Book 1 - The Enemy

The Enemy

Charlie Higson

- 4.6 • 189 Ratings

- £7.99

- £7.99

The first unputdownable adventure story in this phenomenal series, from the author of the bestselling Young Bond series and award-winning comedy writer and performer (The Fast Show, Down the Line), Charlie Higson.

They'll chase you.
They'll rip you open.
They'll feed on you . . .

When the sickness came, every parent, policeman, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry.

Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive.

Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait.

But can they make it there - alive?

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 19 APR 2010

Lord of the Flies meets 28 Days Later in this disturbing postapocalyptic adventure. Higson (the Young Bond series) presents a kids-only world with shades of Michael Grant's Gone books, though in this case, a disease has turned everyone over the age of 16 into mindless, flesh-eating nightmares, terrorizing and devouring those unaffected. Packs of resourceful kids have holed up in supermarkets, constructing defenses, foraging for supplies, and fighting off feral grown-ups. For the group sheltering in a Waitrose store, it's a ceaseless battle for survival, where even the simplest expedition can prove fatal. When the possibility of a haven arrives, the Waitrose kids band with new allies as they make a hazardous trek across London to the promised land: Buckingham Palace. Alternately bleak and defiant, this splatterfest doesn't pull any punches ( The skin blackened, shriveled and split, the overripe flesh inside squeezing out.... This was what happened if any grown-up lived long enough to let the disease run its full course ) nor is any character safe. It's up to a sequel to sort out some plot threads, but this is a solid start. Ages 12 up.

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