A steampunk novel with zombies, that's something new for me.
A city of Seattle has walled over after an accident involving a burrowing machine invented by a mad scientist. When he lost control of the machine during a test run, he destroyed most of the banks of the town and at the same time released toxic gas to the city. The gas is heavier than air, and kill everything it touches. Except those people it turns to zombies.
A young mother lives outside the walls with her teenage son. Her grandfather was a hero, who at the cost of his own life saved the captives from the local brig. Her husband was the scientist who is suspected of destroying the city. They have live more or less isolated life but are treated with more than a little suspicions by most people. Then the son decides that he wants to clear his fathers name goes to inside the walled city to find proof for his innocence. Not particularly good idea when the city is full of highly poisonous gas and ravenous zombies.
All events of the book happen during a fairly short time span, during just a couple of days. The plot follows for the most part alternating between the boy trying to find his parents' old house and his mother who goes for a rescue mission. Inside the city they'll meet several characters, a few malevolent, a few not, as there are still people living there in air proofed cellars.
The beginning of the book where the world was described was very interesting. However, the ending of the book seemed a bit too easy and fast.
I gave some heavy criticism of scientific accuracy of the Windup Girl. This time...well let's say that it is hard to use phrases “scientific accuracy” and “zombies” in the same sentence. Anyway, this was a very entertaining book.
416 pp.
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