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The dead
512 pages
A relentless, blood-soaked sprint through a ruined city where growing up literally means turning into a monster.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like being caught in a breathless, terrifying sprint through a familiar world suddenly turned hostile. It is a propulsive, dread-soaked experience that refuses to pull its punches, plunging you into the visceral chaos of a society collapsing overnight. The atmosphere is thick with claustrophobia and paranoia, as every shadow hides a new, grotesque threat. Beneath the unapologetic gore and cinematic action sequences lies a deeply unsettling exploration of fractured friendships and the brutal loss of innocence. The prose is sharp and urgent, dragging you by the collar through ruined streets and desperate decisions. It will thoroughly delight fans of gritty, high-stakes survival horror who want a story where no one is truly safe and the tension never breaks.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- claustrophobic
- chaotic
- tense
- Tone
- urgent
- gritty
- unflinching
- bleak
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- survival at all costs · loss of innocence · fractured loyalties · societal collapse · burden of leadership
- The writing
- Visceral and cinematic, delivering sharp, fast-paced action and unapologetic gore without looking away.
- The arc
- Plunges from sudden, disorienting chaos into a grueling, desperate fight for survival that tests the limits of loyalty and hope.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled survival horror where no character is safe and the tension never lets up.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- gore
- death of children and teens
- body horror
- pandemic themes
About the book
The Dead is the second book in Charlie Higson's jaw-dropping zombie horror series for teens.
Everyone over the age of fourteen has succumbed to a deadly zombie virus and now the kids must keep themselves alive. A terrible disease is striking everyone over the age of fourteen. Death walks the streets. Nowhere is safe.
Maxie, Blue and the rest of the Holloway crew aren't the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids - nerds, fighters, misfits. And one adult, Greg, a butcher, who claims he's immune to the disease. They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world.
But when fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won't all survive...
Description from Open Library.
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