Kiss of Life (Generation Dead, Book 2) by Daniel Waters (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Generation Dead series by Daniel Waters. The 3rd book "Passing Strange" is due out in June of 2010. This was a great follow-up book to the first book in the series.

This book takes up shortly after Book 1 left off. Adam has re-animated as one of the biotically different (zombie). Unfortunately it is taking Adam a long time to regain any functionality. As a result Phoebe is spending a ton of time looking after him and has cut off any of her relations with Tommy. Meanwhile the edgy zombie "Smiley" has created a group called the Sons of Romero that play pranks on breathers to keep the Zombies in the spotlight. Unfortunately someone is doing pranks that aren't funny at all and they are making it look like the Zombies are responsible; which is starting to unite society against the differently biotic. Thrown into all this mystery is the Hunter Corporation. The Hunter Corporation is supposed to be helping with Zombie rights, but all is not what it seems to be.

There is a ton going on in this book. It is actually a fairly complicated plot. The plot is engaging and the characters are interesting and full of depth. It was a quick read and touches on a lot of political issues of human and undead rights. For the most part I really enjoyed this book. Although as things start to go more and more wrong, I found myself cringing. At the end of this book you can't help but feel that things are going to get really, really bad for all of the characters in the third book.

The most irritating part of this book was the beginning, way too much time was spent on Adam and Phoebe. Especially on listening to Phoebe moan about how Adam saved her, how she feels guilty, and how he needs her. I thought Waters went over this a bit too much and spent too much time driving this predicament into the ground. If this part had been shortened up it would have been a wonderful book indeed.

I also have to mention the horribly chick-lit cover. The cover has nothing to do with the story. The cover also lends the impression that this is some tween bubble gum read, and that it is not. The book is very serious and deals with a lot of serious issues. I am not too big on the book covers picked out for this series, I wish they reflected the material inside a little better.

The above being said, this was a good read. As both the world, the characters, and the plot become more and more complicated I am starting to wonder where this story will lead us. I know last I heard the plan was possibly 5 books for this series. I am wondering with the plot pace and complications, if it will actually be wrapped up that quickly. A good read. If you liked the first book you will like this one too.

Teaser Tuesday - 12/22

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from "Kiss of Life" (Generation Dead, Book 2) by Daniel Waters.

Here it is: "George stared back at him, and Tak thought there may have been the briefest flicker of emotion on his gray, puttylike face as he chewed, but probably not. George was the least expressive zombie that Tak had ever seen." Pg. 62

News - Edge Book 2 by Ilona Andrews, Cherie Priest's Clockwork Universe, Generation Dead Book 3, Jaz Parks Book 6, and Anita Blake Books 18 and 19

Okay so lots of book series news today. At least for me. Some of this might be old news to other.

Ilona Andrews posted on her website that the 2nd book in "The Edge" series now has a name: "Bayou Moon". You can read more about it here.

Cherie Priest announced (a while back) that there will be two more books in the Clockwork Universe. "Boneshaker" which I reviewed here is the first. It will be followed by two books set in the same universe but with different characters. "Clementine" will be the second book released in Spring of 2010 and "Dreadnought" will be the third book released in Fall of 2010.

The third book in the Generation Dead series by Daniel Waters will be called "Passing Strange" and will be released in May of 2010. I loved the first book in this series and am anxiously awaiting the second book from my library.

The seventh book in the Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin will be titled "Bitten in Two" and will be released in 2010. There are 8 books currently planned for this series.

Lastly there are two Anita Blake books coming out next year. Book 18 will be titled "Flirt" and is due to be released in Jan. 2010 and book 19 will be called "Bullet" and that will be released in June 2010. So lots of fun for Anita Blake fans next year.

Generation Dead (Generation Dead, Book 1) by Daniel Waters (4/5 stars)

This is the first book in Generation Dead series by Daniel Waters. Right now, I believe that 5 books are planned. The 2nd book "Kiss of Life" came out May 2009 and the third book "Passing Strange" is planned to release in May of 2010. I really liked this book; I'd give it 4.5 stars. The book itself deals with deeper issues than the somewhat hokey cover would lead you to believe.

Suddenly American teenagers who have died are coming back to life. There is only a small percentage of them that return to life and no one knows why. Phoebe's high school is considered to be one of the better schools for the "living impaired" or, more politically correct, "differently biotic," teenagers. When Phoebe meets Tommy, she is fascinated by the fact that he is dead but still very intelligent and very focused. When Tommy tries out for, and makes, the football team he meets Adam, one of Phoebe's best friends. Tommy joining the football team upsets a lot of people who believe that the "Dead" kids should stay dead and buried. Then a research foundation asks for kids to join a study work group focused at helping relations between the traditionally biotic (trads) and the differently biotic (zombies). Suddenly Adam, Tommy, Phoebe, and a few others who join the study group find them selves targets for violence and are ostracized.

When I started this book I was concerned that this would be just another young adult high school drama but with zombies. It is a lot more than that. Waters creates characters that are very personable, engaging, and believable. Phoebe is a wonderful sweet and smart girl; who communicates very effectively with her parents and her friends. Adam and Tommy are also great characters. In fact every single character in this book is very well developed and interesting to get to know. This isn't a story about some crazy zombies, it's a story that talks about how society deals with things that are different.

I was also impressed with how Waters treats the living impaired teenagers. This book is approaching un-death as a disability or a new race. As such many social and political aspects of society are realistically dealt with in surprising depth. Many questions about how having a new race of un-dead teens affects family life, school life, social life, and the world as a whole are dealt with.

So, overall I thought this was a surprisingly well-done book. Of course, you do have the standard things a lot of teen books have. You have a love triangle between Tommy, Phoebe, and Adam to create some tension between the characters. You have a prom dance, and you have the standard jock jerks that try to make everyone's lives miserable. These things were dealt with tastefully though.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the middle of it. I thought that the story started to drag a bit in the middle. The whole portion where they are forming the support group could have gone a bit faster. Also it would have been nice to have more urgency to the plot and maybe something urgent happening. You have the whole impending sense of doom that something bad is going to happen to the undead kids, but other than that there isn't a ton to the plot. That being said, the beginning and ending of the book kept me pretty hooked; given the ending I wish I had "Kiss of Life" in hand so I could start reading it now. I will definitely be keeping up with this series.