Brian and his friends are not part of the cool crowd. They’re the misfits and the troublemakers—the ones who jump their high school’s fence to skip class regularly. So when a deadly virus breaks out, they’re the only ones with a chance of surviving.
The virus turns Brian’s classmates and teachers into bloodthirsty attackers who don’t die easily. The whole school goes on lock down but Brian and his best friend, Chad, are safe (and stuck) in the theater department—far from Brian’s sister, Kenzie, and his ex-girlfriend with a panic attack problem, Laura. Brian and Chad, along with some of the theater kids Brian had never given the time of day before, decide to find the girls and bring them to the safety of the theater. But it won’t be easy, and it will test everything they thought they knew about themselves and their classmates.
The last time I ever remember being scared was when my cousins and I stayed up late on a particular Friday night and watched all of the Final Destination movies. But reading Sick by Tom Leveen was a striking awakening to what it means to be truly scared. 
Readers are introduced to Brian who, along with old and new-found friends, rises to the occasion when his school is overcome with a disease that turns people into zombie-like beings. *Sigh* we’ve all heard this story told over and over again right? Not in this fashion. Leveen, instead of following the exhausted zombie story line, creates a fictitious disease where ordinary people are transformed into neanderthal-looking monsters with crystallized skin who crave the bone marrow of the non-infected.
As fear-inducing as this story was, a lot of it was focused on how Brian and his friends survived the sudden outbreak while keeping what’s left of their humanity; they’re faced with having to kill some of their infected friends.
What was surprising is that Brian, Chad (Brian’s best friend) and Jaime (the guy in charge of the drama club) take charge of the situation and look for ways to escape the school grounds instead of waiting for help. Leveen makes you attached to the characters since page one and then spends the next 287 pages tearing your heart out as he constantly puts them in the face of danger.
Even more surprising was that Laura, Brian’s ex-girlfriend with a case of panic attacks, is not only not going into her usual hysteria but fighting alongside Brian and the rest of survivors. She transforms into this kick-ass character and quickly becomes one of my favorites.
For his first debut into horror, Tom Leveen does an amazing job at creating and developing characters, monsters and a phenomenal plot that makes Sick one of the best choices for readers who are new to the horror genre.
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Rating: 9/10
Book Info:
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (October 1, 2013)
Length: 288 pages (Hardcover)
Series: N/A
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Genre: Teens & YA
Completed: October 2013
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