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    Z
    Z
    Z
    Audiobook5 hours

    Z

    Written by Michael Thomas Ford

    Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The First Rule of Torching: Cleanse with fire.

    Josh is by far the best zombie Torcher around—at least, he is in his virtual-reality zombie-hunting game. Josh has quickly risen through the player ranks, relying on the skill, cunning, and agility of a real Torcher.

    The Second Rule of Torching: Save all humans.

    But luckily for Josh, zombies exist only in the virtual world. The real zombie war is now more than fifteen years in the past, and the battle to defeat the deadly epidemic that devastated his family—and millions of others—is the stuff of history lessons.

    The Third Rule of Torching: You can't bring them back.

    Charlie is the top-ranked player in the game. Since all the players are shrouded in anonymity, Josh never expects Charlie to be a girl—and he never expects the offer she makes him: to join the underground gaming league that takes the virtual-reality game off the screen and into the streets. Josh is thrilled. But the more involved he gets, the more he realizes that not everything is what it seems. Real blood is spilling, members of the team are disappearing, and the zombies in the game are acting strange. And then there's the matter of a mysterious drug called Z. . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 7, 2010
    ISBN9780061999796
    Author

    Michael Thomas Ford

    Michael Thomas Ford is the award-winning author of numerous works for both adults and young readers, including Suicide Notes, as well as some of the earliest books about the HIV/AIDS crisis and several books about the LGBTQ community. He lives in rural Appalachia with his husband and dogs.

