Forest of Hands and Teeth

Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. 2009. 310p. ISBN 9780385736817. Available as FIC RYA on the library shelves.

Mary has always lived in the shadow of death. Her entire village is surrounded by the forest, where the unconsecrated live. Always hungry, always moaning, they push against the thin fence that protects the very last bastion of humanity against its doom. The village is protected by the Guardians, who enforce the rules and maintain the fence, and it is governed by the Sisterhood, the healers and the spiritual leaders of what’s left of mankind. The village is all there is, the only reality.

But Mary has always wanted more. Her mother told her tales of the ocean, water as far as the eye could see, a place of peace and solitude away from the hungry moans of the dead. With the accidental death of her husband, Mary’s mother turns herself over to the unconsecrated so she can be with him. Mary becomes alone in the world, and even her brother will not vouch for her.

Forced to live with the Sisterhood, Mary is there when Gabry, a strange girl wearing a red vest, is captured and held in secret. Now the certitudes that Mary thought she knew are replaced with doubt. Obviously, others still dwell beyond the fence. Could there be other villages or cities out there? Does the ocean actually exist?

Knowing that Gabry pose a danger to their worldview and isolation, the Sisterhood drop her off in the midst of the unconsecrated. In death, however, Gabry become even more dangerous, a new species of unconsecrated, one that moves quickly and is both stronger and more violent. Suddenly, the fences are breached, and Mary must escape with a few of her friends. But will she finally find the peace she seeks, or are there more dangers ahead in the Forest of Hands and Teeth?

This book is a great horror tale that will create shivers up the reader’s spine. Lovers of zombies will appreciate this different take on a post-apocalypse undead world. The story of the Forest of Hands and Teeth continues in the Dead-Tossed Waves.