 |
Xyla Rose is a young English woman who is travelling to the United States to accept an assistant professor position at an American university. Pretty and popular, Xyla makes new friends quickly and even finds the love of her life in Hunter Harmon—a professor who works in the same department as her. However, she has a darker agenda on her mind than just teaching classes: A hospital in which her mother died is nearby, and she blames its staff for her death. Xyla is secretly working on a potion in her lab, which she plans to distribute to the hospital staff and exact her revenge. In front of her friends, she masquerades her project as the cure for the common cold. While working on it, Xyla has terrifying dreams of everyone she knows turning into zombies and overtaking the university. She wonders what it all means, but fails to make the connection that her dreams might be warnings concerning her dangerous project.
This is the first book in the series, and the plot progresses in a linear fashion. It is part love story and part horror, and the main character, Xyla, is relatable to the reader as is her intent to punish those who killed her mother. The protagonist's repeated dreams about zombies keeps the reader wondering as to what will happen next. While engaging, the story would benefit from more tension, as the it contains scenes that do not add much to the drama and slow down the pacing, such as what the characters eat and how they dress. All in all, this is a good book for the lovers of horror, medical S&F, and zombies.