I have Steampunk to thank for the introduction to author Scott Westerfeld. He is probably best known for his series, Uglies. I found him through Leviathan when I searched ‘Steampunk books with male narrators’ for a project at work. I have yet to read either of the aforementioned books, but after seeing his name repeatedly at work, and browsing through Leviathan, I stumbled upon Peeps in the local secondhand bookstore. In hardcover. In near perfect condition. I shouldn’t have to mention how awesome that is, but just in case… it”s awesome.
I started reading it slowly and realized it is one of the more unique twists on the zombie-apocalypse I’ve read. And I’ve read quite a few. It starts with Cal, who is a peep hunter. Peep stands for Parasite Positive, the name given to those who have become infected with an ancient parasite that takes over the body and causes the host to exhibit classic characteristics of vampirism. The vampire myth had to come from somewhere, after all.
Cal is a peep hunter because he’s s Typhoid Mary of sorts, a carrier of the parasite who does not exhibit the cannibalistic symptoms. He does have heightened speed and senses that make him the perfect hunter for the underground society designed to fight the parasite. He is also left with an insatiable lust due to the parasite’s desire to spread to others.
The book begins with Cal hunting down his old girlfriends and random make-out partners who he unknowingly infected. But when Cal begins to hunt for his progenitor, the person who infected him, things start to get weird. Well, weirder. He meets Lace, a journalism student seeking answers as to why there is a message written in blood on her apartment walls. She helps him to question things he’s been taught about peeps all the while challenging his strict abstinence policy.
Peeps uses real parasite knowledge in its mythos structure. Cal was once a biology student and has a rather twisted sense of humour, so every other chapter he uses facts of a known parasite written in witty narrative to explain how the vampirism parasite works. Now, I may be a nerd, but I looked forward to these short segments as much as the main narrative. Cal is a rather funny guy, so his inner dialogue narrative keeps the rather apocalyptic plot from becoming too devastating. Lace provides the intellect–it’s so nice to see a resourceful girl full of common sense helping out the intelligent (but occasionally dense) narrator.
Westerfeld did not write a simple zombie-vampire virus novel, however. Along with the survival and scientific explanations of fantasy lore, there’s also the mystery to solve about how Cal caught the virus and why some peeps are occasionally exhibiting ‘normal’ human behaviors that should be lost to a parasite positive. With ties to the Bubonic Plague, Peeps becomes a fantasy, mystery, historical, scientific, romance novel. And the blending of those genres is so flawless that it isn’t remotely ridiculous like I just made it sound. There are even a few horror elements as the mystery slowly reveals itself.
Cal’s narrative voice is immediately endearing and the reader will root for the character in all of his quests. Even when one seems to be resolved a tad to easily– I so saw it coming– the characters are immediately faced with another, larger problem. If you like stories where everything is 100% resolved, you might want to avoid Peeps. It resolves just enough while leaving much more to a sequel, which exists in The Last Days, a companion novel that takes place in the same world, but only uses some of the same characters.
Have you read Peeps? What did you think?
This was my first Scott Westerfeld book, but it certainly wont be my last. Now, which book to read next…
Life's a Book 