If there's one thing I've learned from zombie books, is the following: Never-ever use a vaccine that's not properly been tested. If you do not believe me, why not read Mortality (Kellie Sheridan), The Passage (Justin Cronin) or ARV-3 (Cameo Renae) although that last one has the most ridiculous vaccine ever: against RADIATION!
First rule of not properly tested vaccines: It will go horribly wrong and people will turn into zombies.
After a first relatively minor zombie attack (unless you're living near Cleveland) the government hurries this new vaccination scheme, which goes - following the strict first rule of not properly tested vaccines - horribly wrong creating a new race of zombies that are a bit less dead and are harder to defeat as they have some other thoughts than BRAINS, apparently.
In this apocalyptic world Savannah and some other survivors have been camping at her old school, trying to stay away from the zombies as much as possible. But when disaster strikes and they have to flee, they learn about a terrible, gruesome plot of the government when trying to save the ones they love.
On the other end of the dual POV is Zarah. In the beginning it's not completely clear what her story adds to the book, but this will become clear eventually. I thought it was an interesting story, also because it describes the craze in the city during the first outbreak better.
The love stories in both story lines were a bit too much for me, but not so eye-rolling annoying that it gave me headaches. They do make stupid decisions, but then again they are new to the whole survival thing.
It's not the best zombie/apocalypse story out there, but I thought it was interesting and nice to read.
Mortality is the first book in the Hitchhiker's Strain duology. The second book is called Duality. A short prequel consisting of four short stories is called End Dayz.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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