The Sacrifice (An Enemy Novel, 4)

Life in London hasn't been easy, but with strongholds going up to protect the kids who survived, everyone stops thinking about not getting eaten on a daily basis and starts thinking about how to put their lives back together. In the fourth book of Charlie Higson's Enemy series, The Sacrifice, the kids of London have to remember, danger is all around them.Little Sam survived being kept by an adult for a future snack, but now all he can think about is finding his sister. It is so hard to get from one place to another that friends and family members are scattered in strongholds all over the city. Jordan won't let him leave, but Sam is determined to get to his sister. Even Ed, the nicest guy around, thinks the idea of traipsing across the badlands to find a girl who might already be dead is a bad idea. When the group saves a strange girl named Tish from a horde of sickos, Sam and The Kid get the opportunity they were looking for: a girl with the gumption and determination to leave the Tower of London and help Sam and The Kid find Sam's sister, Ella.Meanwhile, Shadowman has been doing some traveling of his own. He has been following the nasty father, Saint George, and George's crew. He is the only on who knows the scary new potential of the mothers and fathers. No longer the stupid, shambling, mindless eaters, they have started to hunt and plot against the surviving kids. Something even more dangerous is happening- they are also beginning to congregate and Saint George's group is getting larger and larger. Soon, they will have the numbers and power to overthrow even the most secure stronghold in London. The problem? The kids Shadowman comes into contact with don't believe the adults are changing... until it is too late.My pet peeves with this series continue to be frustrating, but at least one has been mitigated. I still struggle to pick up one of these books and get right into it because there isn't a good recap in the beginning. I find myself looking up a plot summary for the previous book and reading reviews to remind myself what happened in the book I read more than a year ago. Not ideal. I really wish Higson did a better job of taking a moment to catch you up before jumping right into the insanity, just so I knew what was bloody happening! However, it seems the last two books have gone in chronological order, which I appreciate. At first, the books bounced around, but lately, one follows the next, which makes it far easier for the reader to understand exactly when and where things are happening.As a story, this series just never lets up. Even though it is a long series, every book is packed with mystery and excitement (or terror). I find myself sucked right in and reluctant to let go. The idea of the adults learning to reason again and plot against the kids is a thought so creepy it gave me actual nightmares! I think this series continues to be a strong plot, writing, and entertainment form the first book to the last, and I think that is a testament to Higson's writing. It just doesn't get old with this series! I think my favorite part of this story is Sam and The Kid, as they are so sweet and innocent yet left to fend for themselves in this ugly world where the flesh-eating adults are the least of your worries. Still, the Shadowman story line is fascinating as well. I can't imagine having all this important knowledge and no one listening to you. He warns kids over and over again not to underestimate Saint George and his crew, but they just won't listen to him, and his guilt over watching the result is palpable.This series can certainly be gruesome at times, but if you have a kid who watches "The Walking Dead," or any other zombie stories, they should be fine with this series. The interesting part is the complete lack of sexy times so far. I find more parents and teachers find the sexy times to be more objectionable than the violence, so this story would make a great, captivating story that is relatively unobjectionable for readers craving more mature material. Even though the book is long, it reads really fast, which makes it perfect for a struggling reader who wants mature material. Higson sure knows his stuff!

I have other 3 books of this series upstairs in my room on my awesome book shelf and this one is just the latest that will be added to it once I'm finished reading it. I've only just got "The Sacrafice" sometime late last week so I'm only on page 120 right now but so far, it's epic! It's so fun to read and if you've read any of the last three books, you really feel for the characters and Higson makes it feel as if you're on the journey with them through London. I am so glad that I accidentally stumbled upon it at a bookstore in the mall. One of the many great things about this series is that no matter how connected you are to a certain character that may be your favorite, or no matter how much you root for their survival, you never know if they might die or not. Of course you feel sad if they do die, but that's the beauty of it-the unpreditability and surprise. As I'm on page 120 SO I still have a lot to go but I'm really excited about reading the rest of it!!!!

I have read all 4 books in this series and thoroughly enjoyed them all. This book is good but to me it ends without completing the story so I expect there to be a 5th book.Now I have a few nitpicks it is not "human beans" it is "human beings", in the beginning of the book wormworld refers to his 2 sons and 1 daughter later in the book he has 3 sons. The over use of commas and full stops is irritating as is using a comma after every and and but. Also what is the single quotation marks about? I find all this off putting and as this is a book from a large publishing house and an experienced author I am confused!Now having said that, the story is well told and enjoyable. The caracters are well developed and their story well told. The descriptions of London are excellent and allow you to picture the events better.

