Dead Reckoning

VOYA - KaaVonia Hinton

It is 1867 when three strangers meet in West Texas near a campfire. Griffin, a scientist and inventor, and an Army scout named White Fox are getting acquainted when a terrified woman dressed like a man hurries toward them on horseback. Jett is fleeing from Alsop, Texas, from which she barely escaped when the town was attacked by zombies. Connected around a common effort, Griffin, White Fox, and Jett search to find out more about what Jett thinks she saw in Alsop. The trio's unlikely friendship is entertaining, but the strength of the novel is in the slow, but interesting, unfolding of the mystery behind the zombies. Where are they coming from? Are they even real? Is a cult controlling them? The dialog is a bit stilted and the shifting points of view are often mildly repetitive, but the book could be a springboard for conversations about gender, science, and cults. It is also refreshing to see the independent, bold, smart female characters in this part-steampunk, part-zombie-western mashup. Science fiction fans will be pleased. Reviewer: KaaVonia Hinton

Children's Literature - Meredith Kiger

Seventeen-year-old Jett Gallatin, nee Phillipa Sheridan, is passing for a boy in her search for her twin brother Phillip. Their home in Louisiana was burned to the ground during a raid by Yankee soldiers, her father and older brothers had already been killed fighting for the Confederates and her mother died during the occupation of New Orleans. Her twin brother disappeared during this time and she has had no word from him for five years. She makes her way to Alsop, Texas on her stallion Nightingale thinking her brother might have taken refuge here after the war. Soon after she arrives in dusty Alsop, the town is attacked by zombies. Yes, zombies. With no explanation as to why the zombies apparently kill nearly everyone in town. Jett is diverted from her first endeavor of finding her brother to solving the mystery of the zombies and their intentions with the help of characters she meets during her escape from Alsop; a female scientist named Gibbons who drives what sounds like the first car ever invented, and an Indian scout named White Fox who is not much older than Jett. This motley crew comes together in a quest to find the origins and intentions of the zombies. Their adventures take them to various locations around Alsop that leave the reader somewhat perplexed as the setting vacillates between the post Civil War period and the imaginings of the groups' personal stories. Unless the reader is a zombie aficionado, it makes one wish Jett had stuck to just finding her brother, which could have been an interesting story in itself. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger, Ph.D.

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up—Three characters with vastly different backgrounds converge on the Texas frontier in 1867 while investigating a string of strange disappearances. Philippa Sheridan is a cross-dressing "cowboy" looking for her twin brother; Honoria Gibbons is a privileged young woman trying to stop charlatans from wiling money away from her gullible father; and White Fox, who was raised by Native Americans after being found in the wreckage of a wagon train, has been dispatched to find out why communication from a "Freedman Settlement" abruptly ceased. The three quickly discover that zombies are the source of the vanishings, and they work together to find out who is creating them and why. The characters' differing beliefs in science and mysticism are a source of much discussion. Ultimately, a cultlike leader is deposed and his creations dispatched with a hose full of salt water. The blend of a zombie thriller with a Wild West shoot-'em-up and some steampunk flair is certainly an intriguing premise. However, despite the thrilling nature of the plot, long portions of dry dialogue make this book drag between action scenes. Outdated language and difficult vocabulary add to the period feel, but make this book accessible only to advanced readers.—Sunnie Sette, New Haven Public Library, CT

Kirkus Reviews

A post–Civil War tale follows an unlikely trio of teens that unites to fight zombies. Jett is searching for her brother, whom she hopes has survived the war. She travels the South, dressing as a man and repelling danger with her gunslinging prowess. Gibbons is the daughter of a gullible inventor; she investigates lurid claims her father would otherwise believe, putting her own scientific methods to work. White Fox is a white man adopted by the "Red Earth People" whose purpose other than protecting the two girls is not altogether clear. The three meet after a legion of zombies has destroyed a nearby town and determine to prevent further carnage. Lackey and Edghill elect Jett as the main character, but Gibbons and White Fox get nearly as much playtime. Most of the book is comprised of the trio discussing theories of the genesis of the zombies and strategies to quell future uprisings. Experienced paranormal fans will likely miss a romantic subplot, an oversight that might have jelled the characters together better and engaged readers. The best aspects of the book are its distinctive characterizations and the incongruity of zombies in a historic milieu, but the world is more interesting than the story. A novel take on historical fiction that nevertheless disappoints. (Paranormal historical fiction. 10 & up)