Published: June 03, 2011
Words: 87657 (approximate)
Language: English

Short description

The Z Word follows Seffy Carter and her longtime friends Gareth, Addison and Lani. The four besties share a past dysfunctional and dark enough to keep them bound together under do-over identities. But rends develop in their relationships from the flesh-eating pressures of ending up in 1980, in a Montana desert, surrounded by zombies wearing dated disco duds.

Extended description

It's been said that a sure sign of the coming apocalypse is an 80s roller skate disco movie coming to DVD (with special features). In the first book of this science-fiction novel series entitled Apocalypse Babes, a stylish group of twenty-something friends are torn from the Babylonian arms of 2006 West Hollywood and flung nearly thirty years into the past. It might be because one of them purchased the taboo film in a nostalgic moment, setting off a chain of events more disturbing than a roller skating conga line. They wake up in an apocalyptic but strangely familiar landscape, complete with a hidden mountain compound and retro survivalists, hinting at hidden and retro secrets they must face if they want to survive.

Tags

romance, fantasy, zombies, apocalypse, young adult, gothic, science fiction, series, ya, timetravel, gothic romance, persephone, disco

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Reviews

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Review by: Jacqueline Hopper on March 23, 2012 :
You know, when something - a movie, a book, a song - gets in your head and follows you into sleep, it's pretty strong! That's what happened last night after I started reading The 'Z' Word. It's a fantastic Zombie read, and I don't read Zombie books.
Good work, Bella Street! Will be keeping tabs on your work.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: bluebear on Oct. 10, 2011 :
Starts out great wiith character talking and then you meet the other characters.You start reading and can't wait to read more.A very enjoyable book
(review of free book)

Review by: Cat Peoples on Aug. 25, 2011 :
To my surprise I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
It pretty much lives up to the promise of Paris Hilton style airheaded bimbos fighting off Zombies - it's a real 80's B-Picture nightmare come to life.

My greatest complaint would have to be the language used, which is often nothing like English at all - at least nothing like what I learned - which made me long for a print version of the Urban Dictionary at my side.
Well, on the plus side I did learn _a lot_ about 90s/00s lingo.

An entertaining read, that is not to be taken serious in any way.
(review of free book)

Review by: cassandra pearson on Aug. 21, 2011 :
This is the first STRAIGHT ZOMBIE book i have ever read...And i enjoyed it!!! It starts out like this: Seffy and her friends are in L.A. 2006 one minute, and after an explosion, are the Montana dessert, with pink skies and glittery sand. They are confused and there isn't anyone else around to fill in the blanks. They soon realize that they aren't the only ones around, there are dead people walking trying to take a bite out of them--ZOMBIES. Seffy believes she's dreaming, Lani is singing songs, Addison is making jokes (at a time like this?) and Gareth is using his zombie movie knowledge to try to get them through this strange world alive. Seffy and her friends are scared but are soon rescued by a man named Malone. The bunch are mistustful of him, but what can they do? They don't know what's going on...and he seems to know what he is doing. He feeds them and takes them from safehouse to safehouse... You'll have to read the book to find out what happens. I recommend reading this book. As the story ended, i was left screaming What? What's gonna happen now? Gotta Read Book 2: The X Factor!
(review of free book)

Review by: Jean Patton on Aug. 15, 2011 :
A very different book from what I usually read. Once I started it, had to finish it to find out what happened to the characters. I did find Seffy rather annoying and just wanting to slap some sense into her. If you want a quirky read, this is the one for you.
(review of free book)

Review by: Tich Brewster on Aug. 10, 2011 :
This is the first zombie book I have ever read. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into but was amazed at what I did find. Sef, the main character, is in LA until a blast sends her to a strange desert with weird sand and a pink sky. If that wasn't weird enough, she and her friends discover strange disco looking zombies hungry for a taste of their flesh.

I personally can't wait to read the next book and find out how things play out. Will her lifelong crush finally return her fillings? Will they escape the refuge? Will they walk away without getting the freaky zombie virus?
(review of free book)

Review by: Georgeanna B. on Aug. 07, 2011 :
I won't recap the story, as it's been done in other reviews. I will say that Seffy annoyed me, and endeared herself to me. The rest of the cast isn't fleshed out enough for me to form much of an attachment to them.( I hope we get to know them better in the sequels.) The story kept me interested and really wanting to know what happened. I STILL want to know what happened. What the heck happened??? Why have they reinvented themselves and tried so hard to forget their origins? How did this 'blast' come about? Who, what, why, where????? And what's up with the zombies? Are they everywhere or just in the immediate vicinity of our heroes???
I will positively read the next installment in this series.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Linda Andrews on July 29, 2011 :
The Z Word starts out in a fashionable shopping mall in Hollywood and then whoosh, the main character Seffy is transported to another place with pink skies, glittery dirt and zombies. Normally, she'd be a meat snack (and deservedly so), but her loyal friends manage to rescue her even from herself.
Seffy is an interesting character for an apocalyptic novel. Vain, self-centered, and shallow, she brings avoidance of issues to the level of an Olympic sport. She's also a contradiction-- for someone so set on being an actress, she's not very interested in watching movies or television. She clings to her designer tracksuit, first as a status symbol then as a security blanket. And finally, as the trappings of her WeHo life begin to crumble, a Seffy equal to the challenges ahead begins to emerge.
Ms. Street is to be highly commended for her original cast of characters and the brilliant world she creates. Layered with cultural references from the eighties and today, The Z Word is an exciting and fast-paced mix of adventure and dysfunction. The first book in a six book series, The Z Word raises far more questions then it answers and does a wonderful job of providing plot twists one after the other such that some might suffer from whiplash.
So if you're looking for a fun way to spend an afternoon, I'd recommend adding The Z Word to your reading list. Its cast of Scooby-Doo characters, snappy dialogue and Shaun of the Dead/Zombieland surrealism is quite entertaining.
(review of free book)

Review by: Rikki K on June 19, 2011 :
Shaun of the Dead meets Sex in the City while on a flashback acid trip?

I don't think I fall into the target audience for this novel. While at times I found completely hilarious bits I could relate to, the other bits of time the book was written in languages I do not speak, Fashionista and Modernese.

Due to the language barrier, I found myself hoping to see the protagonist become a Zombie chew toy. I gleefully read the last pages hoping Sef's demise was described in brilliantly gory detail only to have my hopes dashed by a cliffhanger.

This novel definitely left me feeling bi-polar. I absolutely loved it's Shaun of the Dead moments and equally loathed it's Sex in the City ones. For the right demographic this should be a hit but it left this 40 year old feeling a bit misogynistic yet strangely nostalgic for the music of an early 80's skating rink.
(review of free book)

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