Darren Shan is perhaps one of my favourite authors, his books never seem to fail me. They are always addictive and extremely fast paced. I heard him read extracts of this book ahead of its release at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and it just made me want to read the book even more.

This is the first part of a new 12 part zombie series with each book being released roughly every three months. I for one are very excited to be able to read a new Darren Shan book every 3 months.

I feel that this book is really about setting the scene for next 11 books, with the reader getting to know B. At the beginning of the book B is made out to be a highly unlikable character who it seems it following in the footsteps of his racist and abusive father, however halfway through the book things start to change and I found myself loving the character of B and really cheering for him. I loved how within this zombie horror book, Darren dealt with issues such as racism, abuse and bullying. Darren Shan is certainly much more than just a teenage horror writer. For me he is in a league of his own and is certainly one of the masters of his genre.

The illustrations throughout the book were a surprise I was not expecting but they were done to a high standard and looked like they belonged in the story. I really hope they do continue throughout the series. I loved the short chapters which fitted in perfectly with the fast pace of the book.

I am already looking forward to reading the next installment in this epic series, Zom-B Underground which is released on the 1 January 2013.