Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gene Showalter

Author: Gene Showalter
Title: Alice in Zombieland
Series: White Rabbit Chronicles #1
Publication: September 25, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Genre: Paranormal
Pages: 416 pp
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Publisher

Synopsis
She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

Thoughts: Alice is so sick of being confined to the house, so much that she promises her sister, Emma, that she will convince their parents to let her see Emma dance as her birthday present. Though, reluctant to go out at night, her parents agree to go but things take a turn for the worse. Alice finds herself alone in the hospital and that she can see them, the monsters that her father was afraid of. She feels guilty that she survives and that she's to blame for the accident that killed her family. Now, living with her grandparents and trying to adjust to her new life, she can't shake the feeling that something lurks in the shadows, just waiting for her to make a mistake. 

I like Alice, she an intriguing character that just so happens to kick butt. The chemistry between her and Cole oozes with electricity and magnetic charm. He comes off as the bad boy that all the students at the school are terrified of but really he has a different emotional level that seems endearing. I like the idea of the two of them possibly being a pair. I'm curious as to why, when they gaze daze one another they have visions and what is it about Alice that attracts the monsters to her. 

The characters are well developed and I like the dynamics between them. The fact that they aren't one dimensional makes this more interesting to read and leaves room for them to surprise the reader. The writing moves along beautifully, I didn't feel like the pace was too slow or too fast. Overall, I am fascinated by the twist the author has placed on the zombies and look forward to see how this will pane out in the rest of the series.