The first book of the #1 A Netflix Original series! "Terrifyingly fun! Delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs."--Jeff Kinney, author of the #1 Ever since the Monster Apocalypse hit town, thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan has been holed up in his tree house, which he’s armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention an endless supply of Oreos and Mountain Dew scavenged from abandoned stores. Apart from the hordes of zombies, Winged Wretches, and Vine-Thingies invading his once-quiet town of Wakefield, Jack is content to treat the apocalypse like one giant video game--achieving Feats of Apocalyptic Success, driving around in his new ride, Big Mama, and dodging evil monsters like the eerily intelligent Blarg, who just so happens to be on Jack’s trail. To take on this ferocious beast, Jack builds a team: his dorky best friend, Quint; reformed bully Dirk; Jack’s loyal pet monster, Rover; and the fiercest girl Jack knows, June. But Blarg isn’t the only threat they face in this new world, and there are brutal horrors around every turn. Can Jack and his friends take on the apocalypse and live to tell the tale? Told in a mixture of text and black-and-white illustration, this is the perfect series for any kid who''s ever dreamed of starring in their own comic book or video game.

Autorentext
Max Brallier is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His books and series include The Last Kids on Earth, Eerie Elementary, Mister Shivers, Galactic Hot Dogs, and Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? He is a writer and producer for Netflix’s Emmy-award-winning adaptation of The Last Kids on Earth. Visit him at MaxBrallier.com.

Zusammenfassung
*The first book of the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today* bestselling apocalyptic adventure series, now in paperback with custom-designed sprayed edges!

A Netflix Original series!

"Terrifyingly fun! Delivers big thrills and even bigger laughs."--Jeff Kinney, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Diary of a Wimpy Kid**

Ever since the Monster Apocalypse hit town, thirteen-year-old Jack Sullivan has been holed up in his tree house, which he’s armed to the teeth with catapults and a moat, not to mention an endless supply of Oreos and Mountain Dew scavenged from abandoned stores. Apart from the hordes of zombies, Winged Wretches, and Vine-Thingies invading his once-quiet town of Wakefield, Jack is content to treat the apocalypse like one giant video game—achieving Feats of Apocalyptic Success, driving around in his new ride, Big Mama, and dodging evil monsters like the eerily intelligent Blarg, who just so happens to be on Jack’s trail. To take on this ferocious beast, Jack builds a team: his dorky best friend, Quint; reformed bully Dirk; Jack’s loyal pet monster, Rover; and the fiercest girl Jack knows, June. But Blarg isn’t the only threat they face in this new world, and there are brutal horrors around every turn. Can Jack and his friends take on the apocalypse and live to tell the tale?

Told in a mixture of text and black-and-white illustration, this is the perfect series for any kid who's ever dreamed of starring in their own comic book or video game.

Leseprobe

chapter one

That’s me.

Not the giant monster.

Beneath the giant monster. The kid on his back, with the splintered bat. The handsome kid, about to get eaten.

Forty-two days ago, I was regular Jack Sullivan: thirteen years old, living an uneventful life in the uninteresting town of Wakefield. I was totally not a hero, totally not a tough guy, totally not fighting giant monsters.

But look at me now. Battling a gargantuan beast on the roof of the local CVS.

Life is crazy like that.

Right now, the whole world is crazy like that. Check the shattered windows. Check the wild vines crawling up the side of the building.

All of these things are not normal.

And me? I haven’t been normal, well, ever. I’ve always been different. See, I’m an orphan— I bounced all over the country, different homes, different families, before landing in this little town of Wakefield in December.

But all that moving, it makes you tough: it makes you cool, it makes you confident, it makes you good with the girls—it makes you JACK SULLIVAN.

Yikes.

Almost got a monster fist to the skull there.

I’m at CVS because I need an eyeglass repair kit—those little tool sets that dads buy for when their glasses break. I know, that’s a lame thing to need. But I have a walkie and that walkie is busted and to fix that walkie, I need a really really really tiny screwdriver and the only place to get a really really really tiny screwdriver is in an eyeglass repair kit.

This was supposed to be a quick, easy trip to CVS. But one thing I’ve learned about life after the Monster Apocalypse: nothing’s quick and nothing’s easy.

This monster here is the foulest, most ferocious, and just plain horrible thing I’ve encountered yet. He’s straight-up—

Yikes! The monster’s massive fist pounds the roof until it cracks like thin ice. I trip, tumble back, and land hard on my bony butt.

It’s time to stop being this monster’s punching bag. See, I’ve kind of been the world’s punching bag for a while and y’know—it just ain’t a whole lotta fun. 	

So I’m fighting back.

I get to my feet.

I dust myself off.

I grip the bat in my hand. Not too tight, not too loose—just like they coach you in Little League.

Only I’m not trying to hit some kid’s lousy curveball. . . . I’m trying to slay a monster.

Well, basically, he triumphs.

The monster’s massive hand snatches me out of midair. I’m a thimble in his gargantuan grasp.

I try to grab hold of my baseball bat blade (aka the Louisville Slicer), but the monster’s crushing grip pins my arms to my sides.

He pulls me in close to his face. Thick saliva, like slime, oozes down his lips. His eyes scan me over and his gaping nostrils flair as he inhales my scent. I feel like that blonde babe in King Kong. Only I don’t think this beast wants to hug me and love me. . . .

He sniffs some more, blowing my hair back as he exhales. I turn my face. His breath, it’s just—wow—my man here needs to floss.

I’ve encountered other freaky beasts over the last forty-two days, but none like this. None that examined me: looking me over, smelling me, studying me.

None that felt this terrifyingly smart. I have a sick feeling in my gut—a sense—something that tells me that this beast here is 100% pure, beyond beyond EVIL.

A smile seems to creep across the monster’s face. A sinister smirk that says, “I’m not simply some primal thug. I’m a monstrous villain, a great evil, and I will enjoy inflicting pain upon your tiny human body.”

With a spine-tingling moan, the beast’s mouth opens wide, revealing an army of dirty fangs, with chunks of flesh between each tooth. I kick. I squirm. And, facing imminent death-by-devouring, I at last BITE. My teeth sink into monster flesh and his paw loosens slightly—just enough for me to wrap my fingers around my blade’s handle, rip it free, and—

I slam the bat into the creature’s thick cranium until he roars—a sound like BLARG!!!—and his palm opens and—

Uh-oh. . . .

I’m plummeting through the air, down through the hole in the roof, into the CVS. . . .

I land in the junk-food aisle. I snatch an Oreo from its package and jam it into my mouth. Mmm. . . . The Oreo is a whole lot stale, but whatever—an Oreo is an Oreo, and good …