Publisher:
Simon and
Schuster
Release
Date: 2nd
January 2014
Edition:
UK hardback,
review copy
B
Smith has seen evil in her time, but the Board are a whole new board game.
These inhuman humans use their money and power to buy their way to safety and
entertainment...
The
bloodthirsty members of the Board want action and excitement, and it’s my job
to deliver that for them.
The zombies snarl, sniffing the air.
‘Come on,’ I growl, crooking my fingers at
them. ‘I’m not as dead as I look.’ I jump into the air, grab the pole and whirl
around.
‘Oh, nice shot,’ the Prince applauds...
Finally,
I step away and gaze at my handiwork.
The members of the Board are cheering
warmly. I glance at them numbly, blood on my hands, brains dribbling from my
lips.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, a gladiator is
born!’
I’ve come to the conclusion
that this series is very much like taking a shot: over quickly, but packs a
powerful punch. Zom-B Gladiator was
no exception.
Throughout the series, Darren
Shan has been questioning the idea of monsters, of evil, of human nature, if
you will, and in this instalment of the series, I think that was driven home
the hardest. It wasn’t through an even more savage mutation of zombies or how
deadly zombies with brains could be, it’s the humans that were the scariest
creatures in Zom-B Gladiator.
The Board are a horrifying
group of rich, aristocratic people who were politically powerful before the
world fell and now they’re trying to rebuild London with themselves at the
helm. As soon as I met them I knew that would be a truly horrible thing. Dan-Dan
gives me the creeps – perhaps even more so than Mr Dowling... It’s such a
clever turn in a series that could quickly become samey if anyone but Shan were
writing it. He doesn’t give his characters an easy ride!
I hated B in the first book,
but now I love her and champion her unfailingly. Each book seems to vault her
character development a hundred feet! This time B explored having friends and
having colleagues and the importance of that. It was gave an emotional depth to
B that I never could have imagined from book one if I hadn’t followed her
journey since. There were moments when she was given choices and ultimatums
that almost punched me in the face with how much she has grown as a character. I
do love me some character development!
As you can see, Zom-B Gladiator was just as fantastic as
the previous five books – and without the evil cliff-hanger ending – and I’m
already chomping at the bit for book seven, Zom-B
Mission. Bring it on!
Thank you to S&S for the
review copy.
Sophie
I really need to try this series. The covers are so creepy though!
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