Silver by Chris Wooding

This new book should appeal to horror fans.  One piece of advice....don't stop and start....I did that because the opening of the book didn't engage me, but once I got into it....Watch out!

Paul is a new student at an English boarding school.  Think out in the country, old buildings, massive campus, and ivy-covered walls.

On a science excursion to identify bugs, students report finding a strange silver-colored beetle. Even the biology teacher can't identify it. Things get rapidly worse.  A bite, or even a scratch from the beetle, morphs any creature, even a human, into a silver killing machine.

Initially the morphed creatures are slow-moving.  They remind me of zombies,  but they quickly band together, becoming more aggressive and smarter.

Paul and a group of students barricade themselves in the Science Building.  It isn't long before the "infected" are breaking down doors and climbing through windows. It's almost like a zombie apocalypse.  Cell phones don't work in the country and the power is out.  There appears to be no way to get help.

How do Paul and his small group survive? Do they survive? You'll have to read the book and see.

Wild by Alex Mallory

I can't even imagine growing up in the woods.  No house or cabin; only a cave and a cot.  No electricity, no technology, no refrigerator with food.....yet that is exactly how Cade is growing up.  At the age of 4 Cade's parents removed their family from civilization.  They feared a pandemic was about to kill humankind and wanted to avoid the disaster. Cade is now 17 years old. He honestly believes that he is the only human survivor of a terrible disease.  Both his parents are dead and he is alone in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Dara and her boyfriend, Josh are spending spring break camping in the forest.  Dara continually has that "creepy feeling" that someone is watching them.  That "someone" happens to be Cade. When a grizzly bear attacks the two of them, Cade comes to the rescue.  He is injured and needs medical attention. 

Cade receives the help that he needs, but authorities are perplexed.  Who is this "primitive boy"?  Initially the doctors and police don't believe Cade's story.  Who would believe that someone has lived off the land for 12 years?  Who doesn't know what a cell phone, computer......or even school is?  But Cade really doesn't understand anything about life in the 21st century.  Dara is trying to help the best she can....she feels a connection with Cade.  What will she risk to get closer to him?

I always love survival stories....and this modern-day "Tarzan" story fits the bill.  If I have a criticism it is that it was too long.
#owhsreads