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, 10:12, 7 April 2014
{{infobox
|title=ZOM-B Mission
|sort=
|author=Darren Shan
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teens
|summary=Darren Shan's zombie series moves outside the capital and into the countryside to give readers a slightly bigger picture than the one they've had so far. A quick read but packed full of gore and action. The Owl Man shows up!
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=224
|publisher=Simon & Schuster
|website=http://www.darrenshan.com/
|date=March 2014
|isbn=0857077767
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857077767</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>B00E2RFEEE</amazonus>
|video=GbXQNUEGldM
}}
Ok. Have an obligatory warning about possible spoilers for the series so far. If you don't want any, then run along and read our review of the [[Zom-B by Darren Shan|first book]]. Otherwise, read this review at your own risk.
Gone? Still here? Hi!
B Smith has finally fully committed to the Angels, a group of conscious zombies led by Dr Oystein. B has worked through some of her issues about friendship and attachment in this post-apocalyptic world and is beginning to forge genuine friendships with her fellow revitalised. She's even getting on ok with her nemesis, Rage. And both B and Rage are ecstatic when Dr Oystein finally sends them on a mission.
They are to take Emma and Declan, humans they rescued in a previous book in the series, to a commune outside London. It's a perilous journey and - as you'd expect! - there will be casualties along the way. B meets up with both an old friend and an old enemy and the reader gets to see a picture of the world outside London that the series hasn't shown them yet. I liked this aspect of ''Mission'' - I felt as though the series was properly advancing, something I've criticised slightly in other books.
''Mission'' also reintroduces racism as a theme. This was important in the first book and it's been talked about since but it hasn't really been front and centre as it is here. I don't think I'm giving too much away if I say that the nasty of nasties Owl Man is caught up in all this. Zombie stories can be read as allegories of racism - how we hate and distrust the other - and I like the way Darren Shan is making us think about it in ''ZOM-B'' - humans distrust the revitalised and many of them ''still'' can't let go of a skin colour prejudice. And in this devastated world, it's easy to incite hate.
''ZOM-B Mission'' is fast and furious and gory and great fun. Of course, it also ends on a blasted cliffhanger but I've given up moaning about that. I loved it.
More deliciously gory undead series you might enjoy include [[The Enemy by Charlie Higson]] and [[Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry]].
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[[Category:Confident Readers]]
[[Category:Dystopian]]