The Undertakers: The Rise of the Corpses by Ty Drago

Title: The Undertakers: The Rise of the Corpses
Author: Ty Drago

Published April 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Synopsis:

On a sunny Wednesday morning in October, a day that would mark the end of one life and the beginning of another, I found out my grouchy next door neighbor was the walking dead. When you turn around expecting to see something familiar, and instead see something else altogether, it takes a little while for your brain to catch up with your eyes. I call it the 'Holy Crap Factor.'A" Forced to flee his home and family, twelve-year-old Will Ritter falls in with the Undertakers--a rag-tag army of teenage resistance fighters, who've banded together to battle the corpses.

Do you see the living dead?

It's bad enough that Will Ritter discovers his next-door neighbor has become a walking, talking corpse. But when his assistant principal and math teacher also look like something from a horror flick, he begins to seriously questions his sanity --- until the Corpses attack.

Don't call them zombies. Zombies are slow and stupid. These things aren't To make matters worse, only a few people, like Will, can actually see them. Forced to join a ragtag army of teenage resistance fighters called the Undertakers, Will finds himself in the middle of a war against an invasion of the living dead. And in this war, the Undertakers aren't just the first line of defense --- they're the only line of defense.

Goodreads

My Thoughts:

My first reaction to reading the back cover of this novel was pure intrigue. This novel is such a deviation from the norm of what I read but, completely to my surprise, peaked my curiosity to such a point that I had to spend the afternoon reading it. I am surprised at how much I enjoyed the unique world created by Mr. Drago. I'm more of a romance and mystery kinda gal but I couldn't resist the creative unfolding of Will Ritter's unusual circumstances. While there is a very slight hint at possible romances in later books, our hero is after all only twelve years old. The natural chemistry between all the characters shines through. I was only a few chapters in when I realized I was emotionally invested in the plight of these rebel Undertakers.

Mr. Drago does an exemplary job of slowly unfolding the connections between past and present events. He doles out the information as a reader I am craving to know while simultaneously keeping our main chracters in the dark just long enough that I'm fairly screaming at them to catch on...There is a complexity to the story that strongly reminds me of the Pendragon Series by DJ McHale.

I thoroughly enjoyed jumping on board the hero train and going for a very long ride. I cannot wait for the sequel to find out how the rescue of our planet by a ragtag bunch of teens turns out.

----Michele----