Death of a Saint

Mall Rats #2

by Lily Herne

Some secrets are so unthinkable you can't even admit them to yourself . . .

Lele, Ginger, Ash and Saint - aka the Mall Rats - are hiding out in the Deadlands, a once-prosperous area of Cape Town, now swarming with the living dead. Exiled from the city enclave for crimes against the Resurrectionist State, the Rats face a stark choice: return and risk capture - or leave Cape Town and go in search of other survivors.But what if the rest of South Africa is nothing but a zombie-riddled wasteland?

Now Lele has discovered the truth about why the lurching dead leave them alone, she can't bring herself to tell the rest of the gang. And she's not the only Mall Rat harbouring a dangerous secret . . . Can the friends' survive on the road if all they have is each other? Or will their secrets tear them apart?

Genres: Young Adult, Zombies, Horror, Dystopia, Africa, Speculative Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

346 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Lily Herne is the pseudonym of mother/daughter duo Sarah and Savannah Lotz. A fan of fake identities, Sarah also writes an urban horror series with author Louis Greenberg under the name SL Grey as well as various crime novels, internationally anthologised short stories and screenplays under her own name. Savannah, a die-hard fantasy fanatic, is currently in her second year studying screenwriting at the University of East Anglia.

Reviews

[Tammy]

This review first appeared on the Women24 website. Women24.com is a South African women's lifestyle website where I manage, amongst other things, an online book section. Will at some stage also appear on my book blog.

The butt-kicking, zombie-killing Mall Rats brat pack are back in the fantastic follow-up to the popular South African youth novel, Deadlands.

As an avid fan of Youth fiction, I've read a fair share of novels in this genre.

As someone who has loved and loathed various books in this category, I like to think that I know a good Young Adult novel when I see one.

Lily Herne's Death of a Saint?

It's not only a great read, but can more than represent in comparison to the international teen fiction currently out there.

Warning: Please note that this review may contains spoilers, considering that this is the second book in the series.

We last left off when Lele, Ash, Ginger and Saint made a break from the Mall after being pursued by both the Rotters (the zombies) and Guardians.

Now hiding and camping outside of the no-longer (if it ever was) safe enclave, the four of them are in more danger than ever, being forced to fend for themselves with little to almost no supplies.

Things within the enclave have progressively become worse. With the Resurrectionists (Guardian worshippers) exercising more control and targeting and recruiting youth to be initiated as Guardians, the Rats do their best to keep a low profile.

Of course, with their luck and their penchant for finding trouble, things don't exactly go as planned. After narrowly escaping from a fate worse than death, the troop opts to leave Cape Town in search of more supplies and potential survivors outside of the enclave.

Along the way they adopt a hyena, meet people who join them on the road, encounter a whole new set of challenges and get more insight into why the reanimated leave them unscathed.

The road is bumpy, the journey unsafe, but perhaps the most dangerous aspect that comes into play is that, for all the team's united front, the secrets they keep from one another may be the biggest threat of all.

If you haven't picked up Deadlands or Death of a Saint yet, that you should go out and get it now, because this is definitely a series you can’t miss out on.

Any reader who knows our country's history, will be able to appreciate the biting, satirical and humorous tone that Lily Herne has conveyed in and throughout the first book.

With Death of a Saint, Herne (which by the way is the pen name for writing duo, Sarah Lotz and her daughter Savannah), picks up from where we left off. Only this time, mother and daughter have managed to up the stakes in this explosive follow-up.

This time around, there's an added dynamic in the sense that, although the action is less and more spread out throughout the novel, we see a lot more character growth and development. In addition to this, we're given the opportunity to get to know Saint more, as the novel is alternately narrated by her and Lele.

It's clear that life inside and outside of the enclave has taken its toll on our young heroes and heroines. Even though the team get along fabulously, unspoken tensions are on the rise. When newbies Ember and Lucien enter the scene things really become interesting.

For one, the budding romance blossoming between Lele and Ash (I love Ash by the way - even though he can be jerk at times) is hampered by the arrival of the gorgeous Ember, who fits in quickly and with the exception of Lele, seems to be getting along fabulously with everyone; Ash in particular.

Ha.

One would think there'd be no time for some romance, teenage angst and jealousy issues, but there's plenty of that here. And Lele makes it clear that she does not welcome the new stranger in their midst.

Mind you, I'm totally rooting for Lele and Ash; they'd make an awesome couple (Lily? That was a none-too-subtle hint by the way).

Aside from the angsty issues, we're thrown another interesting twist with Lucien's arrival, which brings about the exposure of one of the team's secrets.

More than that I can't reveal, but trust me when I say, that not long after that, the team walk into a trap that perhaps only one person saw coming (made you curious, didn't I?).

Lily Herne has written a sequel that by far surpasses that of its predecessor.

One thing is certain, this mother and daughter duo really know how to tell a good story and create characters that will engage, infuriate, but mostly, make you root for them as they traverse through a landscape seemingly devoid of any life (besides those of the rotters).

And with that cliffhanger the book concludes with, the duo not only end off on a note that leave us hanging, but one that will definitely have us pick up the next book in the series, The Army of Left (Death of a Saint will give you a clue about the title behind the book).

Go out and get yourself a copy. It's SA Youth fiction at its best.

[Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten)]

Death of a Saint is the second book in Lily Herne’s Mall Rat’s series and picks up not far from when the first book Deadlands left off, taking this unique and different dystopian series to the next level and allowing readers to get to know the characters even more.

Still reeling from the loss of a team member at the end of the previous book, Death of a Saint sees the gang leaving the safely of the enclave and journeying across the Deadlands in the hopes of finding other survivors like themselves; hopefully some who also share their special ability to avoid Rotter detection, and who might be able to answer some questions they have. What ensues is an unexpected and at times difficult journey that sees the group make new friends and re-discover old ones, as surprising revelations come to light.  

In all honesty, Death of a Saint wasn’t as good as the first book, but it was still a great read. To begin with the title of this novel is quite ominous. Those who have read the first book will question its implication instantly and Herne does a good job making you wonder what will happen. Now, told in both Lele and Saint’s POV, Death of a Saint continues on well from the last book, with Herne developing her storyline even more as I hoped she would.

The inclusion of new characters, Ember and Lucian shake up the dynamic of the Mall Rats; in both good and bad ways, providing some teen angst and betrayal to their seemingly solid friendships. Saint continues to be a strong character within the story and Ginger is unendingly entertaining with his loveable nature and attitude. Lele and Ash struggle at times, as they give in to what simmers between them with disastrous results.  

I quite liked Ember and Lucian. Ember was a nice addition to the gang, even if she caused some problems to the Lele/Ash debacle. Her and Ginger could be promising and Lucian proved to be interesting in helping us to uncover some of Ash’s secrets, even if he wasn’t what he seemed. I was disappointed in the whole situation with Lele and Ash and felt we could have done without the unnecessary difficulty of their relationship.

I was impressed by the small, but no less important, developments to the plot that were found in Death of a Saint. I’m really excited about the implications of some of them to future books. Death of a Saint ends on a shocking and devastating ending that has me eagerly anticipating the next book—Lily Herne obviously has lots in store for her characters yet!

[Cee]

Death of a Saint is the second book in the Mall Rats series by a South-African mother-daughter writing team. Except for being original by writing about a non-US/European setting, they also manage to innovate the zombie genre by having realistic characters.

The Mall Rats are not very loved in the enclave, and decide to find out what happened to the people outside of Cape Town. Within the group secrets are tearing them apart.

For the major part of the book Lele, Ash, Saint and Ginger are on the road. It reads like any other road trip novel to be honest. I'm not really a fan of road trip stories, the constant moving around is pretty boring. Luckily there is intrigue aplenty, as many of the characters are holding secrets. During their travels a few new characters are introduced, which seem to be here to stay. It was interesting to see more of the zombie-infested South-Africa Ms Herne created.

