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Summary
Summary
John Green meets Stephen King in this original take on the zombie apocalypse by author T. Michael Martin, which ALA Booklist called "the best of the undead bunch" in a starred review.
Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in the Game for weeks. In the rural mountains of West Virginia--armed with only their rifle and their love for each other--the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of "Bellows"--creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good. But the Game is changing. The Bellows are evolving. The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors--survivors who don't play by the rules. And the brothers will never be the same.
T. Michael Martin's debut novel is a transcendent thriller filled with electrifying action, searing emotional insight, and unexpected romance.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-In a new take on the zombie apocalypse,17-year-old Michael and his 5-year-old, autistic brother struggle to find safety in the mountains of West Virginia. Michael keeps Patrick from freaking out by keeping score after each attack and relating his instructions from the Game Master each morning. Maintaining this facade becomes more difficult, however, as they meet other survivors and become involved with the mercurial Captain Jopek. Though the story is told in the third person, Michael's thoughts are in a distinctive, stream-of-consciousness voice that takes some getting used to but effectively brings readers deep inside the character's head. This freewheeling style, combined with Patrick's fondness for butt jokes, might appeal to younger readers, but the story is not all zombie fun and games; it is brutal bordering on horrific, and it packs an emotional wallop, particularly when it comes to Michael's determination to protect his sibling.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Martin covers familiar territory-zombies, conspiracies, post-apocalyptic romance-but does so with style in this exciting debut novel. In the West Virginia mountains, 17-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, fight the "Bellows," light-fearing zombies that mimic the sounds of the living as they attack them. To help Patrick cope, Michael keeps up the pretense that the entire nightmare is a game, something he started when they ran away from their abusive stepfather the night the Bellows first attacked. The challenges they face (beyond the Bellows themselves) range from religious zealots and megalomaniacal soldiers to Patrick's dwindling supply of anti-anxiety medication. Martin sometimes lets set pieces stand in the way of common sense-such as an early scene in which Michael calmly ignores a Bellow because he's certain the sun will rise before it gets to him-and some of the threats can be cliche, but the West Virginia setting, tense action, devoted fraternal relationship, and Michael's lovers-in-dangerous-times romance with a girl named Holly will keep teens hooked. Ages 14-up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary + Media. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Michael and Patrick have been battling zombies since Halloween. Pretending the apocalypse is a video game, Michael coaxes his autistic little brother through various traumas. When they encounter a zombie-worshipping cult and take up with a gang of survivors, the rules unravel. The game setup adds a fresh layer to this zombie novel but doesn't quite redeem the contrived resolution. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Seventeen-year-old Michael tries to shepherd his autistic 5-year-old half brother Patrick through a very real zombie apocalypse by pretending it's just a video game. Twenty-one days ago, Michael decided he'd had enough of his abusive stepfather, Ron. The final straw: Ron was planning to send Patrick to a mental hospital, so Michael packed Patrick a backpack, told him they were about to play a great adventure game controlled by the "Game Master" and ran for the car in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for them and the rest of the world, brain-seeking zombies attacked that very night. Using the "rules" of the game delivered by the Game Master, video-gameloving Michael keeps the two of them safe as they avoid the Bellows (zombies who echo parts of words they hear in bellowing voices) until they encounter the Rapture, a religious cult at zombie-plagued ground zero that worships the living dead. Escaping their insane clutches, the boys find the Charleston, W.V., Safe Zonebut few survivors remain. Can they trust Capt. Jopek, the lone military man? Is there any real safety in the new, awful world? Martin's debut is a lethargic zombie thriller that buries a few interesting ideas in tortured syntax and repetitious narration. It regularly abandons the logic it painstakingly sets up as well as basic reality in service of advancing the plot. Even die-hard zombie fans will be hoping for an end to this game far sooner than it comes. (Horror. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Hacking and slashing your way through the hordes of YA zombie novels can be a thankless, grueling task. But what's this? A glimmer of postapocalyptic hope! Martin's debut is the best of the undead bunch, meshing relentless action, intelligence, and emotion in a way that recalls Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go (2008). Michael, 17, has managed to mentally and physically protect his 5-year-old brother, Patrick, for weeks among the flesh-eating Bellows by convincing Patrick that the whole thing is a video game, complete with levels, points, and worst of all cheaters. A victorious Game Over seems imminent when they meet a small group of well-armed survivors led by the powerful and commanding Captain Jopek. But Michael starts to doubt the man's methods as the Bellows begin to mutate into more powerful creatures. The plot rockets forth like a single exhaled breath, tumbling with wild, thrown-together phrases ( a terror-syrupy moment ). Jopek, meanwhile, is a titanic villain of unstoppable strength, a never-ending threat to disrupt the fantasy world Michael has so carefully constructed. Martin has a knack for making bad situations much, much worse and for using Patrick to gentle comic effect. (During a horrific climatic battle, he deadpans, You guys are butt-monkeys. ) Any last words? Yes! Very. Exciting. Book.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist