In the first of this series Molly Bigelow an awkward young girl with mismatched eyes learned that she was destined to follow in her deceased mother's footsteps as part of a zombie killing initiative known as Omega. While Molly was able to defeat Marek, the head of the Unlucky 13 (the 13 first zombies and rulers on Manhattan's undead underground) it did not come without consequences. Her lack of social skills and secretiveness lead Molly to subject her team to a possible disbandment. She also discovered that her dead mother is in fact undead and has been watching out for her ever since her change.
While Molly and her team (rich girl Natalie, computer savvy Alex and Krav Maga expert, Grayson) await their trial for misconduct, strange events begin to unfold in the world of the zed. First, one of the Unlucky 13 is found dead. I mean DEAD dead, dead, handcuffed to a subway seat out in Brooklyn. Due to the fact that a chemical deep within the ground of Manhattan causes the zombie phenomenon, the undead will cease to be if they cross over into the other boroughs. Second, Molly's mom begins to surface more frequently in her life and informs her that if she wants to save her team she must tell the Omega tribunal that they have been invited to work on the Baker's Dozen case. While this certainly saves the day, it implies that Molly's mother may be dead, but her time in Omega is not. Also, while Molly is just rebuilding the trust of her teammates, she is not allowed to tell them about her mother's existence and therefore while she saved the day, the team is not allowed to question Molly as to how she knew the magic words for their reinstatement.
With Marek gone, the remaining members of the 13 are on the move and behaving strangely. In order to keep status quo in Dead City, each of the 13 are required to appear in public to ensure the other zombies that they are still in charge. If Marek fails to show, someone else may be poised to take over. Someone worse?
While I am positively sick of the zombie genre, this series stands out for several reasons. First, the zombies themselves are not your usual stumblers and groaners. There are three levels to being undead. The first level are sentient and often able to regain most of their former lives and need protection from Omega. The second are still aware and lucid yet they lack souls. The third are muscle and more like the zed we are familiar with. There is also some well written mythology and pseudo science as to how the undead were born into the streets of Manhattan.
Molly and her friends solve puzzles, conduct research at the morgue and razz a few zombies with sarcastic quips as they land punches and kicks. For sure, the Dead City series channels Buffy the Vampire Slayer in it's finest days. While Molly and her friends are as much fun as the Scoobies, the story itself feels fresh and the action weaves itself seamlessly with the well layered plot.
Another bonus is that there is no romance angle. I repeat, this is a book with several young teenage protagonists and there is no romance. If one were to develop organically it would be fine, but James Ponti does not weigh the story down with any hint of a love web between Molly and the rest of her team. A lot of fun!
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