What I like most about these books is that the characters are more diverse than they are in most YA books. There are plenty of black characters, white characters, gay characters, old, young... In the YA genre most books are completely white-washed, and is the gay character doomed to be the stereotypical gay best friend. Saint, the lesbian character, just has so much more to offer than just her being a lesbian. Not in the least the fact that she can kick some serious butts.

Though I love the diverse characters, I'm afraid the writing didn't always live up to that. Death of a Saint is written from the dual perspectives of Lele and Saint, but their chapters sounded exactly the same. So truly the same that I would have to skim back to see who was speaking. I wasn't expecting their internal monologue to be this similar. The only difference I could discern was that Lele had some inner whining about Ashe, and Saint's thoughts were more balanced. But I think this dual perspective could have been done better. Saint and Lele in the story aren't the same person, so their thoughts shouldn't sound so similar either.

Death of a Saint was very much a middle book. It's interesting in itself, but you get the feeling that it's a book needed to explain the running up to the third book. It ends on a pretty big cliffhanger. I still really enjoyed the character dynamics (oh and how I love that the main character doesn't seem to be stuck with a "true love", but has a normal love life for once). One of the high points of the book for me if when Ginger adopts a baby hyena. I can't wait to read The Army of the Lost to find out more, because that one promises to be pretty epic.

[Hunter Richards-Berry]

I thought it was a great book with a lot tension. There were a lot of unexpected twists and turns and whenever you thought something was for sure, it wasn't. Herne really pushed the concept of mystery, keeping many secrets locked away until the end. With such a confusing yet heartening ending, you're not really sure what to think. But in the end it's quite a fantastic book!

[Mikayla Hildebrand]

Quite good... Didn't read the first book first (whoops) but the story amazingly still seemed to make sense.

[Caitlin Farley]

Normally, I stay far away from zombie books however; the lack of speculative fiction set in South Africa made me forego this rule for Death of a Saint. I bought this novel up without realising it was the second book of the Deadlands series (online shop listings for this series are a disaster), but I didn’t have any difficulty picking up the plot.

To sum things up, the 2010 Soccer World Cup never happened because of a zombie outbreak. Ten years later, The Resurrectionists, a fanatic religious group that worships the zombies, rule Cape Town City Enclave. Our main characters, Ash, Lele, Saint, and Ginger can travel through the city without being attacked by zombies. The common theory regarding why the zombies have no interest in attacking them is tied to the fact that each of them, except Ginger, have a twin (This ‘twin theory’ honestly makes no sense to me, even without the exceptions of Ginger, Ember, and other characters, but I’m guessing it’s explained more fully in the next book).

As a YA Zombie apocalypse novel, Death of a Saint is fairly average. It’s the details and unexpected twists that make it stand out.

The characters lean towards angsty, but not so much that it detracts from the novel. The main culprits are Ash and Lele, who both tend to be broody, and are confused about their romantic feelings for each other. Saint grapples with the fact that her girlfriend was turned into a Guardian and Ginger is lonely, but all of this stays firmly in sub-plot. Overall, the emotional state of the characters is believable and only a facet of who they are.

While Part One isn’t lacking in any way, this novel gets really interesting in Part Two, where the characters leave Cape Town in search of other survivors who might be able to help them free the Enclave from Resurrectionist control. This quest takes them down along the south coast of South Africa before heading north towards Johannesburg. Along the way, they face off against lions and encounter several tiny groups of survivors, not all of them friendly or even welcoming. We also discover that Ash has been keeping secrets from the rest of the group. This withheld information ultimately leads into a surprising climax, followed by a denouement that raises intriguing questions.

I loved Herne’s descriptions of post-apocalyptic SA, although I wish Bloemfontein (my home city) had more going for it in this novel than a stop at the prison. The minor characters they encounter on their journey are well developed and distinct, as are the safe places where they’ve holed up to avoid the zombies. Since I was mostly reading this novel for its setting, I was delighted with how well Herne delivered in this aspect.

