Welcome to Wickedly Bookish's stop on The Seven Habits of Highly Infective People Virtual Book Tour! On this stop, you will find a synopsis, author bio, and my review for the book. I had a difficult time expressing how much I truly loved this book, but hopefully my review does it justice. There is also an Amazon button at the bottom of the post where you can purchase your own copy. If you are a fan of zombie fiction I highly suggest you make use of it.
Enjoy!
Synopsis
Enjoy!
Synopsis
Bosley Coughlin can travel through time. And the future does not look good.
Through
a heady cocktail of drugs and the occult, Bosley slips through time and
space and glimpses The End. Cities lay in ruins, and those who still
cling to life hide in the rubble like frightened animals. Walking
carcasses shamble through the debris exacting a horrible fate upon any
living they find.
This horrific future is the only world
fourteen year old Ocean has ever known. Starving and alone, she
struggles for even the most basic of necessities: food, water, shelter,
love…
In the present, Bosley stumbles across Clarice Hudson and
soon realizes that she is much more than a simple shop girl. One by one,
she displays the seven symptoms of the contagion that will bring
Bosley’s world to an end and create the nightmare Ocean calls home.
Clarice may hold the key to stopping the coming apocalypse and sparing
Ocean from the atrocities of mankind’s imminent future… but only if
Coughlin is willing to push beyond every notion he’s ever held about
right and wrong.
Review
The Seven Habits of Highly Infective People
William Todd Rose
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Zombies!
Rating: 4.5
Seven Habits is definitely not your traditional zombie novel. It was so close to being an absolutely amazing read for me, but there was just one thing that irked me. The book begins with Bosley talking to detectives about the strange turn of events that lead him to their interrogation room. Bosley's chapters are written like a conversation, but we only ever get Bosley's side of the story. I was intrigued by the style, but initially felt a strong distaste towards the fact that this man got his time traveling powers through the heavy, and I mean HEAVY use of drugs. Drugs give you super powers!? Interesting concept, but not one I am entirely comfortable with. It very nearly put me off of the entire book. That is, until I read my first chapter about Ocean.
Ocean is a fourteen year old girl of the future who has never known a world other than the post-apocalyptic one she was born into. As the synopsis says, she suffers daily in her search for food, water, and comfort. I was irrevocably pulled into the story when Ocean was forced to kill her mother to survive. This is where my entire perspective on this book shifted and I realized there was a world of depth here that I had only begun to uncover. I looked forward to each of her chapters with increasing intensity as the story went on.
More often than not, I can make a fairly accurate guess at the final plot twist the author is hinting at throughout the book, but this time, I was caught completely by surprise. I can't really go into it without giving away any spoilers, but I can say that what actually was going on with the underground clan was much more horrific than anything I had guessed at. When it comes to Ocean's story and the final plot twist I have to give Rose a standing ovation. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
One other thing that I really loved about Seven Habits is that it had me questioning Bosley's sanity for half of the book. Taking in the fact that he had been under the influence of a massive amount of drugs and his attitude toward the events leading up to his arrest, I was very nearly convinced he was a psychotic serial killer who had created this fantasy to justify what he had done. I absolutely love a book that keeps me guessing, that keeps my mind racing trying to figure out what is really going on. If you do to, this is really the book for you.
The Final Verdict: I'm really not a fan of making druggies heroes, but honestly it works here in the end. Bosley becomes quite loveable throughout the course of the book and the final twist had me near to tears. The duel stories being told here are some of the most compelling and emotionally visceral I have read all year. The Seven Habits of Highly Infective People is on my zombie essentials reading list. If you love zombies, or just thrilling storytelling, than this should be your next read.
About The Author:Named by The Google+ Insider’s Guide as one of their top 32 authors to follow, William Todd Rose writes speculative fiction that lends itself to the dark, and often surreal, realm of the macabre. With short stories appearing in numerous magazines and anthologies, his longer works include The Seven Habits of Highly Infective People, The Dead and Dying, Cry Havoc, and more. For more information, including links to free fiction, please visit the author online at www.williamtoddrose.com
Website www.williamtoddrose.com
3 comments:
Wow,great review. I am not really into zombies, but now I really want to read it!
Amazing book. Gut wrenching, last times I was so shocked by a book and attracted to a story at the same time were when I was reading The Road and Tooth & Nail. But it's hard to compare this book to anything. Very innovative approach.
Great great review!!!
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