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The Sacrifice (The Enemy #4)

4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 · rating details · 419 ratings · 73 reviews

The sickness destroyed everyone over the age of fourteen. All across London diseased adults are waiting, hungry predators with rotten flesh and ravaged minds.
Small Sam and his unlikely ally, The Kid, have survived. They’re safe with Ed and his friends at the Tower of London, but Sam is desperate to find his sister.

Their search for Ella means Sam and The Kid must cross the...more

Hardcover, 456 pages

Published September 20th 2012 by Puffin

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Feb 13, 2013 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

What keeps us going day to day? How do we push through the monotony, exhaustion, hard times, and pain in life? To be honest, some days I’m really not sure.

”I guess when you want to keep on living you can do things you couldn’t do normally.”

Charlie Higson’s The Sacrifice holds all the scares, suspense, and gore of this bloody slaughter-like series, but this story also shows readers that surviving may not be enough. What we have to sacrifice day to day to survive in life plays a big part of this j...more

12 likes · like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 Crini marked it as wl-want · review of another edition

Shelves: a-ya, c-zombies, genre-post-apocalyptic, lang-english, released-2012, s-series-sequel

"My little trilogy is now going to be an epic seven books long" Whooot! Awesome!

12 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Jord¥n marked it as wishlist · review of another edition

Shelves: cant-wait

Holy shit! There's gonna be 7 books in this zombie series!? AWESOME

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, hometown-ya, 2012

I'm at the stage of reviewing this series when I think I’ve given up.

Not in the books. Not at all. I mean, are you joking? This series is one of the most brilliant YA series, of any genre, you’re going to read.

I mean actually reviewing them. I find it pretty much impossible to write reviews on a series any way. There are only so many times you can say “You know what, you probably shouldn’t read this…” or, in this series’ case, “Why haven’t you read this series yet?”

If you haven’t read this serie...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Aras Redan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-on-my-shelves

Please let Maxie and Blue be in this book! And if they are, please don't kill Maxie and Blue. Please, please, PLEASE.

6 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Henry rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review covers four in Charlie Higson's zombie apocalypse series - The Enemy, The Dead, The Fear and The Sacrifice. I expect it'll cover any more dispatches in the excellent teen novel series.

There's a fairly well-populated subgenre of books in which all the adults in the world disappear, leaving children up to the age of fourteen or fifteen to cope by themselves. It started with Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'. This latest example doesn't have the adults vanish - they just turn into putrescin...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Vicki James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book.

I am a huge fan of the series. I'm an adult, so I'm going to be honest, I was a little reluctant to admit to really enjoying a YA series with such passion, especially when I do enjoy more 'adult' kind of books.

So when I didn't get this next book for Christmas, I had to take a trip to my local bookstore. Turns out the elderly cashier is a fan of the series too.

What I love most about Charlie Higson's work, is he somehow is able to write great content and great story, whilst also...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Stina Torry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: zomibes

How to express how I feel about this book: OH MY ROWLING! That was yet another example of the brilliance of the british. The first book in this series was also brilliant, as was book two. Book three had me a little bored because I knew what was going down (as it was happening at the same time as the others...so I already knew). Book four was...WOW. From the first line I was creeped out and curious as to what Higson has in store for us eager readers. I was not let down; there was excitement and s...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Felix Lu rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think it was an extremely good read, Higson made me nervous, scared, paranoid but excited throughout the entire book. The story is based on a group of teenagers trying to adapt to their current surrounding, where everyone has a chance of death, you don't know who's going to live , who is going to stay alive. I thought the idea of having adults becoming zombies was an excellent idea, but how Higson made the idea turn ,twist and managed to drag the events through such a long and chaotic adventur...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Aksaran added it

The sacrifice is the newest book in a series by Charlie Higson. The series focuses on the viewpoint of numerous children who are surviving after an outbreak of disease which(only affecting people older than 15) kills or turns the host into a kind of zombie. The series follows the transition of the children, from random unorganised bunches, into a sembalance of civilisation. It also focuses on how each children becomes harder and adapt to life with chaos and death reigning in the streets.
The sacr...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Lindsey Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

More lovely child eating zombie action in the 4th installment of the Charlie Higson teen horror series. Smashing gory details such as eyeballs popping out of heads, slashing guts, chopping off hands and general yukky bits that meant I often sped read through the more horrific details.

