When Zombies Invade

The Z Team #1

by D.E. Daly

Chloe, Malik, and Justin have always shared a love of spooky things. They visit the supposedly haunted abandoned railroad station on the edge of their town, and accidentally unlock a portal into a supernatural realm. Their first challenge, zombies! They form the Z Team to try to save their town before the zombies take over.

64 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2018

Reviews

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good if you want a quick read, bad if you're a zombie book lover like me who justs wants a good zombie book. Just as this gets good it ends a couple pages later, seriously what is up with that? I don't know I can't help feeling cheated. Sad thing is i'll forget this book in a week totally unmemorable.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please have your tickets ready and purchased for the August 1st release of D.E. Daly’s When Zombies Invade!

Full review can be found here: http://paulspicks.blog/2018/07/01/whe...

All my reviews can be found on my blog. https://paulspicks.blog

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Zombies Invade, by D. E. Daly
“Trains didn’t come to Bridgeside anymore.
They’d stopped running years ago. Before the last factory even closed. Years before Justin was born.

But a train whistle woke Justin. Right after midnight.”

This first installment in The Z Team series was a delightful mix of twists and turns, adventure, humor, and character development. Starring three 11-year-old best buddies—Justin, Malik, and Chloe—each chapter shifts perspective from one main character to another, which allows the reader to get to know each friend and watch the action unfold from their point of view.

As the mystery of the haunted train station in the Z team’s neighborhood unfolds, we also learn the strengths, weaknesses, interests, and insecurities of each friend. I would imagine that a kid reading this book would find at least one character they could relate to.

There are a few illustrated flourishes (a map of the neighborhood in the inside front cover, spooky tunnels above each chapter heading, and cartoon sketches) interspersed throughout the text, which are engaging and add fun texture to the book.

There’s ample suspense, twists and turns, as well as jokes to break the tension so it doesn’t get too scary. Looking forward to the next adventure in store for the Z team!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book turned the zombie story on its head. Not all zombies are dead, fire is good, frogs are bad. Plus, there are trains and witches. This book makes zombies age appropriate. They are still kind of gory, but the idea of brain eating hordes is calmed down to make it an enjoyable read for younger readers.

There is one big question on my mind, that I may never know the answer to. Are all of the adults blind? The story would not work with a bunch of adults involved, but I can't figure out how they are all so clueless as to what is going on. In a way, it does make sense. Things that can not be easily explained, like a train of zombies, would probably just be rationalized away by adults. Children are more willing to accept that things may not be what they seem.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Author: D.E. Daly
Publisher: West 44 Books
Publication Date: August 2018

[Sean Scarisbrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s three kids against a horde of zombies. Chloe, Justin, and Malik accidentally let a zombie train enter Zephyr Terminal, and now they need to save their town. But no one believes them. “What’s this nerd game?,” asks Justin’s brother in disbelief. What are they going to do?

This is a really cute book. The book has a lot of cute flourishes, like cartoon drawings, a map, and texting conversations; of special note are Chloe’s subtle feminist one-liners.

I definitely recommend this book and look forward to seeing what adventures the Z Team will go on next!

[Book Him Danno · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a fun book for middle school age girls and younger who want to Zombies without all the gore.

The writing style as well as the illustrations is very similar to the Dork and Wimpy kids series with the drawings.

My girls loves the book because Chloe is start, exciting and she uses feminist comments though out the book that reminds girls they can do anything the boys can. Which will make adults laugh out loud and girls feel good about themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher West 44 Books for the advance copy of D.E. Daly When Zombies Invade.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

When zombies invade by D. E. Daly.
edge of their town, and accidentally unlock a portal into a supernatural realm. Their first challenge, zombies! They form the Z Team to try to save their town before the zombies take over.
Really enjoyable read. Great story and characters. I loved the cover. 4*.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, easy read for kids who like horror or are reading to see if they like horror. I really liked the ending!

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely quick read but the good parts didn’t last long. There were more boring parts and pages than good and entertaining pages.

[Anniston Townes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. The zombies were very entertaining.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is supposed to be middle grade level but I’d place it lower; the writing and storytelling is very simple. I believe it’s supposed to be a dystopia with the train station abandoned but I don’t understand how they still have technology and the internet in a dystopia.
Is fire banned? Why is the lighter rare? So confused. Umm, since when does salt burn zombies? Salt is for demons. “Since when are zombies afraid of frogs?” Yah, since when? Is the author trying to introduce new zombie lore?
“It was high noon. And they were going to fight zombies. This was the coolest day of Chloe’s life so far. Just hopefully not her last day.” I giggled so hard.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Gwen Forsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good and I liked the turn at the end. I didn’t like how short of a book it was.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a middle grade or perhaps a bit younger zombie story. Three friends, The Z Team, are shocked when a train comes to town. There has not been a train on those tracks in ages. They decide to investigate. Their investigation leads them to find that the train brought zombies to town. Not your traditional movie zombies. These zombies are ruled by a witch. Some of these zombies can be changed back into their human form. They are the living zombies. Salt, fire, and frogs are useful in this zombie adventure. This is the first book in The Z Team series. Their next adventure... Vampires. I highly recommend this book for those children who are 11ish and enjoy supernatural reads.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally a modern-day Goosebump kind of book, and I was a back-when Goosebump kind of girl. I think if I’d had this in middle grade, I would have really dug this book more than Goosebumps even. Goosebumps had an annoying habit of faking you out nearly every chapter, but there was actually stuff going on in this book. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to actually say zombies legitimately invaded, and it made me incredibly happy in my little nerd heart.

I loved the nostalgic summer adventure feel of it. I grew up in a small town and had many such adventures, though none nearly as cool or terrifying as actual zombies. The blend of technology (texting, laptops, buying stuff online, etc) and actually going out and enjoying childhood and friendships (late-night secret talks with friends, sneaking into abandoned buildings, biking all over creation) is perfect, neither taking away from the other. I would definitely recommend this to all the nerdy younglings that like horror, and to many of my peers that enjoy middle grade reads.

[Luna (The Book Witch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about The Z Teams adventure while fighting off Zombies. It was cute and it had an interesting twist to how people became zombies. Can't wait for book two.