No worries readers, no spoilers within!I am amazed that once more this author has continued this series without a moment of dull or tedious page turning. It brings me back to the thrills of Lord of The Flies that I read as a child.But Higson has done the impossible. A terrifying series in involving children where the enemy is both the 'sickos' and the survivors. This is a masterpiece. No character within is paper thin. No survivor without either mental or physical damage. It is so horrifyingly honest in all respects.I beseech newcomers to read all four books. I swear you shall not regret it.Mr. Higson, never stop writing.Your talent is immense. Rock on Sir!P.S: I would be immensely in your debt if you give me tips on how to wait for the next installment.

I enjoyed this book, and the characters in it were interesting to read about. My favorite being The Kid. The plot was good, and the story was well crafted. Overall, I give it a recommend to read.

Cards on the table. I'm 37 years young and a huge fan of the Zombie genre.I've read the three previous installments of this series and could wait for The Sacrifice to come out.It hasn't failed to live up to it's predicessors and the only dissapointment on finished was knowing I will have to wait for the 5th book in this series.A must read for Zombie fans.

I've been reading the enemy series for a while now and this is probably my favorite book of them all but I still have to finish The Fallen, The Hunted, and The End. Can't wait for them, and I would like for Charlie H. to make more books in a different series that describes what happens after the Enemy series, like how they rebuild the Earth (London) and become one group or civilization.

One of the best horror stories I have ever read. Kept me awoke and on edge for days, really. I kept thinking my parents were going to kill me. Please make more books and keep them coming TELL I'm calling for Mommy. I'd recommend this to anyone ten or older. Any younger and your kids will lock them selves in there rooms forever.

These books I came across by chance. I was lucky enough to pick up the first three in a charity shop. Half way through the first one I ordered the rest of the series and boy, I’m glad I did. They are well written books, you really get to know the characters and most of all they are not just for youngsters. I am a grandmother and I’m in my second round of reading them now, and maybe this time I’ll read them slower, first time I had to get through them to see what happens.Charlie Higson more books like this please. 😉

The Sacrifice is the fourth book in The Enemy series and we have a pretty established cast of characters by now. This breaks the pattern of the preceding books in the series in that it doesn’t introduce a new cast, instead the book begins to further develop those we have already met. This is where Higson has woven his web, now he’s beginning to pull the strands together. London, the World for what matters, is becoming smaller as contact is established between the groups. Community is reborn in a fashion. This book sees a watershed in the narrative where the focal point of the series ceases to be coming to terms and coping with the new world, instead shifting to making sense of it and the pursuit of answers.So,This book focuses primarily on two related stories and on one apparently separate one. The Sacrifice continues the chronology, following immediately after the events of The Fear. It begins to look at the development and evolution of the adults and the disease that has changed them beyond recognition and turned the world upside down.After being taken in at the Tower of London, the Kid and Small Sam are keen to get back on the road to the Natural History Museum in search of Ella, Sam’s sister from whom he has become separated. Nice guy Ed, star of the second book isn't keen to let them go as it would mean going through the No Go Zone and that’s just suicide. However, they slip away after encouragement and persuasion from Tish, a green-clad girl that Ed rescued from grownups. The three of them head off towards Kensington. Their journey and their eventual (unexpected) destination is one half of the main story, and we find out what some divergent characters from The Dead have been getting up to for the last year.Realising that they have put themselves in danger by leaving the tower and reluctant to lose any more kids after the disappearance of DogNut, Ed sets off with a small rescue party of loyal fighters to find Small Sam and The Kid. Stopping off at the Houses of Parliament, he discovers the existence of a sort of information exchange between settlements of kids and the hunters that destroy adults on a mercenary basis. It’s here he meets Nicola at Westminster and learns not only that DogNut passed through recently, but that Small Sam and his friend are not on their way to the museum at all, but have seen sighted near St. Paul’s Cathedral. He also learns of David’s settlement at the Palace and the expatriates that have fled his regime. Ed’s group’s pursuit of Sam and The Kid and their dramatic rescue make up the other side of the group-based story.Separately, Shadowman has continued to track The Fear singlehandedly through London, observing them, learning their behaviour and gathering intelligence on them. The adults are beginning to display some signs of organisation- setting traps, using weapons, displaying a herd mentality- survival of the fittest. Naturally this disturbs Shadowman greatly. I really liked the accidental lapses in Shadowman, when he catches himself off guard almost feeling proud of The Fear, impressed by their strength and organisation. I'm increasingly intrigued about Shadowman’s character in general. Inherently mysterious, he’s obviously an incredible survivor, intelligent and resourceful and he’s demonstrated both a detached and hardened exterior and a surprisingly heroic side. He's a contradiction and an enigma. What intrigues me most is his peripheral nature. The main story wouldn't be hugely different without him, but the amount of time invested in his narrative makes him seem incredibly important. I look forward to seeing where Shadowman is going.Another aspect of this book that really caught my imagination was the religious themes. Being a huge extremist, Mad Matt, Pope of the religion of The Lamb really has change to flex his crazy muscles in this book. His pomposity, his arrogance and his fundamentalism lead him to make some really dodgy decisions- decisions that are not seen only in Theocracy but in Military rule too. But I liked that the scared 14 year old showed through sometimes. It’s something not communicated very often- that religious extremists might have a scared and confused person inside that just wants someone to tell them to stop. Is it important that the two primary themes are evolution and religion in this book? Is that intentionally polarised? Is Wormwood, the monster living underneath St. Paul’s some kind of bridge between the two? I honestly can't wait to find out.Not as character driven as the previous installments of the series, The Sacrifice definitely gives the reader the sense that things are heating up. The adults are evolving, the settlements are all up to their necks in their own problems and conflicts. David is trying to take over the physical World, Matt the Spiritual one. The politics of power have remained dangerous and contaminating throughout. The kids are starting to ask questions about the disease, they’re starting to get a grip on the new world, establish an order, get things organised. But unfortunately so are their advisories. The adults in this fourth book are truly terrifying. They've stopped simply being gross and dangerous and have become eerie and uncanny, automatons in some cases. It’s just getting weirder. I'm continually baffled by the breadth of the narrative in this story and the skill with which the separate strands are all developed, reigned in then combined. To have so many plates spinning and to still leave the reader gagging for more is a pretty incredible feat. I'm sad already to have passed into the concluding half of the series. Two more books to go!

