Book Review & Giveaway: Devil's Wake by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due

Title: Devil's Wake
Series:  Devil's Wake #1
Author:  Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre:  Science Fiction/Apocalyptic
Size: 288 pages
Release Date: July 31st 2012
Publisher: Atria/Simon & Schuster

Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review
Find It: Goodreads | Amazon | BN | The Book Depository

--ongoing concerns over scattered reports of violent, perhaps drug-induced behavior in the Seattle area," the newscaster's voice boomed from the BMW's Sony speakers, filling the car as trees and farmland zipped past on either side.

The first book of an exciting new paranormal series from two award-winning authors about what happens when an alien race brings Earth to the brink of the Apocalypse. The husband and wife writing team of Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes continue to achieve extraordinary literary feats with this first book in the exciting new Devil’s Wake series.      The eeriness of Devil’s Wake begins a week after tomorrow. An unprecedented infection has swept across the world, bringing an epidemic of mindless biting attacks from the infected that leave their victims “changed.” Society has broken down.      The victims are more than mindless zombies. They are the result of a sinister alien life-form in the wake of the aliens’ insidious plot, humanity ultimately becomes enmeshed in a brutal struggle for control of its home, planet Earth.     Part Dawn of the Dead and part Road Warrior, Devil’s Wake is a testimony to courage, friendship, and the power of faith. Horrifying and heartbreaking, exciting and challenging, it is a compelling, brilliant story on the edge of what could be the end of it all.

This was my first "Zombie" read and I am so happy to report that I really enjoyed it.  Barnes and Due draw us in from page one as we experience an ordinary day that could be today turn into a horror story.  Some unknown infection is spreading across the country turning loved ones, friends and neighbors into zombie-like versions of themselves who spread this infection by biting their victims.

The characters, a group of juvenile "delinquents," and a lone teen, come together to try to make sense of the new world that surrounds them and to find a way to band together and survive. I loved the interpersonal relationships among the teens, the way they each picked up tasks that benefited the group, and most importantly the way they trust and support each other through the ensuing chaos.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of descriptiveness but by a third of the way through the book I was hooked on the story and had come to appreciate the authors' writing style..It fits the tale.  There are probably more questions left in my mind than answers upon finishing Devil's Wake but that is not a complaint.  I can't wait to pick up the second in this exciting new YA series so that I can find out what exactly is going on, whether those infected can be saved and if romance will bloom between Terry and Kendra.

My only issue with this novel would be its marketing.  Apparently the blurb is for the series as a whole and not this book as an individual as there were no references to aliens or a struggle for the planet in this book. In book one we don't know the cause of these transformations and it is assumed that it is some interaction between mushrooms and a flu vaccine.  I can only assume that such revelations are to come in Book 2 and I must admit that I'm a bit upset that the book's own blurb would have such spoilers for the whole series.

Thanks to the publisher I have a paperback copy of Devil's Wake to give to one lucky reader.  US Only.

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