Alex has a monster inside of her, a brain tumor that threatens to swallow her whole; it’s already taken away her sense of smell and taste. Alex is fed up with chemo and new treatments that haven’t produced results. She decides to take a break, leaving home for awhile to hike in the woods, when a mysterious thing happens: a pulsing noise, leaving electromagnetic waves in its path streams across the entire continent. All of the electronics shut down; anyone in their 30s to early 60s is instantly killed on the spot. Young children remain the same, as do the elderly. The teens, however, begin to experience a weird transition. Their bodies begin to decompose and they crave human flesh. Only Alex and a few other teens are unaffected by the zombie transition, something that may have to do with Alex’s diminished brain. The world is left in chaos. Who do you trust? How can you avoid the zombies? What caused the blast—nuclear attack or something else? These are questions Alex must face as she journeys in the new post-apocalyptic world, finding people she can trust and people who will turn on her in second because she’s an endangered species now.
Ashes, which is the first novel in a new trilogy by Ilsa J. Black, is an engrossing, fast-paced post-apocalyptic thriller. The book sucks you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the end. This is one book you don’t want to miss!
