Undead

Bobby is a super, epic chick of AWESOME... Wrapped in witty sarcastic charm and coated with attitude. I loved her! Can you tell? Is it obvious?Having recently moved BACK to the UK after spending the last six years in the US, Bobby is feeling very angsty and irritated!"When we moved to the US six years ago, they thought I sounded as British as the Queen. Now that I'm back in the motherland again, I'm like some weird hybrid, a freako chimera with an ever-changing accent."It's not helping that she's on the "School Trip from Hell". Which in all reality is a ski trip with all her new classmates before the new school year starts! Yep... That pretty much sounds like the definition of hell to me. But refuge is in sight, as they are FINALLY on their way home!When the bus stops for lunch at the Cheery Chomper (hehe), Bobby stays on board, unwilling to endure another lunch of solitude and having food tossed at her. Mr. Taylor stays because he's got the flu and Smitty... Because Smitty is trouble. Trouble swathed in leather and complete with a fake ID."an ink-haired indie kid in a leather jacket. Rob Smitty: rebel without a pause, freak show, and drop out in the making. But the best snowboarder, definitely. When I first clapped eyes on him, I was convinced he'd be the head of the underage drinking club - and he is - but dude knows how to throw himself down a mountain too. [...] Respect due, in spite of the try-hard guyliner and bad attitude."See? How freaking E-P-I-C is she? I know right? I LOVED her inner dialog! Smitty gets Mr. Taylor to go get him a sandwich, by cleverly threatening student cruelty and starvation or something... As soon as he's gone Smitty is trying to convince the driver to let them off the bus for some mischief or another when something slaps the windshield... then it comes AGAIN... only this time they see it's unmistakabley a hand- so the bus driver gets out to deal with the teen miscreants messing with his bus!Then something slams into the back of the bus, dazed and confused- Smitty gets out to see what's going on... What he finds is a puddle of blood and a shrieking figure in a blue coat running toward them!!!!Alice Hicks BARELY gets on the bus before Smitty locks her out (I'd have locked her out... Not even because she was a hateful witch- but because hands are smacking the windows, bloody streaks marring the snow... Then some crazy, screaming person comes running at me? No thank you. Just sayin.)"Dead!" she screams. "Everybody's dead!"HOLY.... OHMYGOD right?!?!Now, I know I went into a lot of detail there... But I COULDN'T HELP IT! And honestly... I didn't give that much away, according to my kindle- I was only 4% in by this point!We end up with the new kid, a badboy, a nerd, a pretty princess and a gas station attendant. Quite a band of misfits to survive the apocalypse... But these characters were fantastically portrayed!While I loved Bobby for her wit, snark and general awesome... I loved Alice's princess-y bi-polar!"Shanika's [her BFF] got my CoutureCandy bag, the bitch! Drive!" she says to the driver. "Run them over!"And Pete, the nerd extrordinaire, is convinced they're all being watched and everything that is happening is some elaborate scheme by the government or new world order. Whoever is behind it all has cutoff every means of escape and made it impossible to communicate with the outside world.Nobody beleives him. They think he's finally cracked."This is crazy!" [...] "Of course there are cameras; they're everywhere these days! But it doesn't mean that they've all been planted to spy on us in the even of a zombie apocalypse!"Undead by Kirsty McKay was freaking AMAZING from BEGINING TO END! The actual plot wasn't something I NORMALLY get into, but the pure EPICNESS of the characters, the way they interacted and the dialog were enough to keep me reading well into the night and scrambling to grab Undead the next morning! Seriously, I'd read this book again today- just because!With that, I leave you with more quotes..."If I die right here, right now, I will be ashamed. What a fail. Struck down and eaten by a bus driver, for crap's sake, in Scotland, on a school trip.""Just because we can't see jack doesn't mean that Undead Jack and Jillaren't lurking in there with all their friends, ready to Cheerily Chomp on us.""for one horribly, desperately embarrassing moment we fly into eachother's arms like Shaggy and Scooby Don't.""Manic with a side of Musical Theater." ← and this has become my new tagline... for my LIFE. Just sayin!!!!

