"Part exhilarating thriller, part tender love story between two teenage boys struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested US wilderness"
Shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2021 | Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2020 | February 2020 Debut of the Month
Set in a world that’s become “a walking graveyard”, this edge-of-your-seat thriller teems with cinematic chills and the tender love between two teenage boys. Indeed, author Darren Charlton has hit the nail on the head in describing his debut as The Walking Dead meets Brokeback Mountain.
“Clock it. Kill it. Rid the world of it” - this is how encounters with the zombie Restless Ones must be handled, a mantra soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old Peter struggles to follow. Too trusting, and infinitely better with a darning needle than an axe or gun, he’s something of a liability to the community, especially as another winter sets in, for “winter was the one season every Lake Lander feared.
Not because Montana was about to get colder than an eagle’s gaze. But because the Dead could make it across the lake’s frozen waters.”
When the community comes under serious threat during their annual First Fall party, Peter winds up as zombie bait with his at-one-with-the-wilds boyfriend Connor responsible for wrangling the Restless Ones like a post-apocalyptic cowboy. On the mainland, the young lovers uncover an earth-shattering secret and it’s not long before Connor’s situation is seriously comprised, leading to Peter stepping-up and standing tall.
Gripping and graphically gory, this dynamic debut is dystopian horror with a difference, for it pulsates not only with terror and visceral violence, but also with love, affection and emotional atmosphere.
Find out more about the YA Book Prize including all the shortlisted titles.

Winter was the only season every Lake-Lander feared... In a post-apocalyptic America, a community survives in a national park, surrounded by water that keeps the Dead at bay. But when winter comes, there's nothing to stop them from crossing the ice. Then homebody Peter puts the camp in danger by naively allowing a stranger to come ashore and he's forced to leave the community of Wranglestone.
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Winter was the only season every Lake-Lander feared... In a post-apocalyptic America, a community survives in a national park, surrounded by water that keeps the Dead at bay.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Wranglestone and determined it is suitable for children aged 15-18 years old
Wranglestone features in the following genres: Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Horror & Ghost Stories, PSHE: Sexuality, Gender and Relationships, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Thrillers, Featured Books for Young Adults
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Wranglestone was written by Darren Charlton and published by Stripes Publishing an imprint of Little Tiger Press Group
Wranglestone has 371 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.