The Enemy

The Enemy by Charlie Higson is set in London, England and is filled with kids under the age of fifteen trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where they are being hunted by ‘grown-ups’ and disease ridden animals. It’s a battle from beginning to end, seeing as there are more dangers than just mindless zombies, which makes The Enemy one of those few zombie books that cannot be deemed as run-of-the-mill. Of course, if we take into account the fact that it’s a young adult book, we can already get a little idea as to what we’re in store for, but don’t let the tag ‘young adult’ deter you from reading this gem. It’s gory, it’s gruesome and at times I forgot that the target audience of this book is 15 years old.
What is The Enemy about?
Well, after reading it, I can only call it something between Lord of the Flies and The Walking Dead. In other words, it’s awesome. The Enemy also somehow reminded me of P.D. James’ Omegas in The Children of Men for some reason … We have David King, who wants to be king of Britain and has taken residence in Buckingham Palace. We have the Holloway Kids, a group of kids that came from two supermarkets – Waitrose and Morrisons – who are trying to get there in one piece. We have Small Sam, who is trying to get back to the Holloway Kids after he was captured by grown-ups and run into some freaky cannibals along the way. Also, we have St George, a ruthless and clever grown-up that’s changing the way the ‘zombies’ hunt their prey. Basically, the guy has a grudge. Throw the archers into the mix – a group of girls that later joins up with the Holloway Kids – the squatters in St James’ Park, the group of kids living in The Tower of London and then apparently a group of kids living in a museum.
It’s anarchy in London and horror-lovers will love it.
My favourite characters were The Kid and Ollie. However, I have a feeling that Achilles will be a big player in the future.
That being said, it would be wise not to get too attached to the characters. Charlie Higson is keen on killing off the kids just as soon as you fall in love with them. I won’t post any spoilers, but it would be smart not to get attached. Believe me.
The Enemy is a fun read and I really enjoyed it. After you’ve let your young’uns read Goosebumps and Fear Street, this would be a great introduction into the gorier side of horror. However, I wouldn’t give this book to a newbie horror reader.

What - Post apocalyptic novel about a world where the grown-ups (people over 15 or so) had been turned into rage zombies.

X meets Y - Gone by Michael Grant meets The Walking Dead

Who likes - Zombie, fantasy loving people.

It's a decently long read filled with action, adventure, brave kids making foolish mistakes andn paying for them.

I binge read the whole series. It brings a whole new meaning to the landmarks of London.

Good. I had a hard time starting it, but by the middle I was hooked.

Lord of the Flies meets Dawn of the Dead.

The adults are turning into zombies. It starts when you get over a certain age so the kids of England have pulled together into gangs and groups and are trying to survive and figure out how to live in the world they are in. Lots of twists and turns with characters you like being unceremoniously killed off. This is the start of a really interesting series that defies a lot of the standard zombie conventions.

As zombie stories go, this one was pretty good.

I would recommend this book to middle school boys, but I cannot see anyone else enjoying it. Really, it's a bunch of kids killing dubiously described zombie like adults. There's not much more to be said about the plot. I have come up with seven faults of this book. (1) overabundance of telling instead of showing, (2) failure to depict believable emotions, (3) weak female characters, (4) failure to make me care about the characters, (5) lack of overarching plot, (6) abundance of unanswered questions, (7)strange shifting POV

1. I'm not sure if Charlie Higson has ever heard the phrase, "show, don't tell," because he never shows anything. All thoughts, emotions, and character motivations are clearly stated by the characters. He adds to this with huge info dumps. If you don't believe me, just read the first chapter.

2. The problem with the emotions ties into how he tells instead of shows. For me, the worst part was when he tried to give his characters romantic feelings, but he's just all around bad at it.

"The both felt awkward," (page 6). Wow, I wonder how these two characters feel? Well, apparently, they feel awkward.

"She loved him," (page 44). This would be a whole lot more effective if we could figure out for ourselves how she felt about him. Really, we shouldn't need to be told.

3. I don't like the depiction of girls in this book. The attitude seems to be that the girls are there to look after the little kids and leave fighting to the boys. Leadership is a bit more equally depicted, but is likewise skewed. Here's a quote that bugged me so badly that I bookmarked it so I'd be able to find it for the review:

"Blue runs around and shouts and waves his spear, but it's us sisters who really rule the roost. The kids, though, the felt safer with a man... well, a boy, in charge. A fighter." (page 234). I don't really think anything needs to be said about this, but... "sisters"? Really?