But an excellent scary romp with likeable characters (well the teens not the flesh eating "sickos") and signs of threads from the previous three books all coming together and some questions being answered make this...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Honestly, I don't believe Higson did as well in The Sacrifice as he had in the last three books. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a hell of a good book, it just didn't excite me as much as the others did.
The characters were growing a bit boring and predictable, like Matt for example, and the action scenes didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like they used to. I don't know why.
The Sacrifice focused less on the survival aspect and more on this freaky religion type stuff which Matt and his...more Honestly, I don't believe Higson did as well in The Sacrifice as he had in the last three books. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a hell of a good book, it just didn't excite me as much as the others did.
The characters were growing a bit boring and predictable, like Matt for example, and the action scenes didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like they used to. I don't know why.
The Sacrifice focused less on the survival aspect and more on this freaky religion type stuff which Matt and his minions had created, and I guess the more they talked about The Lamb and The Goat, the less interested I became. They just kept repeating the same things over again.
Some of the actions scenes left me completely lost in terms of where they were located and what was going on. That may be because I live in America and so I'm not used to the geography over in England, but I still think Higson could've explained some things a little bit better.
The whole 'Green Man' situation seemed a little too farfetched, in my opinion, and I didn't entirely understand his significance in the plot line.
The sentinels confused the hell out of me, but I guess that's what Higson wanted, so I guessed that's a good thing. I grew to like Shadowman more in this book than I had in the Fear, because he had more of a purpose in this one than he had in the last. Ed remained a bit of a static character to me, not really showing much personality other than the fact that in one second he could be a cute little boy and in the next he could be a ravenous killing machine (which actually isn't much personality at all), and every time Matt opened his mouth I wanted to jam a tire iron down his throat. On the contrary, the relationship between Sam and the Kid literally melted my heart. I originally fell in love with the two of them in The Enemy, and it was pleasantly carried over into this book. Out of all the characters, Sam and the Kid had the most personality. Sam was kind hearted and emotionally attached to his partner in crime, and the Kid was sneaky and a force to be reckoned with, but also had a big soft spot for his buddy as well. It was adorable.
So, overall, I liked the book but didn't love it as much as the others. I'm still extremely excited for the last three to come out! I cannot wait. (less)

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Mar 22, 2013 Turkan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: apocalyptic, zombie fans

Recommended to Turkan by: friend

Shelves: favorites, read-zombie-apocalyptic, read-journey-adventure, read-horror, totally-unputdownable, original, best-horror-novels, awesome-5-star-books, read-dystopia-utopia, set-in-uk, addictive

My reaction when i found out that The Enemy will be a whopping 7 BOOKS!:

up.com/view/4

GIFSoup

Where. Do. I. Even. Start? This series totally blew me away. I'm a massive fan of horror (when they don't happen to me off course), zombies, vampires, etc and i absolutely LOVED this series. Charlie Higson is awesome and i'm really happy that i came across this series. (Thanks to my best friend who recommended it to me), ever since then i became a fan of The Enemy series and i can't wait until the next...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Hannah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-20

This is the best book in the series so far. It's so exciting! It takes something pretty amazing for me to still be properly interested in a series the fourth book in. Normally by now I'd be hoping this was the last one so I wouldn't have to read on, but these books are just a breeze. They're a really quick and easy read, but not simplistic. They remind me of a more violent Harry Potter.

The main reason I like this book is because there's a lot of intrigue. It's not all action, death and zombies (...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: action-packed, dark, multiple-narrators, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic

I'm going with 3.5 stars on this one.

First off, maybe I'm just that stupid American who can't 'connect' with British books? I say this because I got this book early through my university library system, which shipped the book in from overseas. So I'm considering the possibility that I would have enjoyed it better if I read the American version. Maybe.

The same attributes of books 1-3 that us Enemy fans know and love are still going strong in The Sacrifice. Unfortunately, I'm starting to feel dese...more I'm going with 3.5 stars on this one.

First off, maybe I'm just that stupid American who can't 'connect' with British books? I say this because I got this book early through my university library system, which shipped the book in from overseas. So I'm considering the possibility that I would have enjoyed it better if I read the American version. Maybe.

The same attributes of books 1-3 that us Enemy fans know and love are still going strong in The Sacrifice. Unfortunately, I'm starting to feel desensitized to most of them, and I'm getting ready for the author to mix it up a little more.

For instance, one of the most notable traits of this series is how gruesome its description and violent its action can be. That's definitely still present, but there's only many times I can be effectively grossed out by descriptions of people's limbs rotting off, you know? On a similar note, I'm no longer surprised when characters are killed off. When the one character who I never even considered could die was killed in the third book, I think my 'innocence' as far as this series goes was gone as well. There are no longer any characters that I assume will be okay, so I didn't feel surprised or affected by any of the deaths in this book.

I think my only other 'complaint' for this book can also be considered a compliment... sort of. Basically, I've reached the point where I can't patiently wait for the characters from The Enemy anymore. Achilleus, Maxie, Blue, Ollie... get at me. I want no one else but you.

