Six More Days!! Plus THE ENEMY by Charlie Higson

Only six more days until I leave for fabulous Orlando and the RWA National Conference!!! I'm so excited! Of course, I've been working so hard on my pitch, my synopsis, and last-minute revisions on my novel that I sort of feel like my brain is fried. Hopefully, I will be able to UN-fry it by the time I leave so that I can actually get something useful out of the PRO retreat and all the amazing workshops throughout the week. Last year I learned so much, and I hope to make it to as many events this year as I can.

Last night, in order to relax and stop working on my own writing, I decided to finish a book I started a couple days ago called THE ENEMY by Charlie Higson. It's a YA zombie-apocalypse book set in London after a disease wipes out everyone over the age of sixteen. Well, almost everyone. The grown-ups that didn't die have become decomposing creatures who eat anything they can get their hands on - including kids. *shudder* The book focuses on a group of kids who have set up a life for themselves in an old supermarket. They are running out of food, though, and the grown-ups are getting smarter and more organized in their attacks. When a young man comes to the gates, claiming there is safety and food at Buckingham Palace, the kids decide to take a chance, leave everything behind, and follow him back to a new life. But their fight to stay alive is from from over - the threat from within the palace is as real as the one outside it. (The little blurb there is a combination of my own words and the back cover copy.)

This book was excellent! Told in multiple third-person POV (like mine), the reader gets to know a lot of different kids and teens in the book. The battle scenes are intense, the author isn't afraid to kill anyone off, and after the first few chapters, you'll find yourself turning pages faster and faster. I love it when books grip me so hard that I can't even force myself to turn off the light and go to sleep because I just have to know what's going to happen next. It's a rare kind of high, but it's so awesome when you find it. THE ENEMY certainly delivers, and I'm so glad I picked it up. If you like zombie stories and want to see it from the perspective of a group of kids trying to survive in a world where the adults are the enemy, it's a definitely recommended read from me.