And don't even get me started on Maxie, the main female character. It seems like she's supposed to be depicted as strong, but she's always breaking down into tears. Seriously, the one character whose always crying is the girl. She did have one moment of strength near the end, but then she goes right back to relying on the boys to tell what to think and do. I also hate this assumption that girls can't fight and are good for nothing but looking after children and crying.

4. When a character dies, and I don't feel anything, I know it's a problem. When multiple characters die and I don't feel anything, I know its a big problem. When I realize that I don't care if any of these characters actually live, I think it's time for me to stop reading.

I didn't stop reading The Enemy, but it was a close run thing. If I hadn't been so bent on writing a review of the thing or so hopeful that it would eventually improve, I wouldn't have finished.

These characters are all basically names and maybe at most one character trait. I wondered why some of them where even there. Say, Arran for example. (view spoiler)

5. What's the point? We have most of the characters trying to get to Buckingham palace, but then there's separate story lines about Small Sam running around and this boy who chooses to stay behind. I was expecting these to all connect in some way at the end, but they didn't. There isn't any build up to a climax. The story is just one thing happening after another.

6. Most of my questions concern the zombie like "grown ups". Why do some of them appear somewhat intelligent, while the rest are just stupid? This could be answered in a sequel, but I bet this one never gets answered: Why are the grown ups so focused on eating the kids when they could just eat each other? There are a few (maybe two) sections written from their POV and we just see them focus on their hunger and the kids. It's not some sort of dead lust for life type thing, because the adults are described as being alive. Just dead and cannibalistic.

7. The POV of this book was really annoying. One paragraph we'd be inside one characters head, and we'd be seeing someone else's thoughts. If you're going to skip around, can you at least do it in some sort of orderly way? Like say, by chapter? Or even section? The POV is a mess.

So, like I said before, don't read this if you're not a middle school boy. Even then, I would hesitate to recommend it. Lets face it, there are loads of better books out there.

Meh. Glad it's over. I definitely need a dystopia break. Nothing new here.

I'm always prejudiced in favor of the zombie novel. This one is interesting, even if the zombies are actually still alive. I'm a little disappointed that the next in the series is a prequel--at this point, I feel that this ground has already been covered, if sketchily, in this book, since they had to lay the groundwork by explaining what had previously happened. I'm more interested in finding out what happens next, rather than what happened before. Anyway, I plan to continue!

The Enemy series by Charlie Higson is a great choice for reluctant readers that like the horror genre. The story follows several children in the London area that are trying desperately to survive when a wicked virus takes hold and turns every person over the age of 14 into a raving manic killer. The adults, described as "Parents", "Grownups", or "Sickos" (depending the group of children), have all become ill and died only to rise again with a raging hunger for young flesh. The first and second installments are happening at the same time, but in a different area of London. The characters are realistic which makes the action much more intense. This series is not for the faint of heart, but it is a fun ride for readers that love an intense thrill.

I'd go 4 1/2 stars with this one. An unknown disease turns everyone over the age of 16 into flesh-eating ghouls in near-future London. Hardly an original premise, but this is a fun, fast-paced, action-packed, page-turning horror-thriller. The last chapter is a set-up for a likely sequel.

It's been long enough since the Disaster that the lucky ones have died. The only grown-ups left are the infected ones, the mindless, bloated animals roving in packs around London (and presumably the surrounding countryside). Kids have survived, though: no one under 14 has been infected, and the kids have pulled together into gangs. One such group has been holed up in a supermarket, and they know they can't stay there forever. When the stranger arrives, telling them of the relative safety of Buckingham Palace, they're persuaded to make the trek across London. The trip isn't as easy as it sounds--and it certainly didn't sound easy--and fewer of them make it than started out. They're surviving, but they're also learning that the grown-ups aren't the only ones they need to be wary of.

Zombie apocalypse! What could be cheerier? Non-stop action, plenty of gore, intrigue, fighting, political maneuverings, plenty of side-stories to follow: something for everyone! That said, it could stand some editing, trimming out at least a couple of the side quests and characters. Definitely sets up a sequel (The Dead, due out in June) that fans of the first will be all over.

Readalikes: Zombicorns (John Green, for zombie infection), Gone (Michael Grant, for adult-targeted disappearance and resulting kid-centric world), Forest of Hands & Teeth (Carrie Ryan, for promise of a better, zombie-free world somewhere out there if only you can reach it), probably some other zombie stuff I'm just not super-well-versed in yet.