Bobby has recently returned to the UK after spending several years living in the US. Her mother signs her up for a ski trip before school starts hoping she will be able to make friends. Unfortunately for her making friends isn't really working so when the bus stops at a café for food she has no desire to get off the bus. Bobby is stuck on the bus with Smitty the troublemaker and the bus driver when things go south quickly. While the bus driver steps off to see what hit the bus Alice returns being chased by their teacher screaming about everyone being dead. They also add the pasty nerdy kid to the group after checking out the gas station.Soon Zombies are intent on get them forcing the group to go extreme by blowing up the gas station killing all their fellow classmates. The group heads for the café in the morning hoping to find wifi that will allow them to get help. When they are overrun by more zombies they run back to the bus attempting to escape but they run across a tree blocking the road. They start thinking that maybe this whole zombie outbreak was planned because of the camera and road blocked. They set off down the road with two new members hoping to find a place to stay safe and get help. When they find a castle they learn the truth of the outbreak but will the make it out to tell about it?Bobby is the new girl at school without any friends she sets off on a ski trip that will change her life. She's smart, stubborn and knows how to kick ass when she needs to. She's paired with a bad boy who wears leather and who can really wield a dwarf ax. I had my moments where I wanted to strangle Malice I mean Alice she frustrated me but adds to the story. Pete was a fun nerdy character who I rooted for even if he wasn't kicking butt like Smitty.I've had this one on my shelf forever and when I saw it on amazon I had to pick up a copy. I'm a zombie addict I can't seem to get enough of them. I love the idea for the zombie outbreak it's one of those concepts I could totally see happening in the future. Undead is a fast paced action thrill that keeps you sucked into the story to the end only to tease you for the next one. Even though it's an intense zombie thriller the author has thrown in a little humor to keep it light. I found the characters easy to connect with you can't help cheering them on as they fight the zombies. I found the authors writing style enjoyable she created a brilliant story that I found captivating. This was one of those books I had a hard time putting down I read it in one afternoon. I can't wait to start on the next one thanks to the ending of this one. If you love zombies Undead is a must read.

This book was recommended to me by my closest friend, and I'm glad I read it. It's a quirky and fun zombie story with the appropriate amount of undead dark humor

I love the characters and I love the suspense. It is like the Breakfast club vs. Zombies;you have the beauty popular, the loner, the cool guy and the wierdo. There is a fast plot that starts near the end of chapter one. At that point the fun, begins. This book is funny, but not LOL funny but has one line zingers, as I like to call them, that would make you smile or GOL (Giggle out loud). Thus, in short, fast pace, good characters, and funny. 4 stars out of 5 because I did not know it would be a part two.

Ordered this book for my Granddaughter. She had already read it in school and had completed a book report. She wanted her own copy. Ordered this and the 2nd book in the series, "Unfed." She is very happy to have her own copy of both books. Loved them both.

I don't want to spoil the book so I am not going to go on and on about the plot, but I loved this book! . It reminded me of Walking Dead, but with a heck of a lot more sass. If you are a fan of Doctor Who, or Lord of the Rings than this book will have you in stitches XD The references that the author had me laughing and highlighting half the book on my kindle.

I have to write twenty words in order to post this and tell what I thought of the book, Undead. 5 stars.

