Deck Z: The

Gr 8 Up—Theodor Weiss, an emotionally injured scientist, was recruited by the German government to study a mutation of a deadly bubonic plague that has developed in Manchuria. Unknowingly, he brings a victim back to his mountain hideaway and tries to uncover the cause of the plague, seeking a cure. Once he has obtained the deadly Toxic from the victim, he flees the scene as he realizes that the German government wants to use it as a biological weapon. Arriving at the Southampton dock, he finds the world's largest ocean liner-the Titanic. When the Toxic is violently stolen, it begins to affect thousands of passengers, turning them into malicious, horrid zombies. With the help of Captain Edward Smith, Weiss and his team are forced into a Victorian massacre of the undead during the final hours of the legendary, ill-fated ocean liner as it speeds toward a deadly, disastrous iceberg. This fast-paced thriller reenacts the historical events of the tragic voyage through the lens of zombie anarchy. Plot-driven and told from multiple points of view, the novel will keep teens intrigued with gore and action. Readers will find that fiction and reality are a bit blurred as they continually try to guess which is which. A spine-chilling, nail-biting page-turner.—Krista Welz, The North Bergen Public Library, NJ