Krazykiwi @ Kiwitopia

Trace Monroe doesn’t believe in luck. He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive. Trace wants to join "Red’s" posse, but she prefers to work alone—less messy that way.

What he doesn’t know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she is the answer.

 

So, zombies in the wild west. Not really much to say, it's exactly what you would expect: a badass YA heroine type, with a secret, who may just be the answer to the entire zombie problem, but set in a straight out of Zane Grey type old west setting.

I love westerns, always have, and I'm fond of zombie stories, so this was fun. It's fairly dark, lots of deaths and doom, and although marketed as YA, it didn't read as one to me.

It starts out with Red on her own and on the run from bounty hunters. She's heading west ahead of the zombie plague that claimed all her family except one brother, who she hopes to find on the trail. Then she somewhat unwillingly picks up Trace, who has ulterior motives--he's seen her wanted poster--but slowly (not too insta-lovey) falls for her. They also pick up Wen, a chinese-american also on the trail--VERY nice to see some diversity, and he's not written as any kind of stereotype either. And eventually a gaggle of orphaned kids. Always on their trail are the zombies, and the bounty hunters, ahead is only hope and the unknown.

I could nitpick the setting a bit, there's the odd anachronism, especially in the dialog, but I was enjoying the story enough they didn't bother me too much. Which is great, because that kind of thing usually pulls me right out.