I picked this book up in a hurry, not really reading the blurb, but instead choosing it because I had enjoyed a few books from the author's Young Bong series. After reading the first few pages I was regretting the choice - the slightly gory "zombie" theme is not an area I have previously read anything from, and I had no desire to start! But Higson kept me reading, and I gradually warmed to the plot and predicament of the various characters. I may well end up reading the others in the series.

Children have taken over different parts of London after a deadly disease makes "zombie-like" creatures out of the adults. Several different societies are formed but two main ones prevail. They eventually join forces only to find the leader of one group has some odd ideas that do not sit well with others. A few scary battles and an odd ending that sets up the sequel.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson tells the heart-stopping story of a group of kids holed up in Waitrose (a supermarket) after a virus caused everyone over 16 to change into crazed, hungry, single-minded creatures ("Mothers" and "Fathers") who only want one thing: to eat kids. There are small gangs of children hiding around London, growing increasingly desperate and short of food. The group in Waitrose are well-organized with a charismatic 14 or 15 year old leader, and when they get word of another settlement of kids living in the safety of Buckingham Palace, they decide to head out on a dangerous journey across London to join the other group.

Battling the Mothers and Fathers is bad enough, but they encounter even more than they bargained for, and the short trip becomes a march of death. The story doesn't pull any punches, with central characters dying, disappearing, or being wounded, which makes the story heart-breaking. But the strength and character of the kids as they rally around each other and fight to survive makes it worth the heart ache. Excellent, thought-provoking story which evokes "Lord of the Flies" along with "The Road". Highly recommended.

The zombie apocalypse is over, and everyone over the age of 16 has been infected by a virus that turns them into slow moving, murderous zombies. All over London, there are small groups of children hiding in fortified places, including the group holed up in the Waitrose supermarket. Led by Arran and Achilleus and Maxine, they are slowly running out of food and supplies, when a stranger arrives and tells them that there's a group at Buckingham Palace with plenty of food and safety from the zombies. To get there, the group will have to cross half of London, without safe haven... and they have no idea how many zombies are out there waiting. Blood and guts and gore for those who like a good survival horror read -- 8th grade for violence and some language.

There are exactly 665 ratings of this book on Goodreads. Only 665. It's a travesty. Why? This has to change. I'm going to do my part to help it along. There's an influx of dystopian and zombie novels as of late. It's the latest craze apparently. So why is the best one I have read yet not more popular? I don't get it!

I'm not saying the others aren't good, but The Enemy is like a non-stop roller coaster ride. And there isn't a single lull in the action. It's full of gore, heart-stopping moments, and places where I forgot to breathe I was so scared. And the best part? There's a second book!

Look I'll admit that the idea of "grown-up" zombies feeding on children is a slightly amateurish idea. But I promise you that the minute you start reading, you will completely forget this.

Some of my reviews get technical where I talk about story elements, pacing, characterizations, and the like, but I don't really want to do that with this review. It's not necessary. Charlie can write a killer action story and that's all you need to know. He's not afraid to do what he needs to do to keep the story moving along, even if things have to get really scary.

I guess I would call this a young adult novel. But it's very violent. You know how the Hunger Games is violent? I think this is even worse than that. I found myself cringing in a lot of places. But it didn't really bother me. I really, really loved this book. Zombies are like my favorite thing to read about lately. I don't really see that changing anytime soon. They scare the bejeezus out of me.

So do me a favor. If you love dystopians, if you love reading about zombies, you need to add this one to your TBR list. Then you need to click on that list and move this book to the top. After you read it, come back here and let me know what you thought. I can't think of a single person that I wouldn't recommend this book to.

I feel rather guilty that I liked The Enemy so much. It’s an in your face, dark, violent thriller about children surviving and fighting with zombies that I found extremely gross yet very satisfying. With it’s fast pace, alternative viewpoints and awesome London setting this was a true page-turner. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that actually scared me, this book reminded me of watching horror movies with a pillow held closely to cover my face at the scary parts.

There was a epidemic that infected only adults, most died, but the ones who didn’t became flesh craving zombies. Children learned quickly to band together in order to fight for their survival. In this, the first book of the series, we follow the adventures of a group of children that have been living in a fortified grocery store. They are slowly losing members of their gang and realize they need to move on somewhere safer. During a zombie attack, they save a boy who tells them about a place of safety and they decide to risk the trip across London to get to this haven.