I liked this book although the cover is a bit misleading there are no axes or people in cheer leading costumes in the entire book. but the book itself was really good. Good creativity I will read the second book

The first time I saw Undead I knew I wanted to read it - set in the UK, a bunch of teenagers surviving a zombie apocalypse with some black humour thrown in? Totally my thing. Plus the cover is pretty cool and has coloured pages which I am a complete sucker for.Undead begins with two characters, Bobby and Smitty being left on the school bus whilst the rest of the class goes into a roadside restaurant for lunch. Smitty is the bad boy of the class, and Bobby is the new girl who doesn't quite fit in after spending several years living outside of the UK.I'm a little torn as to whether I liked the characters or found them too much of a cliche - I liked Smitty and Bobby's snarky interactions and although the characters are completely different to each other, they do find a way to work together and seeing them develop into a team was interesting. However, the cliched beautiful bimbo and ugly geek did kind of grate on me a little - having their roles reversed would probably have made the characters more appealing and been more fitting with the tone of the book.For the first 100 pages I was having a lot of fun reading Undead - the black humour and the slightly oddball beginning to the zombie apocalype made it feel different to the usual YA zombie novel. The characters were unique and the situation was so wierd it was almost funny, but the humour and quirkiness lost its appeal after a while and I started to get bored. It did pick up again towards the end, but it made the pacing feel very uneven, and unfortunately I found it quite easy to put the book down and difficult to find the motivation to come back to.I also felt that some parts of the plot didn't fully connect with others, particularly how and why the virus was released and although McKay does try and pick those threads up later in the book, it felt like they were made less of in order to add more quirkiness.Of course with any zombie book there is some element of gore and horror, but it's pretty minimal in Undead - as a book for readers who don't like the intensity of most zombie books it's going to be a positive, but for me it felt like it was belittling the situation a little and then I just couldn't take it as seriously as I wanted to.Overall, Undead started as a fun read that lost a little steam along the way. It's still a book I'd recommend to readers who don't enjoy the dark intensity of many zombie novels, but are looking for something a little more lighthearted and different.

I've had this on my to-read list for years but finally purchased it for my flight to L.A. I am so glad i did!!! This book is epically underrated! It wasn't the glorified thriller/ survival story that most apocalypse stories follow. It was honest and thrilling and kept me at the edge of my seat for the 2 days it took me to read it! I loved the four main characters so much. They were definitely an odd grouping; Alice (the queen Bee), Pete (the weird nerdy kid), Bobby (the loner girl) and Smitty (the token nutcase). Despite their difference of personality they all worked so well as a group and their characters brought something amazing to the story.Now. The ending. At first i wasn't sure i liked the ending but i have now decided that i love it! It wasn't at all what i was expecting and it took a really original turn. It's slightly sending me mental but isn't that what a book is for; to keep you thinking way after the last line?

As part of my current obsession with any book Zmobie related it was obviously only a matter of time before Amazon recommended Undead to me - I liked the cover, it looked interesting, and what the heck there are flesh eating zombies in it so here goes nothing.Firstly, this is definitely young adult - sometimes YA fiction can seem like its actually more adult in content, this book was not so much like that. The gore was toned down compared to what you usually get in a zombie book, it was there and some of it was a wee bit gross, but it wasn't anything as bad as some of the things I've read from Rhiannon Frater, or Madeleine Roux. This is not a bad thing unless all you want out of a zombie book is to be grossed out. McKay really focusses on the characters who, all being teenagers, it was really interesting to see how they coped with the situation, without any adult help.I really like Bobby and Smitty, the two main characters - Bobby has recently moved back to England from the States and Bobby is the class clown / possible future young offender. Their class is on a school skiing trip in Scotland when they stop at a roadside cafe for food, but considering herself an outsider, Bobby decides to stay on the bus, along with Smitty. Once the school popular girl / anorexic / biatch comes running back to the bus with stories of very "Hungry" teachers, Bobby and Smitty soon realize they are in the midst of a zombie apocalypse ...... and there's no one there to help them.This author included many twists and turns and I felt she understood her characters - None of them made any decisions that I thought a teenager would have been unlikely to make, everything they did fit with what teenagers would probably do, how they would react. They were all very believable and even the not so pleasant ones were likeable in their own way. It was interesting to see how much they changed in what was a very short space of time having been faced with something as awful and their zombie classmates and the towns people!Also, this story goes in the direction of dealing with how the outbreak started, and the conspiracy and evil people involved. I won't elaborate any further - I wasn't expecting it to go in this direction but it was a pleasant surprise and done very well by the author. The story leaves us on one hell of a cliff hanger leaving me to wait the next few months for the next installment "Unfed" ..........Overall, not the best Zombie book I have ever read but not far off - I enjoyed seeing the reaction to the apocalypse by a different group of people - teenagers. And its the first one of these books I have read that was set in the UK, which was nice. Zombie fans should definitely check this out and if you want to try out the Zombie genre but are worried about the gory stuff, this is a good book to start off with.

