Daniel Walters continues Generation Dead and obviously means to continue the series some more with Kiss of Life. The story picks up a few weeks after the first book, with Adam back as a zombie and Phoebe caught up in the guilt of knowing that Adam's feelings for her caused her to sacrifice his life for her. Yes, it's a trad girl now caught in a zombie love triangle - welcome to Generation Dead, 90210-style.

It's not that the civil rights movement isn't still part of the package, but we've moved that fight from a more subtle realm to a more hammer-over-the-head fight and finding what should be longer episodes being condensed into quickly resolved bits so they can become part of a bigger and more complex story arc. Case-in-point: the trial of Adam's killer, Pete. It's over in a matter of a few pages - we're supposed to believe that the justice system does consider shooting another kid is nothing because they've come back as a zombie - that no trial would be drawn out for more than an afternoon.

But it does allow Pete to do community service at the center where the kids take their classes at the Hunter Foundation and start a sort of 90210 with a side of conspiracy hybrid show.

As long as one doesn't get too sidetracked by that mess, the story does move quickly and Waters does a good job of getting into Adam's head as he experiences the frustration of trying to make the journey back from the dead. Phoebe grows up a bit in the story, but not too much. More of those that profit from the dead and their motives are also explored in some surprisingly well-thought out passages.

Let's hope in future installments, Waters reels in his plot a bit more and cuts back the 90210 element. He has strong characters and they don't have to resolve things in 4 seconds to keep people engaged. They've all grown up a bit and can handle an unencumbered plot now. ( )

The Little Bookworm

While I liked this book and the previous one, I won't say that I was truly wow'd by the whole thing. It's a great idea to equate the struggles of the undead to modern day civil rights struggles to make it more timely and have a greater impact. But I felt like I was being hit over the head with it. Although I do appreciate that this book was much less about Phoebe and more about the actual undead teenagers. There were several points of view explained: Phoebe, Adam, Tak and Pete and it broke up the action and gave more insight to what was happening around the story. It's great see the motive of the "villain" of the book, but the road Pete is going down is going to end in tragedy, I can tell. And, while I like Phoebe, it was nice to have less of her. I think the more interesting issue is what is going to happened to the zombie kids and how far everyone is going to end up from the beginning. ( )

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

"Wow," Trent said. "It isn't . . . easy . . . being young and undead . . . in America."

The number of undead teens is increasing. At first it was considered a unique, localized event, but now it's happening everywhere. Tommy Williams and his website Mysocalledundeath.com and the Hunter Foundation are now known far and wide. The undead, or "differently biotic," have been accepted by some but are still outcasts to others.

Phoebe's life has changed. She still loves Tommy, but since Adam died saving her life, she has dedicated all her time and energy to helping him gain his full potential as a member of the undead. His progress is slow, and having Tommy acting petty and jealous doesn't help the situation. At least she has the support of her friends (living and undead) at the Hunter Foundation standing behind her decision to help the two factions of their community adjust to the changing world.

Tommy's efforts to help his fellow undead members of society adjust have him deciding to take his show on the road. With more and more differently biotic needing a support system, he realizes that many do have Internet access to get help from his blog. His decision to travel to spread the word means he will need assistance from those he is leaving behind. Phoebe and her friends agree to manage the website and blog about things from their perspective.

Prejudice and intolerance of the undead teens is increasing, making the job of protecting them even harder. Since the fire at the Haunted House, they are in more danger than ever. There are mysterious white vans traveling the countryside and groups of violent haters threatening everyone's peace and safety. Law enforcement, including the FBI, are incarcerating differently biotics and not even attempting to recognizing any rights they might be due.

KISS OF LIFE continues the adventure begun in GENERATION DEAD. With all the vampire/zombie novels available to today, author Daniel Waters gives the genre a new twist. Combining the paranormal with the concept of prejudice against this new generation provides a bit of depth to the usual zombie tale. This will be an interesting series to keep an eye on as it evolves. ( )

Daniel Waters did it again. A great read with emotional depth. I really appreciate the detail he gives us into a world that has much the same types of prejudices we deal with today. He makes me fall in love with his characters and even feel some sympathy for the nasty ones. I hope there is more from him in the future! ( )

I am so glad that Daniel Waters decided to do another book of the 'Generation Dead' series. It would of been against the law to of left us on that cliff hanger!
Talking of cliff hangers they have to write another boo after this there is so many questions waiting to be answered-
Where is Karen?
Is Tommy coming back?
Is Tommy coming back with Christie (stupid girl!)
When is Colette coming back?
Where abouts underground have the zombies gone?
Where is Pete and his idiot leader?!
What really gets me annoyed is that you think that maybe Pete's going to change with the councilling and then the stupid Duke man comes along and shatters that. But Pete is always going to be our evil character!
I felt like shouting to Adam "Forget what Tak said just kiss Phoebe!"
I'm glad that the two got together but then I feel for Tommy because he was obviously scared when the gun came out so he couldn't do anything and Phoebe blames him, he loves her and sometimes I wish she could be sane for a second.
But with that, I wouldn't be able to choose between the two for who she dates.
Over all it's a great book and the third book needs to come out soon! ( )