This is the fourth book in Charlie Higson's superb zombie series The Enemy. As with the other books, the novel follows the fortunes of a series of children as they battle across London trying to survive in a world turned upside down. Twelve months before the action in the books starts, the world has been invaded by a plague/virus that has either killed everyone over the age of fourteen, or turned them into cannibal zombies who prey on young children.The books move the action on slightly every time, but their time lines intermingle so that instead of going forward with each book, the world the book creates gets richer, more complex, more interesting every time you read on. The characters flesh out, you begin to understand them more as the picture builds, and all the time you grow more attached to them, despite the fact that Higson has no compunction in killing them off just as you've grown to love or understand them. It's part of what makes the books so interesting though. You really do never know what's going to happen next.This book is my favourite of the four currently available (a new one, The Fallen, is out in September 2013). I think that every time I read a new volume, but this one really is! Not just because it tells me more about the characters I've grown to care for, and enriches the story, but also because in this book we learn more about the Enemy. I cannot wait for number five.

I have read every one of the books in this series, this last one took me two days, I think to market them just for teenagers would be unfair, although I think reading this in school would probably make more teenagers take up reading.I would go as far to say there's not many adult books ive read recently that can stand next to these, and as much as I couldnt wait to see what happened to Small Sam, the Kid and Ed, I was gutted to finish the book, I have also got my husband hooked, and hes reading through the series as fast as I was.I do love my zombies books (although these are technically not the undead), but I think these explore so much more, I love that there are characters who are moral and upstanding and who you want so much to be okay, and characters who are slightly off the wall, who again you want to pick up and remove from danger.Although I want to know what happens to them all, ultimately, it will be a sad time when this series end. The new Harry Potter series for the cooler adults.

Since the release of The Enemy I have waited with eager anticipation for each new instalment. The Sacrifice does not disappoint, in fact it may be the most enjoyable book yet. I am not in the age bracket this book is aimed at (I am 47 with two young children), but I am utterly addicted. This is a teenage series that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. This latest instalment hints at an fundemental shift beyond the more simplistic fight for survival between the inexperienced but rapidly learning children and the unorganised but savage adults, and I cannot wait to see how things will develop. There is a lot of mileage in this saga yet Charlie, please don't think about ending it anytime soon.