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No matter how many times "Don't judge a book by its cover" is said, book covers will always be an important factor when it comes to what influences a reader to open a book or read its synopsis. In Delorie's case, the attention-grabbing title he chose for his apocalyptic book takes on that role. It also presents a question that begs to be answered by reading on: why are girls specified as the zombies in the title?
This specification is essentially what makes this book stand out amongst other books featuring zombies, with or without an apocalypse attached. In the imaginative world Delorie has created, only women are susceptible to becoming zombies because of the Gorn gene. The gene has left the world in tatters as the only women "alive" have turned into zombies. But scientists have not let that bring an end to the human race. Through advanced technology that is hundreds of years into the future, children (boys) are born in labs, and artificial women are made.
Assigned what's expected to be an impossible mission, Ethan is charged with delivering a teenager—Tori, the first natural-blood girl to not have the Gorn gene—to Dr. Claments for the possibility of her blood being the solution and cure to the zombie outbreak. Though assigned a crew with both specialists and artificials, what makes his mission incredibly dangerous is that there are people after Tori, and they must trek across what once used to be America to get her to New Vegas. Flying isn't open because it will leave them vulnerable to their enemies, both rebels and Sevens (combat artificials). Little do they know that on land they will have to deal with more than just zombie women when those they fear find them by air and start tracking them by land.
As they embark on their mission to get Tori safely across the states, she turns out to be the best equipped for the task with her quick judgments, knowledge, and reflexes. As a strong female character, she stands out the most amongst the crew, while the others can get confused for one another in the dialogue when they're all together in a scene. Furthermore, her liveliness brings a lot of life to the pages. Her banter with the other crew members and their speech with one another can be quite humorous at times as well, which is a necessary balance for a book that involves so much death. On top of that, it further develops the group atmosphere and dynamic regardless of if the individual characters stand out or not.
Although the book's effectiveness would be enhanced through some additional editing, the plot is constantly in motion, which helps keep the reader engaged as the crew fights to stay alive on their mission. Seeing how advanced technology becomes over the years despite the apocalyptic situation is one of many aspects that makes Delorie's version of a zombie outbreak unique. Zombie outbreaks in books, films, and TV shows often take place in the familiar present. Focusing hundreds of years down the line allows Delorie to explore so much more than the average zombie story.