As the World Dies: The First Days is a fantastically scary zombie read that has you cheering the strong survivors until the end in a "world {that} had slid sideways into hell."  

The story begins with Jenni, "...a strange, strange girl in a strange, strange world", muttering to herself while watching "those tiny fingers ... pressed under the door ... tips of tiny fingers raw and skinless".  We quickly come to realize that those tiny fingers belong to her now undead son.  Somehow she manages to flee the house and is rescued by Katie, a prosecutor who was rescued by a priest, but is now alone, except for a brave zombie warning dog, Jack.  Together they set off to find a safe place to settle and wrap their minds around what's happened.   

Along the way, the meet some amazing people, all doing what they can to survive. They quickly realize that bite = death and they become the executioners.  They are "the funeral of the world ... the mourning survivors picking up the pieces and finding a way to move on..." through their guilt of doing what must be done to survive.  Jenni, once almost catatonic, has come to almost love her new role as, nicknamed by Katie, "a deadly Tinkerbell of death", killing the zombies that remind her of all that she's lost.

In the end, Frater writes, "The worst is yet to come ..." and I can't wait to read on and find out how the newly formed community deals with the horrors (not just zombies) that remain in this "new world".

{Reblogged @ 10/2013 to fix formatting issues due to GR import}

Re-Published July 5th 2011 by Tor Books with new cover