–review by Natalia, teen reviewer

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

five-stars

The Enemy, by Charlie Higson, is one of my favorite books (it’s impossible to choose just one). The plot is as follows: About a year and a half ago, everyone over the age of sixteen acquired a horrible disease that kills almost all the adults and turns the rest into zombies. In this dystopian society, a group of about fifty kids are forced to take refuge in a Waitrose grocery store. They raise fences, and create barricades, turning it into their own impregnable fortress. But as food becomes scarce, the zombies become bolder, and kids are getting picked off one by one. Then a mysterious stranger brings word that Buckingham Palace is safe, free of zombies, with a walled yard, and the foundation of agriculture. But first, the kids of Waitrose have to get through miles of zombie infested land. With the lurking zombies on the prowl, the slightest noise will bring swarms. Even if they manage to leave their makeshift home, not all will make it there alive.

One thing that struck me about this book was how dramatic it was. The book contains key elements such as many characters, in-your-face non-stop action, mutiny, alternating perspectives, a fast pace, etc. Higson gives us a wide range of perspective, we even get one or two zombie’s point of view. Characters drop like flies. In this setting, it’s considered realistic to expect a character die about every twenty pages.

Charlie Higson is a brave author. He’s nonchalant about killing his characters off left and right. No one is safe. Reminds me of another writer. *Ahem* Moffat.

This book was genuinely creepy, but that isn’t to say I didn’t absolutely love it! Would recommend to anyone looking for a thrill. 5 stars. –Natalia, teen reviewer

 


 

Find the book in our library:  The Enemy