Rabid Heart

Bad decisions, brisk pacing, and a love that transcends death permeate Wagner’s gore-filled zombie romp. The U.S. military created the Necro-Rabies virus, which killed millions and reanimated their corpses into undead Cujos. Col. Kenneth Driscoll runs Fort Rocky Military Base in North Carolina, a sanctuary for a few hundred survivors. As his daughter, Rhonda, a hairdresser turned tough-as-nails fighter, patrols her nearby hometown, a fellow soldier threatens her with rape—and her beloved fiancé, Brad Savini, who was left for dead and Cujo-fied, saves her. Seeing good in Brad, she brings him back to the base but fears her unyielding father will kill him. Eventually they flee, hoping to find peace in Florida. It’s a scary world out there for a young woman and the zombie love of her life, as she confronts cannibal dwarves, a life-threatening injury, a super Cujo, and two young children who need her to protect them. Wagner (The Armageddon Chord) leans hard on clichés, and the ending is predictable, but readers will cheer on Rhonda and her love-conquers-all attitude. (Oct.)