Bobby is going to join my list of most brilliant narrators ever. She's sarcastic, witty and utterly convincing. Actually all the characters in Undead are. They might a bit stereotypical; queen bee, smarty-pants, troublemaker and the outsider but (and I don't know how) Kirsty McKay makes them so believable.Smitty and Bobby steal the show without argument, their banter inspired. But you can't count out the others stuck on that bus. (M)Alice is such a whiny hysterical princess yet I still adored her. Alice's reactions made me laugh so much my sides were hurting. Ok honestly my sides hurt through most of Undead but it's still such a thrilling read. There is danger and you really don't know if they'll all make it and I'm not telling. ;)Kirsty McKay has written an exciting and perilous adventure that would be enough of a great book in its own right, but then you have the characters and Bobby's narration. If you're looking for something to cheer you up, you can't go wrong with (the) Undead.

Loved this series in secondary school.

My 10 year old daughter is currently reading and enjoying this book. Love the blood stained pages, great touch.

I bought this because my son requested it, started reading the first chapter to see what it was like and had to finish it! A brand new book for a value-for money price. Thank-you.

Bought this to read before passing on to zombie loving grandchildren. Haven't managed to get to the end yet, have been taking small bites so not totally rivetting, but may be of more interest to young teens.

I first read this book after a friend recommended it to me, and I was not disappointed! From start to end it had me laughing and wanting more, the characters were great and the storyline superb! The second book in the series (Unfed) was just as high quality, and I can't wait for any more stories in this series!

Amazing book! If you love zombies or just want a scary book to read, then this is the book for you!

They're not exactly the friendliest of creatures; fiercely aggressive, rancid in appearance and always paired with an insatiable hunger for `Braaains ...' but zombies have somehow found themselves at the height of popularity these days. So, when a novel comes along featuring the shambling, reanimated corpses the world is so used to watching/reading about/ blowing up in video-games, it really does need to be something rather special to raise more than just the most dedicated zom-buster's eyebrow.A YA novel at heart, Undead begins in a suitably teenage fashion as heroine Bobby, the new girl with the foreign accent, tries to deflect the unruly attentions of her rowdy schoolmates. No easy task as the book starts on a crowded bus pulling into a rest stop in deepest darkest Scotland. Even more tricky when, after Bobby elects to stay behind whilst everyone else ventures outside for a refresher, her schoolmates return to the bus as groaning, walking corpses intent on tearing her limb from limb.It's perhaps lucky then that Bobby is not alone on the bus; rebellious class clown Smitty has been ordered to stay behind with her although, right from the start, it's clear he's more intent on throwing out one-liners rather than taking the situation (or anything else for that matter) particularly seriously. And this is Undead's greatest strength: the slick dialogue, as well as Bobby's internal thoughts, are both wonderfully sassy and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, despite the relative horror of the situation. Things soon become even more spirited, too, as popular girl Alice (quickly nicknamed Malice) joins the pair, shortly followed by class know-it-all, Pete.With the gang set firmly in place the zingers continue to fly but that's not to say that Undead is all fun and giggles. The zombie threat is not watered down at all and the descriptions of the ferocious living corpses are graphic, grizzly and often very, very bloody - this is no story for the faint-hearted and, as one might expect in any such plot, people (minors included) frequently meet horrible ends.Whilst the book's main story centres on survival (the gang have several colourful discussions concerning what they should do and where they should go) the final act, a superb series of set pieces taking place in a moody Scottish castle, introduces the protagonists to the sinister plot behind the outbreak. Add to the mix a torrent of cliff-hangers, a host of excellent supporting characters (special mention to the divine yet devious Grace) and this really is a novel that anyone, undead or not, would no doubt be delighted to sink their teeth into.

the story of the book is just great I love it. Kristy Mckay is indeed the queen of teen horror. A must read for horror fiction lovers

Thrilling action packed bloody romp in the frozen north!Scary, but also very very funny.I was sad to reach the end and can't wait for her next book.I hope it's a long series.