Moving on to happy things! I think this book in particular is perfect as a set-up for books to come. There are some really intense, really fascinating and surprising developments as to the nature of the disease that are uncovered in this story. The character of 'Wormwood' was intriguing to say the least, and the growing organization of the grown-ups is effectively threatening.

Finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to my boy, The Kid. For me, he went from being merely an adorable and ridiculously amusing sidekick to, basically, my hero. I was so, so impressed with how well he handled himself throughout all the craziness, and it was so rewarding to see his character growth.

It was also nice to see Jordan Hordern again, but I'm a little worried about him. And all the other kids, come to think of it. I hope that they come to their senses and band together as a whole soon, because I can't imagine them beating the sickos if they remain factions.

That's it for now. I will be biding my time until the release of the next book, praying and hoping for as much Achilleus and The Kid as possible. (view spoiler)(less)

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Nov 30, 2012 Riolu Dawson rated it 5 of 5 stars

*Spoiler Free*

I started reading Charlie Higson shortly after i began reading Michael Grant's Gone series in 2010 because i waiting for the next Gone book(Plague) and wanted something to hold me over. I expected a generic zombie book with "The Enemy" and I got so much more than that and Higson has quickly become my favorite author along with Grant.

Let's start this review off with the Cons.....

In my opinion, this book series is near perfect. Unlike Gone, which I do love, I don't outright hate any...more

5 likes · like · see review

Nov 06, 2012 Sydney rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 12, 2012 Tony Talbot rated it 5 of 5 stars

Everyone over the age of 14 has been consumed by a virus that essentially turns them into zombies. Only the children are immune...for now, maybe.

This is number four in what Charlie Higson is now planning to make a seven book epic, and there's a sense of things being set up for the later books, especially in the later chapters. There's a change in the behaviour of the adults, for good and bad - the good guys get an ally, and the bad guys get a leader.

This is a book without fault. There isn't a si...more Everyone over the age of 14 has been consumed by a virus that essentially turns them into zombies. Only the children are immune...for now, maybe.

This is number four in what Charlie Higson is now planning to make a seven book epic, and there's a sense of things being set up for the later books, especially in the later chapters. There's a change in the behaviour of the adults, for good and bad - the good guys get an ally, and the bad guys get a leader.

This is a book without fault. There isn't a single wasted character or event, no matter how minor, and all the strands of plot tie up at the end and then leave room for more books (apart from DogNut, who I'm sure will appear in Book Five or somewhere down the line...).

What's getting hard after four books and a gap of a few years between them, is to get the timeline sorted out. Events in this book overlap events in the other three, and it's hard to remember who all the characters are in the previous books and their 'status' in this one. But that's a minor niggle.

Higson goes to lengths to point out that the monsters inside - the children who decide to lead the children - are as dangerous as those outside. There are shades of Lord of The Flies in Ed and Little Sam and the situations they find themselves in, and I think the comparison is a worthy one.

This is not a book for the squeamish. A nine year old boy gets flogged, anyone can die (and they do), and the fights against the adults are long, bloody and vicious. It doesn't go into extravagant details, but it doesn't shy away from them either. Be warned: This is the book Stephen King would write if he wrote YA.

The real star of the show are Little Sam and the delightfully batty (or is he?) The Kid, who talks like Alex from A Clockwork Orange but is sharp as a sat-on-box-of-pins.

Sam's grim determination to find his sister and later The Kid is one of the underlying themes of the book - and there are so many: dictatorships, loyalty, sacrifice, friendship, not judging people by their appearances, rebuilding society. Everything is packed in there, but nothing feels rushed or thrown in. This is a book carefully constructed to make you think and reconsider, and I'm already hungry for the next three sequels.(less)

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Oct 13, 2012 Zoe♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

This has got to be the best one by far, even though the others are just brilliant. Charlie Higson's style of writing is just flawless in my opinion especially how the story is constantly changing perspective and links together seamlessly.

I now have to deal with the depressive though of having to wait for the next part *sigh*.

It's a must read, particularly if you are English, or from London.

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Sep 27, 2012 Amos Cassidy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This series just gets better and better! Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder Mr Higson proves me wrong. And please don't get me started on the death toll...seriously is nobody safe? I'm not complaining though, it keeps me on my toes and in edge. I found myself holding my breath so often I'm surprised I didn't pass out!
Highly recommended - and hurry up and write the next one!

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Jan 17, 2013 Martyn Perry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-book-collection

I didn't like all of the new developments in this book and felt that the last three stories were probably better paced with stronger set pieces.

That said, Higson still knows how to write a thrilling story. His Enemy series has grown into a solid franchise which entertains adults and kids alike. Bring on the concluding 3 novels...

