“It all began in 1896,” he started to explain.  “A group of miners was digging one of New York’s first subway tunnels when an explosion killed all thirteen men in the crew.” … “… the explosion that killed them also blasted open a deep pocket of Manhattan schist.” … “… an extremely dense and strong  type of bedrock.” … “The only place on earth it’s found is underneath Manhattan.  Without it, New York couldn’t have all of its skyscrapers.  It’s what makes the city possible.  And it’s also what makes the undead possible.” … “Some energy force from the minerals in that bedrock brought the miners back to life,” he explained.  “But they weren’t really alive.  They were undead.”  Grayson, pg. 75-76 Dead City

Over a hundred years later we meet Molly, a seventh grader from New York, who likes to spend her summers hanging out at the morgue.  Molly is admittedly a little socially awkward, she’s never been very good at making friends, and when she was little her mom enrolled her in Jeet Kune Do (a type of martial arts) instead of Ballet classes and signed her up for the Audubon Society’s Junior Birder program instead of Brownies.  Molly never understood how her mom had talked her into these activities when she was little, but now, as Molly starts her training to become an Omega, a secret society of students from her science magnet school, which “… police and protect the undead citizens of New York City.” (pg. 67), she begins to realize her mom’s previously unknown reasons.  Will Molly be able to use all her skills to help her Omega team mates figure out why Zombies broke into the morgue to steal a copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and more importantly how will she deal with all the information she finds out?

If you like Dead City, you can join the Omega team on their next adventure in Blue Moon, or check out The Zombie Chasers series by John Kloepfer.