Author TJ Hapney

Description/Blurb:

Everyone has a different term for zombies. I call them Zee because that’s the term my mother used before she turned, speaking about the whole horde as though it was just one individual. Grammar has no place in the zombie apocalypse…

Hazel is a regular teenager growing up in an irregular world overrun with zombies. She likes music, perfume, freshly baked muffins, and playing her Xbox—everything that no longer exists in the apocalypse.

Raised in the safety of a commune, Hazel rarely sees Zee anymore, except on those occasions when the soldiers demonstrate the importance of a headshot to the kids.

To her horror, circumstances beyond her control lead her outside the barbed wire fence and into a zombie-infested town.

“Five, Four, Three, Two—count your shots, Haze,” she says to herself, firing at the oncoming zombie horde. “Don’t forget to reload.”

Review 5 of 5 Stars

Those who read these reviews may notice that I’ve never reviewed a zombie book. That’s because I don’t like zombies. I don’t like horror movies and I generally don’t like dead things unless they’ve been seared and are being served to me on a plate. I can count on one hand the number of zombie films I’ve watched without using all of my fingers. So, how do I find myself giving this book five stars? I have to tell you that I’m as shocked as anyone who might know me in real life.

I have generally enjoyed Peter Cawdron’s work in the past so I got a copy from Kindle Scout and decided to see what was up with this zombie book. There are many things I enjoy about Peter Cawdron’s writing. One of those things is that his characters are often introspective. They not only analyze the situation around them, but their reactions to the situation as well. I didn’t know that was what zombie stories were missing until I read What We Left Behind.

Enter Hazel, a young woman living in a commune designed to protect survivors from the zombie apocalypse. She is feisty and fearful all at the same time. In a world without fast food, movies and shopping with her friends, she is forced to grow up ahead of her time and must undertake a dangerous mission to save someone she loves. Fortunately, Hazel has three very good friends that decide to join her on this perilous trip. Jane, Steve and David fill out the foursome that braves almost certain death to complete their mission.

I really liked that the author gave a new reason for zombies and how they would be created. He is usually pretty good about explaining his theories and there’s even some in an afterward about how he came up with the idea. Needless to say, it was nice to see someone take a fresh tangent for how zombies come about. The characters were well written and I was absolutely sucked into the book. It’s a great story, but not terribly lengthy. I read it in under four hours, but please be aware that I read faster than the average person (crazy fast) so maybe double the time for normal folks. There is plenty of action to keep the story moving along. This book did a great job of dealing with things that I didn’t think of when settling in to read a zombie book. The violence is described in a fair amount of detail, but they are killing zombies after all so what else would you expect?

Anyway, another great story by Peter Cawdron. Sometimes I feel like he should write a terrible book so I can give him a low rating, but it’s not going to be from this one.