I realized early in the book to beware of getting too attached to any of the characters, they are indiscriminately killed off, which for me, added to the thrill. Never knowing who was going to survive hyped the book up another notch. A warning however, this book does have vivid and very brutal violence, lots of blood, guts and gore, which, if you are reading a zombie book is probably what you expect. I found The Enemy extremely addictive and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book.

an exellent book with a great story line.

I read this book at the urging of my husband, who loved it. It took a few false starts (tip: this is not a book to start reading when you’re concussed and feeling a bit sick to the stomach), but once I was able to really dive into the book, I see why he was pushing this book in my face every chance he got. This book is full of action, interrupted only by scenes of trying to regroup after the fighting and figure out who’s still alive.
Everybody knows that adolescence is a time when adults feel like the enemy, but it this book they really and truly are out to kill. The cause of the disease is unknown, but it is believed that it was something that happened sixteen years ago – or something that changed about the world sixteen years ago – and that is the reason that it’s only the under-sixteen crowd that escaped infection. This has echoes of Lord of the Flies in the sense that it’s kids who are essentially in charge, but I think the similarities stop there. Instead of focusing on how the kids divide power (though there is that, to be sure), the number one motivation for the Waitrose kids is to stay alive. This book starts with absolutely disgusting descriptions of the disease-ridden grown-ups who are attacking a young boy (see why you shouldn’t start it when you feel sick?) and the book keeps that same level of tension the whole way through.
To be honest, I don’t usually like reading long, drawn-out descriptions of action. Usually I find myself skimming that stuff (I don’t know why, I just do). Higson’s writing style, though, kept me quickly reading every single word of the action. Of course, if I hadn’t done that in this book, I only would’ve read about two scenes. Yes, it’s seriously that heavy on the action.
So yes, I admit to my husband that this is a great book and an excellent read. He’s already read The Dead, the second book of this series, and is of course pushing that one at me now. I think I’ll have to read it soon.

Normally, the word "grown-ups" bring moans and groans to misbehaving kids. In The Enemy, by renown author Charlie Higson, however, "grown-ups" mean "Run, or you'll get eaten"! All adults over the age of sixteen have either died or turned into hideous decomposing, brainless, flesh-eating monsters. The children of Holloway have divided themselves into two groups, some living in Waitrose, the others in the Morrisons supermarket, each with their own leaders.

Life is tough, and only getting worse, with one kid getting eaten or killed almost everyday. Food is scarce, the kids are so desperate, they've started eating dead dogs. When a stranger arrives in the most unusual outfit saying he can take them to a safe place, it seems to good to be true for the Holloway kids. When they ask him where that safe place is, the answer is even more suspicious - The Buckingham Palace. After some debate, the kids decide they'll go, since they've got nothing to lose.

As I read this book, it reminded me a lot of Gone by Michael Grant, and I kept expecting the kids in this book to develop super-powers just like the ones in Gone. There's a lot of blood and gore, and the loss of lives is painful at times. But its very face-paced, so readers won't feel as emotional as with some other books. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with it, and I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars because I think it could have had a little more substance to it.

This book was quite the splended read. It was jolly frightning! It was exeptionally delightful how Higson depicted this madness! Im not one for the Zombies, but I do reccomend this one! I completely adore the way he has set up this frightening setting! Adults as zombies? Jolly good, Jolly good!

Most adults have become Zombies and different groups of children have banded together. Who can be trusted and is Buckingham Palace the place they should all head for?

The Enemy is a young adult title set in a London decimated by disease that turns anyone over the age of 16 into a rotting zombie, unable to speak, and intent only on survival by devouring the healthy children who have managed to survive in a world where grown-ups really are the enemy. The story centers on two groups of kids who have taken refuge in two supermarkets, one in a poorer area and one in a more well off area, whose numbers are dwindling daily. When the two groups who are rapidly running out of food and supplies and are being daily threatened by encroaching grown-ups meet a strange new kid, they're forced to choose whether to unite their forces and have to decide whether to take a big risk for a chance at a better, safer life.

I found myself thinking repeatedly while I was reading The Enemy that it is a book that would be great for boys. It's got blood and guts and assorted unpleasantness. More importantly, though, it's got the pace of an action movie. Its crowd of characters is always fighting against zombie grown-ups and amongst themselves, and there are countless "action movie" moments where just when you think the hero is safe, the next threat is already being revealed. This emphasis on action and moving the plot forward can make the story seem a bit shallow at times. That said, though, given the action driven plot and the sheer number of characters in The Enemy, Higson does an admirable job of fleshing out an impressive array of main characters, giving us ways to understand who they were before and how they became what they are after the disease struck and civilization crumbled.