For all who are interested, diversity in this novel is a fairly accurate representation of reality. Saint is Tswana and Ginger is British (both were stranded in SA when the outbreak occurred). I think Lele is coloured and Ash is white, but details about both characters are a little sketchy. The vast majority of secondary characters appear to be Xhosa (even in Bloemfontein, where Sotho is more common), and there’s mention of Indian characters. It doesn’t seem like any Greek, Portuguese, or Italian people survived the zombies. Saint is openly lesbian, but she seems to be the only LGBTQIA character.

If you enjoy YA romances with a touch of angst and unusual resolutions, zombie apocalypse dystopias in general, or are just looking for something to read that’s a little unusual then I recommend you try Herne’s Deadlands series. I definitely want to go back and read the first novel, Deadlands, before I search for The Army of the Lost.

[Mr Pink Ink]

Review coming soon!

[Sam]

it was a good book but not good enough that i would continue the series

[Juliet Barnard]

THE ENDINGGGGG

[Ann]

(not the cover i read, but that version doesn’t exist on goodreads)



ash is a twat.

[Gina - What She Read]

See the original review on my blog, Behind the Pages

Thanks to Murdoch Books (Much in Little) for providing a copy for review

Can I just say WOW! A perfect follow up to a brilliant zombie ass-kicking series!

4.5...
Starting straight from where Deadlands left, we literally head into some action. Things for the Mall Rats aren’t looking very good, and they start running out of options. Things start to heat up pretty quickly in the Cape Town enclave, and we hold our breath during the first part of the novel. I love how we go straight into the action, even though it’s not zombie ass-kicking action, we still craving to find out what happens.



In this book, we are not just hearing from Lele’s perspective this time. We are also hearing from Saint’s as well. Honestly, this was one of the only poor things done in this book. Saint and Lele don’t exactly have two different voices, sure their personalities aren’t exactly the same, when we read between each character, it is easy to get lost and forget who’s POV it actually is. It isn’t until the end, where everything makes sense. We find out why we are told from Saint’s perspective, and the shock of the title also fits into the end of the book (and no, it’s not the obvious). The ending definitely makes up for this, once I finished the book I realised that we did kind of need Saint’s perspective, as much as Lele’s, but this still didn’t help define each of the girl’s voices.

What was also disappointing, was that each chapter is always, Lele-Saint-Lele-Saint, which made one scene kind of annoying for me. It isn’t much of a spoiler but I don’t know how to explain it otherwise. So, Lele and Ash kiss, then they get up and go inside, leaving Saint and Ginger outside. This is where the chapter finishes with Lele, and it gets transferred to Saint. I found myself wanting to be in Lele’s perspective when she and Ash went inside. I wanted to know what she was thinking and what she was feeling (it’s a YA novel for crying out loud!), but even when the gang get back together again (something dangerous happens with Saint and Ginger, they go back inside to find Ash and Lele), we don’t even know if Ash and Lele actually had sex! Sometimes in the book it hints that they didn’t actually go all the way, then in other scenes it made it seem like they did.... very confusing.

This book is a lot more focused on relationships than zombie killing. It’s one of the main themes of this second book, and it defines most of the characters on their journey through South Africa. There is hardly any zombie killing in this second novel, but that doesn’t mean that the book is lacking action. As the gang trek across South Africa, they definitely come across a whole heap of dangerous situations
.
I honestly didn’t really like Ash in this book. We felt exactly what Lele felt when it came to him and his actions, and it was feeling like another love-triangle happening. Even in the end, when he confesses to Lele, he still doesn’t actually tell her why he was acting the way he was. It was annoying, and even though I was rooting for him and Lele in Deadlands, when Lele made her decision, I was honestly had a massive smile on my face. I didn’t really like Ember either, she was ok at times, but we got a first impression of her through Lele, and her actions are kind of bimbo-ish that it just makes me go urrgh. She realized exactly what was important and who she wanted to be. She is an amazing character, one that we easily connect with, even though half of this book is hers. One other thing that annoyed me, was that Lele was literally starting the conversation about the secret she kept about the group, they all got distracted, then everyone totally forgot what she was saying. Even she forgot that she was about to tell them the truth. This bit was very annoying, because it felt like Herne completely forgot that Lele started this confession, yet no one remembers anything of it. Being the group that they are, you would have thought that at least one of them would have remembered that Lele was going to confess something.