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    Reviews for Z

    3.5/5

    46 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      Great job !
    • 3/5
      In 2032, the zombie apocalypse is a thing of the past. Zombies haven't been seen in years and life has gotten back to normal. Josh is fascinated with them and plays a virtual zombie killing game with his friend Firecracker every chance he gets. The game is based in reality and features a militia that torches zombies with flamethrowers. Josh is steadily rising in the ranks, but has to hide his gaming because his parents think it's in bad taste. He is approached by the best player in the game to play in real life with a team of teen torchers and cybernetic zombies. Josh is eager to play and doesn't notice that things just don't add up. He's just happy to earn some money and do what he enjoys without thought that the guy who runs the event is into some shady stuff and all isn't what it seems.Z is one of a growing category of books where the zombie apocalypse has already happened and people have moved on. This zombie disease is a flu that attacks the higher brain functions and strengthens the base functions or "lizard brain." Zombies aren't the undead, but people who fail to process pain and are taken over by animalistic instincts. By the time Josh is born, a vaccine has been developed that everyone gets at birth. There are still a lot of dilapidated locations, but most of civilization is back to normal and thriving. This was only mentioned in passing, but biological animals seem to be endangered, but the extent is unclear.Josh is a typical, middle class kid with typical problems and susceptible to peer pressure. He is obsessed with playing the virtual reality torcher game where he is viewed as a rising star. He hides his gaming activity because his mom made her feelings perfectly clear. His own aunt was one of the earliest people to turn into a zombie and his mom takes offense to her horrifying reality being made into a game. Like a typical teen, he doesn't think about others very much. Throughout the novel, he blindly stumbles into dangerous situations with only thoughts of fun. He joins the real life torcher tournament and doesn't believe the danger is real. In fact, he doesn't think to question anything at all. He takes a drug called Z that makes him act bit zombie-ish for a while and doesn't think anything of it when he attacks random strangers on the street or digs into raw meat with furvor. I found him pretty annoying for the most part until the very end.I have a problem with the core concept of this book. Why use flamethrowers to subdue zombies? I get that it prevents the spread of the disease, but it should really be used when the zombie is already down for the count. Flamethrowers are not good melee weapons at all. Zombies do not go down automatically when set on fire. It could take a while for them to die, so it's pretty dangerous for everyone around and whatever building they happen to be in to use flamethrowers. I'm not sure why the game, the history, or the real life game torchers didn't just have regular guns to use in tandem with the flamethrowers. The dangers of fire in enclosed spaces and to other humans is mentioned a few times, but no one ever thinks of simple solutions to the problem.Z is a bit of a disappointment. It's been on my shelf for a while and I had high hopes. The world is interesting and the narrative flows, but Josh is pretty awful and the main concept doesn't make much sense. The ending is a bit abrupt and ends in the middle of a scene, which annoys me. It's wide open for a sequel, but so far there is none. I would give the next book a chance because I enjoy Michael Thomas Ford's writing.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. I liked the idea and the storyline. A little predictable. I'm not too sure about the cliffhanger ending - definitely more coming.
    • 3/5
      While I did enjoy the books backstory about zombies, the characters left a lot to be desired. I only recommend this to zombie lovers.
    • 4/5
      Whoa. I'm not a fan of the whole zombie craze - don't watch the movies, steer clear of the novels until this one - because frankly, I'm a chicken and don't like the imagery of the blood and the guts in my head when I'm trying to sleep at night (and I'm a 33 year old mother of 3 by the way). However, for some reason, this title came across my path - I don't remember if I read a review, heard about it as a teacher, or just happened upon it - but I decided to read it. In fact, I did little else until I finished it. Yes, there were some rough images, and thankfully my husband is in my bed with me at night to reassure my terrors, should that occur (mostly kidding). I was mesmerized - the whole concept of the virus not actually killing the human was so inspired, even my zombie- knowledgeable husband agreed it was a unique take on it. I didn't like the main character too much at first - hes just another selfish teenage boy who deifes his parents to play a game - whether computer or real. I got really into it though, and knew the big "reveal" way before Josh found out about it, but anxiously read on wanting to find out how Josh learns it. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the last few paragraphs - it felt a little too cheesy, too B science fiction movie-ish, but I understand why the author left it that way: maybe a sequel?The book was nail-biting, cringe-inducing, fast paced fun - definitely recommend to horror and action fans. Junior and High school boys will love it.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this novel. It was clean and had a great take on zombie attacks. Good read for YA.
    • 3/5
      Though the plot of Z is interesting, there's something a bit off about it. I found Ford's take on zombies to be different (and potentially awesome for a film), but I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters -- especially when Ford wanted us to. Also, there was a lot of drama and action which didn't really pay off in the end. I realize this is probably going to be a series, but I don't think the characters were well developed enough. I don't regret reading Z, but it was disappointing since Ford's other YA novel, Suicide Notes, is pretty amazing.
    • 4/5
      I've got zombie fever lately, it seems. I found this book to be a real page turner as the main character goes from zombie gaming to playing the game "for real" after the zombie epidemic has been largely stomped out in America. The book had me right up to the end when suddenly the author opened the door to a huge new part of the saga...can you say sequel?
    • 4/5
      It’s 2032. Antarctica is turning into a rain forest. The oceans are brown, capped with yellow foam. Books, magazines and all things made of paper belong to museums. And 15 years have passed since the great Zombie purge… In 2017, a mutated strain of the flu caused a portion humanity to be reverted back to the reptilian brain—the part of the brain which is focused on instinctual behaviors such as aggression, dominance, and territoriality—as a primary source. From there, they became zombies and wreaked havoc upon society, finally stopped by a militant group known as the Torchers. Fast-forward fifteen years and kids are playing a virtual-reality game where they play as Torchers or meatbags as zombies are referred to. Our hero, Josh, is one of the best Torchers in the gaming world. Often playing late into the night with his best friend, Firecracker, you might even say that Josh is addicted. Charlie, the game’s best meatbag player, sends Josh a secret message one night and invites him to the underground LARP (live action role playing) games that are played in derelict portions of their seaside city–but not before swearing him to secrecy. Josh is taken by surprise when, after meeting the other team members, discovers they are using real flamethrowers and things are more than intense when he sees that they are hunting what appears to be real meatbags. Strange things begin to happen when teammates begin getting picked off one by one and Charlie introduces Josh to a drug called Z, which makes you experience what it’s like to be a zombie. Josh stops caring about school, begins lying to his parents, ditches his best friend and more. I’ll stop there so I won’t spoil it for you guys but this book was so addicting! It’s not your regular zombie book for sure, though there is enough blood and gore to go around, but I could not put it down. I found it taunted me from its place on the corner of my desk as I tried to get web design work done, causing me to pick it back up when I had to wait on a download or something. My only real compliant was that it moved extremely fast and because of that a lot of the peripheral characters are hardly more than a name, but I was still on the edge of my seat especially during the last few chapters. Bottom line, if you love zombies, read this!