"The must-read prequel to the "strange and unexpected" (Audrey Niffenegger) and "highly original" (Seattle Times) zombie love story Warm Bodies--the New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the hit film--from the critically acclaimed author whose clever debut turned the classic horror story on its head. The end of the world didn't happen overnight. After years of war, societal breakdown, freak storms, and rising tides, humanity already hovered near the edge. Then came the most unexpected threat of all: the world's corpses rising up to deliver the final blow. Born into this bleak and bloody landscape, twelve-year-old Julie struggles to hold on to hope as she and her parents drive across the wastelands of America on a nightmarish road trip in search of a new home. Hungry, lost, and terrified, sixteen-year-old Nora finds herself her brother's sole guardian after her parents abandon them in the not-quite-empty ruins of Seattle. And in the darkness of a forest, a dead man opens his eyes. Who is he? What is he? With no clues beyond a red tie and the letter "R," he must unravel the grim mystery of his existence--right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the monster howling in his belly."-- "The prequel to zombie love story WARM BODIES, THE NEW HUNGER depicts Julie and R's lives in post-apocalyptic America before they met"--