What Remains

What Remains by Kay Holland

Indie Inked; 9/21/13
Kindle Edition, 141 pages
ASIN-B00FCOE7X0
Dead World #1

Project Fed. It was supposed to be the answer to hunger, but instead, it was the destruction of the world as we knew it. The growth of chemically enhanced "super" fruits and vegetables began in unmarked farms across the Nations, as well as their distribution in small towns. Within hours of Project Fed's first delivery and primary consumption, something far beyond expectancy was unleashed. Something far beyond what anyone could help.
Four months later, Seventeen year old Max Cade is trying to survive amongst what remains of her old life. In an effort to escort an awry "Doctor" from one camp to the next, she will have to reintroduce her two young friends to the horrors beyond their shelter that she so badly wanted to shield them from. Getting there was supposed to be the easy part, but when travelling through a world of ruin, sometimes the undead have other plans.

My Thoughts:

What Remains by Kay Holland is a teen zombie novel. If you crave yet another teen zombie novel you might like it. I don't and didn't.

Max is a 17 year old young woman who is babysitting 13 year old Peter when:
"What looked to be an emergency broadcasting began to flicker away and the screen turned into static. Max raised an eyebrow, 'Peter?'
The dark haired boy turned his head and grinned at her, 'Have you watched the news lately? There’s this weird sickness spreading. It’s making people act all crazy.'”

Peter continues: “My dad’s been trying to train me for this since I was nine; he said it was the apocalypse. He has a binder full of newspaper clippings that he showed me. They are signs of the virus, happening in small places but going unnoticed. My dad told me we had to be ready, but my mom told me not to listen to him.” Suddenly, Max recalled Peter mentioning this once before.

The sickness is a disease that makes people insane and cannibalistic. Peter's father told him that the apocalypse was coming and he told him what to do when it happened, and Peter is prepared, so Max and Peter are ready to escape when the crazy old lady from next door goes zombie and tries to kill them.  They evade her hunger, save another teenage girl, and luckily Peter has a map telling them where to go -  the LTA Hangar in Tustin. Then the novel jumps 4 months ahead.

The writing is so-so. The plot is so-so. About a third of the way through I had to abandon What Remains. It simply wasn't worth my time. I think that a good zombie novel can still be written even with the glut in the market but this one isn't it. Sorry but I can't recommend this one.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the author via Netgalley for review purposes.