Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World—and Ourselves

Science writer Simon (The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar) takes a surprisingly lively and lighthearted jaunt into the world of parasites, viruses, and zombification, a process that occurs with surprising regularity in the natural world. Simon’s fascination is contagious in moments where he describes the harsh brutality of nature, such as how a jewel wasp “brainwashes” a cockroach into hosting its young, or the lancet fluke whose different life cycles occur in a sheep, a snail, and an ant. The book’s light touch is a double-edged sword, leading both to pithy, funny takes, such as a summation of natural selection as “Life sucks, and then you die, usually in a pretty terrible way,” and eye-roll–inducing quips, such as a section titled “If You Can Be My Bodyguard, I Can Be Your Long-Lost Manipulative Pal.” The narrative loses steam near the end, and Simon’s exploration of neuroscience advances leads him to the strained conclusion that, if humans are controlled by their DNA, everyone has a bit of the zombie in them. Despite this stretch, Simon’s work is easily the most fun one could ever expect to have reading about the mind-controlling insects, insidious fungi, and parasites living alongside humanity. Agent: David Fugate, LaunchBooks Literary Agency. (Oct.)