I’ve come to the conclusion that this series is very much like taking a shot: over quickly, but packs a powerful punch. Zom-B Gladiator was no exception.

Throughout the series, Darren Shan has been questioning the idea of monsters, of evil, of human nature, if you will, and in this instalment of the series, I think that was driven home the hardest. It wasn’t through an even more savage mutation of zombies or how deadly zombies with brains could be, it’s the humans that were the scariest creatures in Zom-B Gladiator.

The Board are a horrifying group of rich, aristocratic people who were politically powerful before the world fell and now they’re trying to rebuild London with themselves at the helm. As soon as I met them I knew that would be a truly horrible thing. Dan-Dan gives me the creeps – perhaps even more so than Mr Dowling... It’s such a clever turn in a series that could quickly become samey if anyone but Shan were writing it. He doesn’t give his characters an easy ride!

I hated B in the first book, but now I love her and champion her unfailingly. Each book seems to vault her character development a hundred feet! This time B explored having friends and having colleagues and the importance of that. It was gave an emotional depth to B that I never could have imagined from book one if I hadn’t followed her journey since. There were moments when she was given choices and ultimatums that almost punched me in the face with how much she has grown as a character. I do love me some character development!

As you can see, Zom-B Gladiator was just as fantastic as the previous five books – and without the evil cliff-hanger ending – and I’m already chomping at the bit for book seven, Zom-B Mission. Bring it on!