Press

What the critics say

When I finished reading this exhilarating, heartbreaking book, I realised that, in fact, I'd just read one of the best literary novels of the year
- Scotland on Sunday

Profoundly thoughtful... Zone One is a dark mirror, to be sure, but there is no doubt it is our own age that is being scrutinised here
- New Statesman

Punchy cocktail of horror, comedy and social critique
- Metro

A dark futuristic satire laced with fiendish humour
- The Times

Often simultaneously arch and sombre, Whitehead's narrative flares with a sociological intelligence
- Daily Telegraph

What Whitehead does really well is anchor his apocalypse in the small, heartbreaking details of everyday humanity, giving his end-of-days a bleak, sad humour that is all its own
- Sunday Times

The zombie sub-genre is all the rage, but Zone One elevates the popular trope with its harrowing tale of life, loss and hope in a post-zombie apocalypse Manhattan. As satirical and gut-wrenchingly emotional as it is horrific, Zone One is the zombie tale at its literary best
- SciFi Now

It's tense, suspenseful and terrifying... Yet, he's also very funny at times and anyone who has ever had dealings with a HR department will appreciate his asides at the zombies in personnel
- Irish Independent

Whitehead's witty spin on the zombie apocalypse is an enjoyable read and is highly recommended
- Zombies and Toys

It's monochromatically unsettling and blackly comic, as any zombie-related fiction should be. It's also one of the most gut-wrenchingly emotional reads of the year, with tragedy complex and inevitable enough to be Shakespearian... the tension is through the roof. The humour is perfectly pitched... He uses the entire situation to skewer and satirise... But where Zone One truly flourishes is in its depiction of the heartbreaking loss; loss of the chance to be simply mundane, loss of a perfectly formed stronghold and the relationships built up within. At moments like these, the book is quite startlingly, heartbreakingly beautiful, regardless of the subject matter... Whitehead's prose is engrossing, simultaneously verbose and casual enough to stroll off the page and shake your hand... even George A Romero would have to marvel at Zone One... what'll be more interesting is whether Whitehead will ever write anything as astounding as this again
- SciFi Now