Zom-B Underground Review

Title : Zom-B Underground

Author: Darren Shan

Release Date: 20^th June 2013

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children’s Books

CAN YOU HOLD ON TO YOUR HUMANITY IF YOU’RE A MONSTER?

HOW DO YOU FACE THE PRESENT IF YOU’RE HAUNTED BY THE PAST?

WHERE CAN YOU TURN WHEN YOU’RE TRAPPED IN A LIVING NIGHTMARE?

FOR B SMITH, DEATH IS NOT THE END!

B should surely be dead. She is dead... or more precisely undead. Then how can she think, feel or even speak? Being kept in an underground unit and monitored closely by scientists brings B no closer to the truth of what has been going on since her capture. She finds out that there are more like her, more zombies that can walk and speak and think. They call themselves zomheads, although B is not sure how much she has in common with them, despite being dead of course!

Now I know many people were a bit unsure about this series and slated the first book. While I enjoyed Zom-B, I must admit, this book didn’t do it for me (that DOES NOT MEAN that I love Shan any less... this is his first disappointing book in my eyes so he has done well to maintain my interest since I started high school!). Maybe it was the monotony of the days ‘underground’ that didn’t capture my imagination but I just didn’t find the book that interesting. There are some brilliant gory descriptions, as there always is with Shan and I still love the illustrations within this series, which I think has really added another depth to Shan’s writing.

Shan is a master of characterisation and he has developed some brilliant characters in this tale (although sadly most of them are dead by the end!) and the weird clown like figure, Mr Dowling, has of course sparked my interest. Present in the first book, he clearly has something to do with the introduction of zombies and the strange targeting of school children (which seems to be what the zom-heads were hinting at) which reminded me a little of Mr Tiny in the Saga of Darren Shan series – a character who ultimately knows far more than everyone else. There is another twist to this tale like there was in Zom-B and although this one was easier to spot, it was no less fascinating. I am going to have to stop taking things at face value when reading Shan’s books!

I will be reading the next book (I already have it waiting on my shelf after pestering my beloved fiancé to buy it for me) and I just hope that the series redeems itself. It is called Zom-B City so hopefully the story will be brought back to life with the introduction of the real world. I have to read on because the series has captured my imagination but also because Shan is such a brilliant writer and I am looking forward to reading his next offering. I wouldn’t say this book was terrible, the plot was just slightly disappointing and it was only in the last few chapters that things get really exciting. If you have read the first one, I would suggest you give this one a go but I didn’t really feel it was up to Shan-standard.

3.5/5 This one didn’t do it for me but there are some brilliant individual moments within the tale.