Review: Zombie's Sold Separately

Zombies Sold Separately (Night Tracker - Book 4) by Cheyenne McCray


Publication Date: May 24, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: Paperback, 379pp
ISBN-13: 978-0312946432

ISBN: 0312946430

(Received for an  honest review from St. Martin's Press)


Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound


Cheyenne McCray on the WEB: website, blog, facebook, twitter


Books in the series: Demons Not Included (2009), No Werewolves Allowed (2010), Vampires Not Invited (2010), Zombies Sold Separately (2011), Vampires Dead Ahead (2011)


CoverArt: Click on the picture for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Zombies Sold Separately


Synopsis:


Nyx hates Zombies. Seriously. Hates. Zombies. Ever since she was a youngling, she's been haunted by them. And even though she's a big girl now - a half-human, half-Drow private eye, to be precise - Nyx bristles at the mere thought of the walking dead.


Meanwhile, the corpses of humans and Paranorms alike are turning up all over New York City. Now it's up to Nyx to find out who - or what - is behind this series of horrific attacks. But it's only a matter of time before she is drawn deeper into her darkest fears... and her worst nightmare about meeting a real, flesh-and-blood-hungry, body-snatching Zombie comes blindingly to life. Or death...


Thoughts:


Cheyenne McCray's fourth book in the Night Tracker series, Zombies Sold Separately is a fast paced Urban Fantasy that has the feel of thriller. McCray's characters have been through a lot in the previous books in the series and she certainly doesn't let up in this one. As many of you know I'm not usually a big fan of zombies, so it takes an interesting perspective or a different take on these paranorms for me to get into it and McCray makes great strides in the right direction with this one.

Why do I have a distaste for zombies? Basically, they are mindless creatures with no sense of right and wrong. All they care about is feeding on human flesh. I think my major point of dislike, is the fact that I cannot figure out how you could make a zombie a main character that readers could like or at least understand. Now I'm sure they are out there, and maybe I just haven't found the right book that gives me a little something to find interesting about zombies. So if you have any suggestions let me know! 


The zombies in McCray's book are about the usual fare. They are bad guys, really ugly, nasty bad guys and I liked the fact that Nyx is out to get them in this one. I also enjoyed the foray into Nyx's childhood in this book. Readers of the series really haven't gotten a chance to see Nyx and anything more than she is now, a kick-ass heroine. But in Zombies Sold Separately they get to see her in a moment of weakness. She literally freezes up and almost loses her position as a team leader because of it. McCray's zombies have to be pretty wicked if Nyx is afraid of them.


Having read a lot of straight fantasy in the past including the Icewind Dale series by R.A. Salvatore, I've had some experience reading about the Drow. And the fact that Nyx's heritage as a half-drow hasn't been explored in great detail in this series is a little disheartening for me. I love the the dark elf connotations and I hope the McCray will explore this further in the future. But in this novel she does take Nyx back home to speak with her father who is the king of the Drow and his insights help her to battle the zombie invasion threatening New York. I liked the way McCray uses a past invasion of the Drow, including the loss of Nyx's brother to bring about the necessary solution.

One of the best parts of this book has to be the inclusion of two new secondary characters. Colin, a dragon and Penrod a Sprite. Both are new trackers brought on after the deaths of two others in the previous book, Vampires Not Invited. Colin has so much potential. I really liked him as  character and I hope that McCray continues to use him in her books. Sometimes a series needs some new blood and I think this character will help to revitalize the series. 


The editing errors were a lot less noticeable in this one that in the last book and I see that McCray was starting to get back on track. I reviewed the latest book in the series, Vampires Dead Ahead last month and in my opinion it is probably the best of the series. But there were definitely great strides in Zombies Sold Separately. I think this book headed the series in a new direction and look forward to seeing where McCray takes Nyx and her friends in the future.

Zombies Sold Separately is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cheyenne McCray writes the Night Tracker novels and the Armed and Dangerous series, among others. She grew up on a ranch in southeastern Arizona. She has been writing ever since she can remember, back to her kindergarten days when she penned her first poem. She always knew one day she would write novels—she wanted to create worlds that readers would get lost in, just as she had always gotten lost in her favorite books. “Growing up I read, read, and read,” she says, “and grew up to write, write, write.” She has three sons and two dogs. A true Arizona native, she loves the desert and all of the sunshine and beautiful sunsets that go along with it.