Remade by Alex Scarrow

Macmillan, 2016. ISBN 9781509811205
(Age: 14+) Highly recommended. 'It hasn't liquefied all of this person yet.'
This book is a real seat of the pants ride through the unthinkable.
'Replication was the highest priority. Very soon it had 'fathered' a copy of itself, and now both of them were working hard on replicating again.'
Are you intrigued?
'He poured out his Weetos and drenched them in milk, little realising that this was going to be the last 'normal' breakfast time he was ever going to experience.'
Alex Scarrow has crafted a book that has the reader compulsively turning the pages, hoping that what looks to be happening will somehow not happen on the next page. The writing creates an atmosphere of tension, dread and horror that make this book impossible to put down.
The scene is a previously unidentified virus erupting in several locations across the world at the same time, and then taking hold of the planet. At each stage the reader is lead to feel hope that disaster will be averted.
What sets this book apart from others is Scarrow's skill in expertly releasing this virus into the world. The story unfolds in such a believable way, the reader can feel as if this event is actually unfolding. The scenes between Leo, his younger sister Grace and their father are poignant. Despite the distance that separates them, there is an overwhelming drive to help each other. Leo's courage in taking on the virus and working to save his family has the reader urging them on to safety.
This is not a book to read right before going to sleep, and haunts the reader well after the book has closed for the last time.
Linda Guthrie