Review: Steve Vernon Hit's The Bulls-Eye With This Y/A Novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 22, 2012
Steve Vernon writes weird books.  Weird, but always entertaining.  He has a way with words that never fail to make a reader laugh no matter how action packed or disgusting the story may be (and for those who are unfamiliar with Vernon's fiction output, I would put just as much emphasis on the word disgusting as action packed).  After all, Vernon is the author of books with scenes containing disembodied heads making their way across the landscape, a demon that resides in someone's butt, a love story between two squids, a superhero without any real powers called Captain Nothing, and a whole bunch of stories about people that just won't stay dead.While Vernon's fiction has primarily been targeted at adults, at its core, his aim wasn't really wasn't all that far from where our teenage senses of adventure and wonder have taken refuge.  He is one of the best at reaching into a reader's soul and stirring up all those fears of the unknown, longings for social acceptance, and regrets for all those foolish decisions that we have struggled with. So, it's a no-brainer that Vernon has decided to write a novel specifically for young adults, and it shouldn't be a surprise that he has hit a bull's-eye with it.Flash Virus - Episode 1, is the first of a series of young adult horror/science fiction books about an alien invasion and the end of the world.  It's May, school is almost out for the year, and Briar Gamble is in high school counting the minutes before the class he is in is over, when the butt of one of his classmates start's ringing.  Well, not actually his classmate's butt, but the cell phone in his back pocket, and the tune it's belting out is Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.  And so the weirdness begins.What follows are arcs about men in black masks, men with fish bowls over their heads that scroll messages, storm troopers invading the classroom, and the violent demise of the class room teacher and the school's principal.  Sounds scary, and for the most part it is, but Vernon will have readers laughing out loud between gasps as he manages to find the humor in almost every tense situation he presents us with.I admit to not having read a whole lot of young adult horror stories, but as a reviewer for Horror World I have read everything Steve Vernon has released so I can say that fans of the author will feel right at home with Flash Virus.  As for young adults picking this up, from what Y/A horror fiction that I have read, I bet they are going to eat this up.  Flash Virus has it all - action, humor, relationship angst, and enough gross moments to delight any fan of horror from the age of 16 and up.