Rachel E. Croxton

I won a copy of Mutated Files: Case One through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. In the acknowledgement section, author Rachel E. Croxton states that she has kept this book, her first, as she wrote it when she was fourteen, for authenticity, even though it might seem a little cringey. I freely admit that this book has less to make a reader cringe than stories I wrote for a class in junior college. I'm not even going to sniff that I was much better at spelling and grammar when I was show more fourteen because I'm almost 68. We had a lot more emphasis on those subjects when I was in school.

In the prologue, we learn that when seventeen-year-old Carol Tyson was only a year old, her father disappeared. Her mother, Megara, was making dinner when Altan tells her he knows what he needs to do for the scientific work he's doing. He doesn't come home the next day. It's well past that 48 hours waiting period when Megara reports him missing.

Carol's problems start when she buys a poster of a really hot boy with a crossbow slung across one shoulder. His name turns out to be Neil Johnson, just as she thought. Their first meeting, after he emerged from the poster is less than ideal. I don't think either of my parents would have accepted the explanation Carol gives her mom for all the noise and mess.

Neil takes Carol to a zombie apocalypse four years in the future. The problem has already reached the past. The mission, which Carol has decided to accept, is to find out how to prevent the zombie apocalypse.

We learn that the problem was started by two scientists from the Dr. Josef Mengele School of Medical Ethics (a sarcastic joke I swiped from a friend -- Dr. Mengele was nicknamed the 'Angel of Death' for his experiments on humans prisoners of Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz). One of them isn't quite as evil as the other, but it's the worse one who claims to have the information needed to save the day.

It took me a while to warm to Carol. Frankly, after Carol's best friend, Janette, came to the future, she was so competent that I figured Neil had recruited the wrong girl. As the weeks pass, Carol gains in competence before she falls into the less than gracious hands of Doctors Phelps and Jacobs. Dr. Phelps is able to tell Carol a couple of things about her family that she never knew -- and that makes her very angry indeed.

NOTES:

Chapter 1: Mentions: WalMart,

Chapter 2:
a. It's 2015 and Neil's information is about 2019.

b. We meet Neil's older brother, Fabian, who doesn't like to sleep because of nightmares.

Chapter 3:

a. We learn the Tysons' street address.

b. Megara watches a news item on the TV that tells the readers the future of 2019 is starting.

c. The news story becomes real for Megara.

Chapter 4:

a. Carol encounters a zombie.

b. Janette follows Carol.

Chapter 5:

a. Janette's last name is revealed.

b. Carol and Neil take refuge with a family after Carol's ankle injury.

Chapter 6:

a. It's a major zombie attack. Fabian refers to Neil as 'lil' Neilo'.

b. An scientist reveals he's despicable.

c. Look here for the lolly-dew flower song Mrs. Tyson used to sing to Carol.

Chapter 8:

a. There's another scene in the lab.

b. It's now March 2nd.

c. We meet Marietta, a very tough woman.

d. Janette meets Dr. Phelps in his secret lab.

Chapter 9:

a. Megara Tyson is driving and meets zombies, including a neighbor.

b. Neil tells what happened to his mother, as well as a story about when he was 10 and Fabian around 13.

Chapter 10:

a. Carol's full name is Carolyn Kimberly Tyson. Her birthday is September 3, 1997.

b. Megara's phone number is 804-555-1225.

c. Adam Phillip Tyson is mentioned.

d. Altan Phillip Tyson was born January 5, 1977, has A positive blood, and his parents were Janice and Phillip Tyson.

e. We learn who created the zombie virus.

Chapter 11: This is stated to be Part Two.

a. Carol makes herself mad by remembering an abusive boyfriend her mom once had.

b. Megara meets with misfortune.

Chapter 12: Carol has a fever.

Chapter 13: Neil thinks about the time when his family still, lived near Deep Green Lake on the outskirts of Waverly Town, near Sherry Town. They were taking a drive. Annoying cousin Nigel was along for the ride. Dad was stoned. Neil met Carol, who sits next to Fabian in Health Class. Because it's 2015, Neil was younger than Carol. We learn Neil's mom's name.
Mentions: Gollum, Lord of the Rings,

Chapter 14: Carol hears a voice in her head and something bad happens.

Chapter 15:

a. Finally, the evil plan is revealed.

b. "Provado" is a word in Spanish. Given its meaning, I think this might be a typo for "bravado".

Chapter 16: It's now April 2nd, a Thursday. The chapter says it's April 3rd in 2015.

Chapter 17: It's now April 5th. The voice in Carol's head explains itself. His name is Cyrus.
Mentions:

Chapter 19:

a. We get a big hint about Liam.

b. Dimitri was found in a dumpster, presumably when he was a baby.

c. Neil meets a girl named Mina who is trying to find a refugee camp called 'Eden'.
d. Neil and Mina meet a family of survivors.

The science is often on the level of made-for-TV animated cartoons. The point of view is sometimes in third person and sometimes in first person The reader often has to read a bit after the asterisks to figure out which character's first person viewpoint is being given. I readily forgave most of the faults because of the author's age when she wrote it, except for one: if that snapping sound was Carol's ankle breaking, she would have been in AGONY, and certainly wouldn't have healed as quickly as she did (I have first-hand knowledge). Also, don't let yourself get too attached to supporting characters if you have a soft heart. Those zombies are HUNGRY.

I knew the book was meant for young adults when I asked for it. I like books for children and young adults. I didn't mind the teen angst or the gore. There was plenty of action. I liked the book enough to want to learn how things will turn out for the characters. show less

Right from the start, the story hooked me in, it's got a great premise with time travel and zombies, which definitely is pretty fun. The action is great and the zombies and gore are well done, keeping the pacing exciting and easy.
That said, I did find a few issues. Carol, the main character, blacks out a lot, which was a bit annoying.
There are some gaps in the story that left me with a few lingering questions. While the characters are interesting and well-developed, these gaps did make it show more harder to fully connect with the plot. If there will be other books, perhaps this will be better explained.
Overall, it's a good read if you're into action and zombies. show less

I really liked —it’s a really good read! This book includes two-part short stories. They are interconnected, but I see them as somewhat separate. I was reading with headphones on and jumped a few times, startled! The imagery is good!!

The short story format meant I finished it in about 2 hours. It could very easily have been a full-fledged novel (and I wish it had been).

The characters, especially the children (why are there SEVEN!?), could have been more developed. As a mother who show more hadn't seen her kids in 5 years, her reaction seemed like she hadn’t seen them since last weekend. Both the kids' and the mom's reactions felt super flat. Also, why did they divorce? Why is she so quick to dismiss what she sees as "visions" or "just seeing things" when she's married to a werewolf!? I have too many questions about this family.

The story also moves fast. Very fast. A longer, more character-developed novel would've been amazing. Again, I don't fault it here because it is a short story. Had this been a novel, the rating would've been much lower. For what it is, it's great!

There's so much potential here, and the scary stuff? Wow, very good! Would love to see more. I really enjoyed reading! (The first story was my favorite!)

**I received a free ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for my honest and unbiased review** show less

mirror image by Rachel E. Croxton read like a Wattpad fan fiction. While it was a slow starter, once you got into the action, it became a quick read. While I personally am not a fan of ware wolf type story lines, the author somehow wrote the story in such a way where I enjoyed finishing it. My only criticism of this book is the author over shows everything that is happening. Meaning every little detail has its own illustration, the reader doesn't need to put their own feelings or thoughts show more into what's happening. More than likely, that is why it was such a slow starter. Yet, once you get into the story it is quite addictive. I would definitely recommend this book to the youth of today. show less