Me: "OK son you can use the Xbox Live now to play games and chat with your mates", Son: "No way, this book is miles better than the Xbox"Can't say fairer than that!

Bobby is the new girl at school, and her parents thought it would be a good idea for her to go on the pre-term skiing trip to Scotland and show off her excellent skiing ability. Something which would never endear her to anyone at the new school.Things being the way they are there was barely a flake of snow while they were at the skiing camp, now that it's over they are on the way back to school during one of the worst blizzards in Scottish history. They pull over at a road-side café for lunch, but Bobby is still feeling like an outsider and decides to stay on the bus. With Bobby, on the bus, is a boy called "Smitty" who is not there by desire but as a punishment. Smitty is the class bad-boy with a smart-mouth that he hardly shuts.They become aware that something is really wrong when the class *itch (Alice) turns up banging on the coach door and wanting to be let in.As they try to survive under the onslaught of hungry zombies they pick up a few more survivors, meet some enemies and discover some, but not all, of what's happened.I have developed a taste for a good zombie story since I discovered the Resident Evil games, then the books by SD Perry, even revisiting films that I was originally ambiguous about, such as George Romero's "Dead" series of films. I have to admit that I liked this story; it felt strangely familiar.For the first couple of pages I didn't realise that Bobby was a girl; this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. What I couldn't understand was the need for such a complex back-story for Bobby. What was the point of the UK-born-moved-to-US-and-now-back-to-the-UK it seemed superfluous, not adding anything to the story itself - it would have worked with Bobby simply moving schools for one county to another.The other thing that perplexed me was the use of the teenagers' spoken language. For example, Alice appears to be some sort of Paris Hilton wannabe, which I found annoying. No teenager I know speaks the way that she does, or would ever be seen speaking in pigeon French and applying lip gloss at every few minutes.There was the element of "what's behind all this" introduced about two-thirds of the way into the book. Then it was dropped until the last couple of chapters. I was sorry that the author hadn't managed to carry on that "who-done-it" through the story to the end as there were places were it would have been possible for the characters to have discussed what they knew and what they suspected.The blurb stated "terrifyingly accomplished and blackly funny". So is it "accomplished"? Not quite yet, but it's getting there. Was it "funny"? I must have missed something because I didn't find it funny at any point; it didn't even raise a mental snigger.There is also the problem that there is no real unique element to this story other than the protagonists are children. Mind you it would be difficult to come up with an original idea for a zombie story as most of them have been done.*** SPOILER ***The problem (if that is the correct word) of familiarity is probably due to my knowledge of Resident Evil. As a fan of the RE franchise I've seen the whole evil corporation, virus experimentation and betrayal by a trusted person before. It is a main feature of all the Resident Evil games, books and films, and because of that I felt the story was very familiar.There was also a little confusion about Bobby's father who, at the beginning of the book was alive enough to talk her in to the skiing trip but towards the end we are told he died a while ago.*** END OF SPOILER ***I have since let my Godson's 14 year old brother read it and his conclusion was that it needed to get rid of the bits that didn't fit and the "lame talking", though he too liked the ending and he said he'd be interested in reading a follow-up.Overall it is a gentle zombie story which, aside from a couple of small and ignorable problems, was a good read and passed the time nicely. It has a few problems, but there aren't that many stories that don't, but I still like it. I look forward to Ms McKay's next work - I'd like to see how she'd handle a sequel.