Devil’s Wake

Barnes and Due (South by Southeast) retread a lot of familiar ground in this fast-paced but predictable homage to zombie film and fiction. An unusual confluence of events—the consumption of yahanna mushrooms and inoculation against the Amsterdam flu—turns people into rampaging zombies who spread their taint through bites. Within six months, civilization has all but collapsed and pockets of survivors seek each other out. Among them are teen Kendra Brookings, who saw her parents and grandfather felled by “freaks,” and a pack of juvenile delinquents rehabbing as summer camp counselors. Traveling from southern Washington to California, Kendra and her companions endure the expected tense encounters with freaks and opportunistic humans. The authors leave enough plot threads untied to suggest that further adventures in this postapocalyptic world are planned; perhaps those will include some original ideas. Agents: (for Barnes) Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary Agency; (for Due) Bill Reiss, John Hawkins & Associates. (Aug.)