Review: Infected (A Click Your Poison Book) by James Schannep

Andy Ross

If the world were to fall to a zombie apocalypse, who you let into your group of survivors would be very important. While I may lack the physical prowess required by some sets of rules (cardio and I DO NOT get along at all), I do have extremely good critical thinking and reasoning skills that are vital in any group. That is my survivor’s resume cover page, the resume itself comes in the form of this book.

Infected is called “A Click Your Poison” book, which is a revamped version of the classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” series of books that many of us loved growing up. One extra twist is that since this is an e-book with links to click (instead of the old “turn to page whatever” options) you can’t go back and change your mind. The notion of your decisions having irreversible consequences lent itself well to the zombie apocalypse theme of the story.

The story places you at the beginning of a scenario that has the potential to start the zombie apocalypse and effectively end the world. As you go through the story you are presented with choices that are usually all logical options, with the occasional entertaining option thrown in. The decisions you make will determine where the story goes and how your fate plays out. Do you have supplies? Are you the extreme person with a zombie-proof bunker in your backyard? Do you head for the city or flee into the forest? These are only a handful of examples of the choices you get to make. Depending on your choices you could meet an interesting group of survivors or confront an insane group of supply shoppers that make Black Friday look like a My Little Pony cartoon.

The tagline of the book’s description on Amazon says, “3 Unique Storylines. Over 50 Possible Endings. Just one question... Will YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?” I am proud to say that on my first reading I came to an ending that was not only surviving, but in my opinion one of the best possible outcomes of the story line I followed. Critical thinking skills, I have them in spades! Future readings yielded more fatal results, but the journey to my repeated demise was equally entertaining.

If you are looking for an entertaining read or want to try your hand at surviving the author’s vision of a zombie apocalypse this book is highly recommended. Heck, even if you are in your thirties and want to recapture some youth with a more age-appropriate “Choose Your Own Adventure” style book, this is the one for you!