Title - Wanted: Dead or Undead
Author - Angela Scott
Series - The Zombie West #1
Genre - YA Zombies & Horror
Format - Ebook
Published - March 30th 2012
Publisher - Evolved Publishing
Synopsis
WINNER:Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book of 2012 - Young Adult
WINNER: League of Utah Writers Golden Quill Award 2012
FINALIST: The 2012 USA Best Book Awards (sponsored by USA Book News) - Young Adult
SECOND PLACE: The 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards - Young Adult
Evolved Publishing presents the award-winning Wanted: Dead or Undead
Evolved Publishing presents the award-winning Wanted: Dead or Undead
(Book 1 of The Zombie West Series) by Angela Scott. (Young Adult, Zombie
Western Romance)Trace Monroe doesn’t believe in luck. He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive. Trace wants to join "Red’s" posse, but she prefers to work alone—less messy that way.
In order to become her traveling companion, Trace has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can’t beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem. He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he’s ever encountered. The fact she’s stunning hasn’t escaped his attention either.
What he doesn’t know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she is the answer.
Excerpt
Red lost track of how many bullets she'd fired, until the
dreaded click
of an empty chamber. She knelt on the ground, with an eye on the approaching
mob, and slipped her hand inside one of her saddlebags in a frantic search for
more ammunition, but came up empty.
Damn
it.
She
searched the other saddlebag, and though the cool metal cartridges graced her
fingertips, she had to let them go. The zombies fell upon her. Swinging the
rifle above her head, she slammed the butt of the weapon into the face of the
closest walker, breaking its bloody jaw, but failing to hinder its progress.
She swung again and connected with its skull, which bust open and sent the
zombie sprawling to the ground at her feet. One down, but six more ready to
destroy her, each aiming for a limb, an organ, a bit of flesh, a chunk of her
existence.
"Reload."
Wen yelled. The blade of his machete sung through the air and sliced through
the neck of the nearest zombie, separating the head from its body. "Do it!
Now!"
He
beheaded two more as she grabbed a handful of bullets and jammed them into the
rifle, her hands shakier than normal. She cocked the gun in one swift movement
and fired just left of Wen, taking down the decomposed walker.
"Jeez,
watch it!" Wen eyed her as if she was crazy.
To prove
she was a better shot than both of the men, she fired once more to the right of
Wen, within inches of his shoulder, sending a bullet into the zombie he planned
to decapitate.
He
whipped around. "Okay, I get it!"
No
more time for games. She rolled onto her side and fired more bullets as the
band of walking dead crept nearer.
Wen
sliced through heads with a skill that impressed her, and held them at bay
while she reloaded—a team effort she highly appreciated.
Red
had no idea what Cowboy was up to, but heard him firing off shots of his own.
She worked with Wen to kill the crowd of wagon zombies that advanced upon them.
Mothers, fathers, teamsters, small children—it didn't matter. Sentiment had no
place in zombie annihilation. She didn't miss a single target, as each forehead
was penetrated and the dilapidated bodies collapsed to the ground.
When
no more approached from her direction, she waited for a second to be sure, and
then rolled onto her belly to take on any coming from behind. Only there weren't
any. A pleasant, yet unexpected surprise. Cowboy stood there, watching and
waiting with his rifle raised. Wen held his machete across his chest, ready as
well. Silence prevailed, but for the sound of their own rapid breathing. As
quickly as it had begun, it ended, but none of them were willing to let their
guard down just yet.
"Everyone
okay?" Cowboy asked, the butt of his rifle still pressed against his
shoulder. "Anyone bit? Hurt?"
Wen
shook his head. "I'm good. I'm real good."
Red
slowly stood, her rifle shaking in her hands. "I'm good too."
"Perfect."
Cowboy lowered his weapon and smiled. "Couldn't have gone better."
"We
need to burn the bodies. Pile them. Set them ablaze. But"—she indicated
the bloody mess that covered her from head to toe with an unnatural tremble in
her fingers—"I need to get this off of me."
Cowboy
scanned her body and lingered on her bare legs poking out from under her night
shirt.
"Go."
He turned away out of respect. "We'll keep an eye out and start putting
them in a pile. Get cleaned up."
Red
stepped over the zombie corpses littering her path and returned to the wagon
that had provided such peace the night before. Her hands twitched more now, but
she managed to toss the remaining dead zombie out onto the ground before sinking
onto a clean area of the mattress.
She inched up the bottom of her soiled night shirt to
reveal what she knew was there all along—a gaping hole on her thigh, several
inches deep. The bite mark bubbled and spilled red, foamy droplets onto the
mattress below. She didn't know which zombie had bit her or when it happened,
not that the details mattered, only that the pain was excruciating and its
liquid heat radiated through her veins. She balled her fist and punched the
mattress once, then twice more.
Damn it.
With nothing more to do, she leaned her head back against the side of the wagon
and waited.
Review
When the guys learn the truth about Red, why she’s being
hunted they vow to protect her. They group is almost zombie bait when they
happen upon a ranch with a woman and her children. Little do they know that she
has a hidden zombie baby and gone off the deep end feeding the baby victims.
They hardly escape with their lives but in doing so they bring with them two
children one of which shares Red’s secret. They find long term shelter adding
an ailing old man and his daughter. The group settles down into a routine but
the zombies come, along with a group of government with Red’s brother as well
as a man that hurt Red. Each one has their own struggles but the zombies are
looming will they survive the zombie attack looming outside the camp? Will Red’s
past ruin everything?
I think both Red and Cowboy have an interesting relationship
the way the connected. I spent most of the first book hoping for a romantic
interest. We also get to know Wen, Caroline & her father as well as the two
children they saved from a crazy mom. It’s an unlikely bunch but together they
overcome everything to become a family.
Wanted: Dead or Undead is unlike any zombie book I’ve read
before. Set in the old west you’re instantly reminded of a traditional black
and white movie only with zombies. I think it’s a fantastic spin on the zombie
concept taking the overplayed and creating a whole new story. I’m a huge zombie
fan, but this one steals the spotlight for zombies. An action packed adventure right
from the start, it was hard to put down it just sucked me in and didn’t let go.
I started reading last night but knew right away if I didn’t put it down within
the first few chapters I would be up all night till I finish. The characters
are engaging, easy to connect with you just have to know what’s going to happen
next. I think the author has done a great job of writing a story that really
fits with the western theme. It’s a fantastic start to an exciting zombie
trilogy. I can’t wait to read the next two books and see what happens to Red.
4 out of 5 stars
About the author
About the author
Angela
Scott hears voices. Tiny fictional people sit on her shoulders and whisper
their stories in her ear. Instead of medicating herself, she decided to pick up
a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book.
She’s not crazy. She’s an author. For the most part, she writes contemporary
Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of
control, she found herself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild
West–and loving it. Her zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t
cuddle. At least, she wouldn’t suggest it. She lives on the benches of the
beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very
patient husband. She graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in
English, not because of her love for the written word, but because it was the
only major that didn’t require math. She can’t spell, and grammar is her arch
nemesis. But they gave her the degree, and there are no take backs.
Find
Angela Scott on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads
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