Even though I would hardly call myself the ideal audience for The Enemy, I really enjoyed it. It's definitely a fast-moving action-packed romp of a post-apocalypse story that even, for a few fleeting moments, contemplates the possibility of the survival of goodness, loyalty, and doing what's right even when the world has gone horribly wrong.

In the story, our planet has been ravaged by mysterious and lethal disease that has killed nearly all adults on the planet. The ones that are left alive are left as zombies, who's only thought is to feed, mainly on children, who are the only sane survivors, who fight for their lives. The story tells the journey of a group of children who travel across London, searching for the legendary “safe” place, where adults don’t dare coming. But when they get there, they find treachery and terrible plans. I like this book because it is well written and the story captured me, where every chapter was a turn in the story.

Kearsten says: Though the 'monsters' here aren't strictly zombies, they're decaying and eat flesh, so...zombies to me!

Something has infected everyone in England (and possibly the world) over the age of sixteen, causing them to go crazy, break out in disgusting pustules and begin craving flesh, leaving all the kids on their own. Two rival group of kids (who've each staked out grocery stores) join up to head toward Buckingham Palace, where a mysterious boy claims kids are living the sweet life.

While I found this a bit slow in the first half (but not the good, zombie kind of slow), it does pick up speed, and offers up some truly terrifying bits, including a scene in a seemingly deserted indoor swimming pool and a park near an old zoo. I'd probably describe this one as Lord of the Flies meets 28 Days Later...

Recommended.

Judith says: The story begins a little slowly but once the kids start their journey, the story moves much faster. There was a great deal of action and I actually read this in what was for me record time.

The characters were very interesting and engaging. Arran the leader of the kids from Waitrose and his second Maxie. The 'misfits' Ollie, Freak, Deak and Achilleus. Blue and Whitney from the Morrison group. Even the little ones who were not as well developed were endearing. There were the heroes, the villains and the ones who fell in between. All of them were written in such a way that I was interested in knowing what would happen to them.

Once the decision was made by two different group of survivors to join forces and travel to Buckingham Palace, the action was pretty much nonstop. There was in place in London that was safe. Marauding groups of adults were a constant threat. The youngsters had to also fight escaped zoo animals that became sick as a result of the plague.

The author wrote the novel in such a way that I was able to get into the minds of the young characters and feel their fear, frustration and bone weary tiredness. I want for them to finally find a safe place and not have to just survive.

I think that teens reading this novel will find someone with which to identify. The teens in particular are not just one dimensional characters. They show other sides of themselves. I would definitely recommend this anyone teen who likes their action and pace fast and furious

Though the 'monsters' here aren't strictly zombies, they're decaying and eat flesh, so...zombies to me!

Something has infected everyone in England (and possibly the world) over the age of sixteen, causing them to go crazy, break out in disgusting pustules and begin craving flesh, leaving all the kids on their own. Two rival group of kids (who've each staked out grocery stores) join up to head toward Buckingham Palace, where a mysterious boy claims kids are living the sweet life.

While I found this a bit slow in the first half (but not the good, zombie kind of slow), it does pick up speed, and offers up some truly terrifying bits, including a scene in a seemingly deserted indoor swimming pool and a park near an old zoo. I'd probably describe this one as Lord of the Flies meets 28 Days Later...

Recommended.

The story begins a little slowly but once the kids start their journey, the story moves much faster. There was a great deal of action and I actually read this in what was for me record time.

The characters were very interesting and engaging. Arran the leader of the kids from Waitrose and his second Maxie. The "misfits" Ollie, Freak, Deak and Achilleus. Blue and Whitney from the Morrison group. Even the little ones who were not as well developed were endearing. There were the heroes, the villains and the ones who fell in between. All of them were written in such a way that I was interested in knowing what would happen to them.

Once the decision was made by two different group of survivors to join forces and travel to Buckingham Palace, the action was pretty much nonstop. There was in place in London that was safe. Marauding groups of adults were a constant threat. The youngsters had to also fight escaped zoo animals that became sick as a result of the plague.

The author wrote the novel in such a way that I was able to get into the minds of the young characters and feel their fear, frustration and bone weary tiredness. I want for them to finally find a safe place and not have to just survive.

I think that teens reading this novel will find someone with which to identify. The teens in particular are not just one dimensional characters. They show other sides of themselves. I would definitely recommend this anyone teen who likes their action and pace fast and furious.