2.5 Stars ( )

The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz is a YA horror story that is a master class in chaos, danger and survival. It’s a fun action-packed adventure that sees all adults being overtaken by alien seeds and becoming zombie like – except these adults seem to have a purpose and that purpose is rounding up all the children to be used in a particularly horrifying way.

Orphaned brothers, Patrick and Chance Rain live with their uncle and aunt in a close knit farming community. No one seems particularly concerned when a meteorite strikes a nearby farm and strange plants start to grow. But on one horror filled night the pods on the plants open and spread their infection over the valley and children find themselves desperately trying to protect themselves from their parents. Eventually a group of survivors hold up in the local high school but the situation is dire.

There are a number of plot points that I could quibble about but I try to remember that this a YA story and I am not the target audience. I did enjoy this fast moving alien-zombie mashup but was a little disappointed when the book ended with very little resolved. Obviously there is a sequel and hopefully the author will wrap the story up and not drag it out in an endless series of books. The author did however plant some very interesting seeds to encourage his readers to continue on and I intend to do just that. ( )

Full disclosure - I love all “adults are gone, dead, zombies, insane, paralyzed or in any way taken out of the equation” kind of stories. I also love books that take the scientific organization of a non human organism and impose it on said affected adults. I also like, when possible, a little bit of believable science to explain any anomalies such as why the adult science teacher isn’t affected by the Dusting. So, as you can imagine, I liked this book a lot. It’s a fast read and I’m certain that fans of the walking dead would enjoy this book although these hosts (zombies) are fast and much smarter than walking dead zombies. Don’t want to say too much more. I did enjoy this - a fun (albeit grisly) read, like inhaling a bag of chips. ( )

This book had my attention from the beginning. ( )

Book 1 ( )