Like its predecessor, this book doesn’t shy away from massive shocks that completely rock you. OK, this book might be a bit predictable with some things towards the end, but when the truth finally comes out, you are left stunned.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.
That. Can. NOT. Be. The. Ending.

The ending of this book is not Julie Kagawa-cliffhanger bad, but it’s... WOW. The ending of this book leaves you craving The Army of the Lost so much more than how Deadlands ended. We get left on a double cliffhanger!!! THE HORROR!! The two questions looming in my mind from the final chapters of the book, are making me anxious for its July release.

[S.A. Partridge]

Death of a Saint is the second in the Mall Rats horror series by South African writing phenomenon Lily Herne, which is the pen name for the composite efforts of a local mother-and-daughter writing team, Sarah and Savannah Lotz. It follows chillingly on where Deadlands (published in 2011) left off.

In Deadlands we met Lele de la Fontein, a 17-year-old girl exiled from her home in the Cape Town “enclave”, all that’s left of the city after a zombie apocalypse. She’s taken in by a gang of teenagers known as the Mall Rats, made up of the handsome Ash, the giant British orphan Ginger and the feisty Saint.

The kids survive in the Deadlands, which is the wild, zombie-infested area outside the enclave, and exist by raiding what’s left of Century City mall to sell back to the Resurrectionists, the dead-worshipping society ruled by the mysterious Guardians, and the very people who spat them out in the first place.

As an outsider, Lele not only learns to kick zombie butt, but also discovers that the home she left behind is riddled with corruption, and that the so-called Guardians were responsible for the grisly practice of sacrifice that lurks behind their self-righteous façade. By the end of the novel, Lele had more questions than answers.

Death of a Saint picks up where Deadlands left off. The Mall Rats travel outside of Cape Town to find other survivors, picking up new friends, including the pretty redhead Ember, a cute baby hyena named Bambi, and the mysterious Lucien, who reveals a shocking truth about Ash’s past.

Lele has grown into a self-confident young woman, although her feelings for Ash bring plenty of confusion. We get to know Saint better, too, who is still dealing with the loss of her girlfriend. But young love is the last thing on anyone’s mind when the group falls into a trap that has devastating consequences for one of them.

Herne has masterfully created a fictional war-torn South Africa that is slowly being reclaimed by nature. As the Mall Rats travel the pot-holed roads, discovering what’s left of the country, the novel acts like a tourist guide to a future dystopian South Africa. Knynsa is repopulated with elephants. The Mall Rats visit the burnt-out remains of Port Elizabeth, its coast littered with the walking dead, and a Grahamstown turned ghost town.

The novel’s real story lies in the lives of the teen exiles, told with meticulous detail. It was a joy to be able to get under the characters’ skin. What also sets the series apart is its no-holds-barred treatment of contemporary South Africa, including its melting pot of cultures. From race to religion to sexual orientation and politics, it’s all there. With the exception of a few prognostications and pop cultural references, I would call the novel faultless and leaves you eager for the next instalment. The publisher has anticipated this and included an excerpt from the third book.

The Mall Rats series is a proudly South African youth series that is worthy to be ranked among the likes of Twilight and The Hunger Games.

[aconstellationoftomes]

I read the first Mall Rats book, Deadlands, about a year ago and I remember enjoying it. When I started Death of a Saint, my mind was hazy about what happened in the first book. But as the story progressed, I began to remember a small portion of what went down in Deadlands.

For this review, I'm going to break down the aspects of this book:

The Setting
Most dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels are set in America, but the Mall Rats series is set in South Africa (which was really cool!). As a South African, I was easily able to understand the places that were being described and the references and satire that was seen through-out the novel. The road trip that the Mall Rats went on allowed me to fully comprehend the instability and destruction that the zombie apocalypse had caused.

The Zombie Aspect
As I have probably mentioned before, I hate horror and I'm not a huge fan of zombie stories. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the original concept of the what the zombies are, what they do, how people become zombies and the politics and Guardians involved in their creation. It was interesting and kept me hooked.

