Undead

An unlikely group of English teenagers work together to survive a zombie outbreak during a school ski trip to Scotland. With most of their class turned into flesh-eating monsters, Roberta, Alice, Smitty, and Pete find temporary refuge on their bus. Low on gas, surrounded by enemies, and unable to contact the outside world, they band together, taking shelter in a nearby castle. As can often be the case in zombie stories, humans threaten to become the real villains: the other inhabitants of the castle have their own malevolent agenda and may know more about the zombie outbreak than they let on. Blending comedy and violence, debut author McKay relies a bit too heavily on coincidence and convenient plot twists (out of all the castles in Scotland, the group walks into the one tied to the zombie outbreak). The characters%E2%80%94whose personalities are developed as they bludgeon their way through the novel%E2%80%94are the real draw in a story that otherwise covers well-shambled ground, entertaining but blending in with its gory bedfellows. Ages 14%E2%80%93up. Agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates. (Sept.)