The Invasion of Crooked Oak
Author: Dan Smith
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
ISBN: 9781781129203
Pages: 104
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
Everything was fine in Crooked Oak until the fracking started. Nancy, Pete and Krish remember the good times they had at Carpenter's Field. When the field was fenced off and work happened, the strangeness started too.
Others in the town might not have noticed but Nancy's parents are acting weird; they won't go out during daylight hours, don't eat and have dead eyes. What makes it worse is their headteacher has the same look
Crooked Oak has always been a quiet town. Nothing ever seems to happen and they have often said they had a boring life, though Nancy, Pete and Krish think they might have stumbled into a mystery, one that might get them killed if they don't solve it
There is the mystery of what has caused the change in Nancy's parents and their headteacher, but when most of the town's people start to look the same, our three heroes have to do something drastic to make things right. This also means they risk becoming like them as there is a way the zombified townsfolk can turn others into zombies. What remains to be seen is if they can turn them back to normal
Dan Smith has created a zombie horror with an environmental twist. The dangers of fracking are very real and used to great effect here. What I thought was a nice touch was the place names: Carpenter's Field, Elm Street, Ridley Lane and Mr King the shop owner. They are all names of horror or sci-fi places, authors or directors. I decided to play a game of spot the names and had a lot of fun doing it. I expect other readers will too. Dan gives us a creepy tale of life in an old town with a difference; our three heroes might not come out of their ordeal alive.
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