The Characters
The Mall Rats series has a diverse group of characters (people of different races, sexual orientations, languages and behavior) which is extremely rare in the world of fiction. I also enjoyed meeting the Mall Rats again. Ash, Ginger, Saint and Lele act as one huge happy family with their shares of ups and downs. They also meet many new characters, good and bad, along the way. And while I do support team Lashle (Ash and Lele), I felt as though Ash behaved like a total jerk towards Lele and that really annoyed me. But I did enjoy learning about his past.

The Point of View
Death of a Saint is told from Lele and Saint's POV. I admire the strength and smarts of Lele and Saint, but their POV's was done poorly. Their POV's are told in alternating chapters, and I understood why Saint's POV was necessary. But Lele and Saints POV was exactly the same. Every time I would have to page back to see whose POV the chapter was from, I would get extremely confused.

All in all, Death of a Saint was a great book with cool characters, an original zombie concept, a interesting setting,plenty of twists and turns and an ending that killed me! ... I actually feel like picking up another Zombie book!

[Lauren Smith]

It’s been a few weeks since the final events of Deadlands. Lele, Saint, Ash and Ginger are camping out the wilderness that is Cape Town because it’s too much of a risk to return to either the mall or their hideout outside the enclave. When they save a family from the zombies however, they have no choice but to take them to the enclave, so they decide to use the opportunity to buy supplies. It’s a big mistake. Corruption has festered, security has become more brutal, and the Resurrectionst government is about to distribute Wanted posters with the names and descriptions of the four Mall Rats. Their days of raiding the mall and selling the products in the enclave are definitely over.

It’s clear to Ash that they need to get the hell out of Cape Town. It’s a difficult decision to make, but they’ll be able to get away from the institution that wants them dead and perhaps find other survivors to help them fight the Resurrectionists. They might even find some answers to the many secrets surrounding the Guardians.

So begins their road trip across a decimated South Africa. They find new companions and new reasons to be hopeful about the future, but mostly it’s a hard journey, and not just because of what the Rotters have done to the country. Some of the Rats are keeping secrets that could destroy their friendships. What they find tests their characters and their relationships, and puts their lives at risk. As it turns out, there are far stranger and more dangerous things than Rotters or even Guardians out there, and the Mall Rats will be sniffing them out.

Read the full review on my blog Violin in a Void

[Kirsti]

These books are seriously awesome. I needed something special to break my reading funk, and I read most of this book in one afternoon sitting. That should indicate how good this series really is. It also takes a special book to get me reading and enjoying zombies. Probably I will still freak out when it gets dark, but the story and characters kept me reading.

This is the second in the series, and if you haven't already I highly recommend giving them a go. These deserve way more readership than a lot of mainstream popular YA. Well rounded characters, a complex form and reason for the world as we know it ending. Plus, it's set in Africa! If you're like me, most of your YA is set in America, the UK or Australia. It's such a refreshing and welcome change!

Love this book, love this series. Five fully deserved stars!

[Crusader]

Death of a Saint is a stunning read with great characters. Herne manages to deftly weave the different cultures and backgrounds into a believable tapestry of what a decimated, post-apocalyptic South Africa could be like. Highly recommended even if YA isn’t your normal thing. Read the full review.

[Isabelle]

I really liked the first book however I found the second book of this series slightly desturbing which really put me off. I also read the first chapter of the next book and I have got to be honest I really don t like where its heading so I don t think I ll be reading book 3

[Stephanie]

Review Coming Soon...

[John “Bricky” Chapman]

Not as exciting as the first but builds for what hopefully will be a cracking finish to the trilogy.

[Bug]

The title of the book gave the ending away, I wish she didnt do that but oh well. It was a good book, not as much action as I'd hoped unlike the first one but I enjoy the characters apart from Ash he's very annoying and gets on my nerves and I'm sad because I really liked Saint too but I guess I don't get to see her as herself anymore and also why did Lele never mention her secret? She had numerous occasions where she could've and honestly I'm mad. Gingers still the best, love you doll, thank you and goodnight