David Gatward - The Dead Bk 1 - Book Review

Hell is coming and I am running the other way...............
The anticipation is now over . . . .  I've had my eyes on this new debut horror series for some time now. At the start of the year it went onto my list of books to read. But before I even got a copy of the book, David (the author), tantalised me with a picture of the artwork for the book cover. This has been illustrated by the talented Mel Grant, and I feel, is one of the best book covers he has done to date.


This year alone has seen a dramatic surge in young adult horror writing with many books being published in this particular genre - David has many hard acts to follow  The questions is, having judged his book based on the many books I have read this year,  is the dead coming or is this book dead from the very start? All shall be revealed...........

I have to say that this book has lived up to my expectations. I loved the story line and the gory action parts within the book. I found the book very witty, which was actually unexpected, this added something extra to the story. The characters worked well throughout - not too much description but just enough to let your imagination run wild and help keep you heart rate thumping. The book was in no way predictable but did have a similar feel to the work of another author.

Lazarus Stone is about to turn sixteen when, one night, his normal life is ripped to shreds by a skinless figure drenched in blood. He has a message: The Dead are coming.
Now Lazarus is all that stands in their way. To fulfill his destiny, he must confront not only the dark past of his family, but horrors more gruesome than even Hell could invent. And it all begins with the reek of rotting flesh…


The horror scenes felt a little restrained and perhaps a little over-edited in order to attract a younger audience. However they still worked well and I enjoyed every page. A particular favourite extract of mine is: 
The Dead glanced at Red,the creature at his feet,but swung straight back to Lazarus. He was all they were really interested in and when they grinned at him,their teeth were like shards of obsidian. 


The book ends with a great cliff hanger . . . . . with the next book entitled 'The Dark' not being published until October. You have 32 days and counting to you get your hands on this book. Let me know what you all think?

Comments

Dave said…
Thanks for the review - really pleased you enjoyed it!

Dave