Life at the supersecret good-zombie headquarters, nicknamed Sentinel City by heroine Maddy, is complicated, unsatisfying and short. Stamp, Maddy's one-time love interest, has been badly damaged by his Zerker (bad zombie) infection from Zombies Don't Forgive (2013), and although he's partially recovered his old self, he's mentally delayed from the experience. As for Maddy's other love interest—broody, older zombie Dane—he's left her for a younger, fresher dead girl. But at least Maddy has her father, safe in Sentinel City, where he studies both Stamp and longtime antagonist Val to gather information on Zerkers. When Val escapes, Maddy, her father and Stamp are unjustly scapegoated. Maddy's father is too valuable to lose, but they expel Maddy and Stamp. Taking care of Stamp, Maddy ends up in a nearby town where she's identified by a local who's familiar with zombies. The local asks for Maddy's help—kids are disappearing, and a Zerker horde is growing. The romantic drama is all post-breakup awkwardness: Dane and his new flame are assigned by the Sentinels to handle the infestation, bringing them and Maddy together. The brainiest this book gets is in its delineation of delightfully disgusting zombie cuisine—brain smoothies, brain nuggets and cat food. Resolutely on her own, Maddy's storyline is surprisingly empowering, especially in the ending, which draws multiple storylines to a close. For readers craving lighter—yet still violent and gory—cannibalistic action with a side of self-discovery. (Horror. 13 & up)

Fischer takes the novel approach of writing from the perspective of zombies in his series, but because of this, his zombies maintain so much of their thinking processes and personalities from their former lives as to effectively be zombies only in name for the most part. Luckily for those looking for a little gore and scares, there is another breed of zombies known as Zerkers that feed on regular humans and present a threat to the uneasy truce between zombie and human societies. Even the Zerkers are capable of rational thought, however, and can apparently pass among humans. The protagonist, Maddy, who has been living in a secret zombie city and training to become a Keeper, ends up getting banished from the city after her still-living father is blamed for the escape of the evil Zerker Val. Maddy and her now part-Zerker pal, Stamp, must take to the road and attempt to stop Val before she engineers another massacre of humans, this time in a small town called Seagull Shores.This third book in the series is a lot lighter in the romance department, which creates an interesting dilemma: what do you get when you minimize both the supernatural and the romance in a supernatural romance? In this case, you get a mildly entertaining thriller with more shades of Aaron Spelling than George Romero. For readers who want their supernatural romance to be Twilight-like, that might not be a bad thing, but those looking for more serious lit or horror will probably be disappointed.Sean Rapacki.