Review of THE NEW HUNGER by Isaac Marion

Isaac Marion's novel WARM BODIES told the story of a zombie named R somehow developing very human and alive feelings for a girl named Julie. It's an intense story of tragedy and restoration. It was a story I loved, and one for which I felt Marion would be able to write an equally compelling prequel when I heard that there in fact was one. That's exactly what Marion did with THE NEW HUNGER, a prequel to R and Julie's story in WARM BODIES. THE NEW HUNGER takes us to the early days of the zombie infection outbreak. A disease has reanimated human corpses and given them a hunger for one thing - living human flesh and blood. The world's population dwindles amidst this plague. THE NEW HUNGER follows three story lines. The first is the tall man who wakes up from death in a forest. He's not sure who he was before he died or why he's alive again, but he's battling a new hunger inside of him for something he's sure he's not supposed to hunger for. The second story line is Nora and her brother Addis. They're traveling, trying to stay alive and find other people to band with. They run into zombies several times, and their chances for survival don't look good. The final story line follows 12-year-old Julie Grigio and her parents as they try to find a community of the living and hope for a survivable future.

This story felt much more intense than WARM BODIES, and while I loved the first book, I actually felt like this was a better story. Maybe it's because it sets up for WARM BODIES. Maybe it's because it hints at a story later than WARM BODIES. I was surprised that the majority of the story was about Nora and her brother, and I don't think you can read this story without developing a great of empathy for Nora and a desire to know where her story ultimately leads.

If you liked WARM BODIES, I'm sure you'll enjoy THE NEW HUNGER. It's a very interesting take on the story's primary characters before the first book took place. THE NEW HUNGER was released exclusively as an ebook with Zola Books. Check out https://zolabooks.com to or Amazon.com purchase.

Review copy provided by Zola Books

Photo Credit: Zola Books