the adults put together.
There were a few continuity issues with the book. For an example, Casey and her friends go outside to gather supplies (once again, only the teens can seem to be able to do this). The author mentions that she is wearing sneakers unsuitable for a lot of walking. In the next scene, it is mentioned that Casey removes her boots in order to shower.
The narrator, Elizabeth Lee, does a pretty good job, but at times her performance seems a little rushed and unemotional. I would expect more excitement/horror at some of the things that were happening and Ms. Lee’s voice doesn’t really change to fit the mood of the story.
All in all, this is a pretty good book if you enjoy the Zompoc genre. There are a lot of totally unbelievable moments in the book, but since we are talking Zombies, who knows what is realistic and what isn’t? A lot of the story is pretty stereotypical, but overall is worth the read/listen. I will be looking forward to continuing this saga. I was given the chance to listen to the audiobook version of this book and chose to review it.
This was a really fun and fast read. It kept me hooked and not wanting to stop until the end. It does start of slower but the authors building a lot of backstory which is really nice. A lot of reviews are saying its too short but that really isn’t the problem. Its the first book in the series and its over 200 pages. The problem is you get to the end of this one and you want book 2 so you can know what happens next.
The character building in this story is amazing. You really get to know Casey and feel for her. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who’s a fan of zombie novels. YA or not its a great story. I cant wait to see where the rest of the series goes.