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Dec 25, 2012 Hanum rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, science-fiction

I seriously think that the order of the books should be like this:
The Dead
The Enemy
The Fear
The Sacrifice
It was really confusing for me, as St. George was pre-introduced in The Enemy, and then later in The Dead, was fully introduced. My sister got so confused by this, that I think the author has a story planned, wrote the novels, and expects all his readers to understand.
This novel wasn't as bad as I thought it was. On the first few chapters, I just felt like I couldn't be bothered with this se...more

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May 14, 2013 Kirsty Emery rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've read the while series so far,and it's very good! Charlie Higson writes his books in many different perspectives of different people and their stories of how they're living. I would definitely recommend these books even if you're not a total gore loving fan because they really are just brilliant books :-)

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Oct 01, 2012 Sally marked it as to-read

Ok Im nearly done with the third The Fear. Im really loving this series even tho its a bit scarey in places.
This one looks and sounds amazing you must check his YouTube trailers they are wicked.
I'm going to read this for Halloween. I think its a perfect book for this time of year.

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Jan 28, 2013 Gem rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book really good, and interesting.
A great character development, and a development on the story behind the sickness.
I loved all of this book, and ripped through it really quickly.
A great read, thoroughly enjoyed, and I can't WAIT for the next one!!!

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Oct 20, 2012 Oliver rated it 5 of 5 stars

4 books in and this series has yet to disappoint me. So often, a series will start strong, then lose its way. I never felt that the previous books were lacking anything, but after reading this one, I feel like things are really starting to take off.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 09, 2012 Marlowe rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this fourth book, Charlie Higson is more sparing of his main characters and the story shifts more into Stephen King territory with its development. A brisk read, gripping and intelligent, leaving the reader impatient for the next instalment.

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Jul 11, 2012 Christina marked it as to-read

Seven??? SEVEN?! I have to read three more terrifyingly delicious books where cool people die left and right? Couldn't you just end it with four? I'd be happy with four. Really.
And DogNut isn't really dead, right? You was just playin'.....right?

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Jan 05, 2013 Georgina Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, zombies, lit-ex-2013

Glad the threads start to tie together in this book. Not so many main characters hacked off either. Interesting ideas becoming clearer. I can see the possibility of hope, in amongst the horror and gore. I will continue on with the series when the other books are released.

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Oct 08, 2012 Emily Hanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic book. The only reason I'm not giving this book 5 stars is because I thought this was going to be the last book in the series and would finally have answers and conclusions but was left with even more questions

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Will Ed die? Post thoughts here!	4	16	Mar 05, 2013 10:36am
WHO DIES? SPOILER ALERT	2	17	Feb 07, 2013 05:13pm
Favourite character??	2	6	Feb 07, 2013 05:11pm
The Sacrifice Book Review(Spoiler Free & Detailed)	1	11	Sep 26, 2012 03:14am
Fourth Book available only 3 months after the Third	2	13	Sep 22, 2012 06:17am
First UK review of The Sacrifice now online	1	9	Sep 08, 2012 11:50am
The Sacrifice by Charlie Higson Fansite	1	6	May 16, 2012 04:35pm

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About Charlie Higson

Higson was educated at Sevenoaks School and at the University of East Anglia (where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse, David Cummings and Terry Edwards. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials' 2-Tone label. Higson th...more Higson was educated at Sevenoaks School and at the University of East Anglia (where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse, David Cummings and Terry Edwards. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials' 2-Tone label. Higson then became a plasterer before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield with Paul Whitehouse and performing comedy. He came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two sketch show The Fast Show (1994-2000). He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes.[1:]

He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni. He is currently starring in Tittybangbang series 3 on BBC Three and has appeared as a panellist on QI.

He published four novels through the early to mid 1990s which take a slightly dystopian look at everyday life and have a considerably more adult tone than his other work, with characters on the margins of society finding themselves spiraling out of control, leading him to be described by Time Out as 'The missing link between Dick Emery and Brett Easton Ellis' [2:]

In 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen a series of James Bond novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the character's school-days at Eton. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans, current Director General of MI5. The first novel, SilverFin, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the U.S. A second novel, Blood Fever, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the U.S. The third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007.[3:]In this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on the 3 September 2008.[4:]

Charlie has signed a deal to pen a new series of children's books for Puffin. According to the author, "They are going to be action adventures, but with a horror angle(less)

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Quotes from The Sacrifice

“He knew one thing for sure, though. Whatever happened, Matt would have some handy excuse. He'd make up some story or change an old one, find some dumb quote to explain it all.” — 4 people liked it

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The Sacrifice (The Enemy #4)

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