The Undertakers: Rise of the Corpses is a first book in a wonderful new series by Ty Drago. In it we meet young Will Richter. Will’s father Karl was a cop in the Philadelphia police department until his untimely death a year ago. Now that Will’s twelve, he’s started to notice something strange; people all around him- his neighbor, assistant principal, and math teacher- are all dead. Yet they move and talk. When it’s discovered that he can see them as actual dead people, the ‘corpses’ attack, and Will is rescued by Helene. Helene takes him to the Undertakers, a splinter cell of freedom fighters who are resisting the rise of the ‘corpses’ in question. These are not zombies; those tend to be slow and stupid. ‘Corpses’ are very smart, strong and capable, and they have a plan to eventually dominate the world.
Will must come to terms with the new reality of being able to see the ‘corpses’ – only one adult could ever identify a ‘corpse’ for what it was, and that was his dad – and learn to accept his place among the Undertakers. Will the undertakers stop the ‘corpses’? Will Kenny Booth run for Mayor? Find out by reading this book! I found this book to be a quick read, and really quite fun. It had its serious moments, but it was definitely a book the entire family could read. Highly recommended for fans of zombies, action, adventure, Philadelphia, and fun reads, middle and high school libraries, and public library YA collections.
Contains: violence and slight gruesome imagery.
Reviewed by: Benjamin Franz