Review: Writing on the Wall

Writing on the Wall
Tracey Ward
4.5/5.0
"I’m a girl stuck in Neverland with The Lost Boys. I’m no Wendy, I can hold my own. I don’t need to wait around for Peter to save me, but I’m also not an idiot. I know my enemies."
It's been nearly a decade since the world ended. Since Joss watched her parents die at the hands of a nightmare, a nightmare that stalks her even now, all these years later. That's the problem with the Risen - they refuse to die.
But Joss is a survivor. A loner living in the post-apocalyptic streets of Seattle. It's a world dictated by Risen and the looming threat of the Colonists, a group of fellow survivors living comfortably in their compounds and patrolling the wild, looking to "save" the orphans of the end.
Orphans like Joss.
Like Ryan.
As a member of an all male gang, Ryan is a threat as real as the Risen, a threat Joss avoids at all costs. Then one night their paths cross and Joss makes a choice that goes against all of her instincts. A choice that will threaten everything she has.
Now a new outbreak is imminent and the Colonists are closing in. Joss' solitary, secret world will be blown wide open and the comfortable numbness she's lived in for the last six years will burn away leaving her aching and afraid.
And awake

Okay, so if you read my review of Reboot, you know that my GREATEST fear = zombies and I avoid them like the plague.  Not even Norman Reedus can convince me to watch a single episode of The Walking Dead, and I looooove me some Norman Reedus. 

That, all by itself, should tell you exactly how much faith I have in Tracey Ward to deliver an amazing book.  She won me over completely with Sleepless, and she didn't disappoint with Writing on the Wall.  I loved it, zombies and all.

I absolutely love, love, love the main character, Joss.   I mean, c'mon, she's survived all by herself for almost a decade, in the middle of a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!   Not only has she avoided being eaten by a zombie, she's also avoided being taken in and made a sex-slave by one of the many gangs around, and avoided being captured by the Colonies.  She's smart, strong-willed, stubborn, and a total smartass.  She's everything I'd want to be (and probably wouldn't be) if the shit hit the fan tomorrow.

 The love interest, Ryan, hasn't quite gained book boyfriend status with me... YET.  He could.  He's got potential, but he's just not in the story enough yet for me to totally fall.  He's amusing though, and I really want to see more of him.  I want him and Joss together.  Their banter cracks me up.  Ward is a master of the banter.

The other characters in this book got major love from me as well.  Vin, Nat, and even Crazy Crenshaw (how can you not love a man that is described as "Merlin if he'd fallen on hard times and gotten really into pot"?)  were all amazing.

The characters were really well formed, and they all kind of kept you on your toes.  They all had their little surprises.

Not only was the character development superb, the story itself was awesome!

I had no idea where it was going to take me from one page to the next, and I loved it.  There was a lot of humor, a lot of action, and a lot of really intense nail-biting scenes.

And yes, there are zombies for those of you that are into that sort of thing.  There were enough of them that I will probably be cowering in a corner somewhere for the next several weeks pissing myself every time the wind blows.

I loved it though.  I really, really did. The end totally left me freaking out (it was a really big cliffhanger).

I literally sat there for a few minutes frantically swiping at my kindle trying to make more pages appear.  I stopped when I noticed the dog was looking rather concerned.

SO.  In short, I'm totally fangirling over a zombie book...

... and the ice rinks in hell are officially open.