One Yellow Eye follows Kesta after a zombie pandemic. Kesta’s husband Tim was bitten during the pandemic which meant he died and became a zombie. The pandemic has passed and the official word from the Government is that the infected have been removed from society. But Kesta still has Tim as he is tied to a bed in her flat. Kesta is a scientist and desperately needs to find a cure for Tim but at the same time she has to hide Tim’s existence and hope another outbreak isn’t triggered.

This was really good and I enjoyed every second of this. It had a slow start but was compulsively readable. This has some humour and to be honest the whole concept of this is absurd. What really drives this story is love and it was beautiful to see how much Kesta loves Tim and wants to save him. The whole story is also about grief and it did make me emotional towards the end because Kesta hadn’t dealt with Tim being dead. This was great and I really liked it. I have fond memories of reading this and it feels so unique. Plus reading the authors note at the end made this novel more poignant and impactful.

In London, months on after an outbreak of a virus in which the infected turn into frenzy, violent beings, the government is trying to recover after its successful containment of the virus to an eventual return to normalcy.

Following the life of research scientist, Kesta, who seeks a cure to reverse the effects of the virus on those infected, we learn that Kesta has a dark secret. Hidden in her home under lock and key is Kesta's own husband; who was one of those bitten and infected with the virus. Desperate to find a cure while shielding the existence of her husband, will Kesta and her colleagues uncover the origins of the virus before it becomes too late?

What would you do for love? This is what Leigh Radford explores to the very extremes in One Yellow Eye. Oozing with creativity, I adored how scientific this novel became at times, exploring a deeper understanding of the virus, humanising the infected and their tender connections to their loved ones.

While some may be put off by the slower burn to the narrative, I found it hauntingly beautiful as Radford examines themes of grief, love and loss while also balancing this well with humour, curiosity and the boundaries of emotion.

So, time to ask your loved ones: "Would you still love me if I were a zombie?"

I really enjoyed this book. It is so much more than just a zombie book. It is a book about grief and loss and letting go and living with the inevitability of death. It is also a very much "how to deal with a pandemic" book, but then it's a zombie pandemic which makes it actually good to read. And a descent into madness because of grief. And living with a zombie in your spare bedroom, because why not.

I do have a love of dystopian thrillers, although I have to admit that since the Covid pandemic my love of the zombie genre has waned a little. Upon reading the blurb for One Yellow Eye, however, I was excited to request and start reading – hoping to re-ignite that spark!

Kesta has survived a zombie outbreak, the infected have all been destroyed and Londoners are just trying to live their lives in the new world. However, Kesta is hiding a secret, her zombie husband, locked in her flat, ready and waiting for a cure. Can it be found before it’s too late?

What I think sets One Yellow Eye apart from the usual zombie horrors, is that it very much focuses on Kesta’s love for her husband. It presents the reader with a question – if the person you love has been changed by a virus, how far will you go to try and save them and at what cost? Some may say that this is a slow burn read, but the writing is so beautiful and the setting so great that I didn’t really mind. There is enough information and twists drip fed to the reader about the mysterious Project Dawn and the origins of the virus that I felt hooked at every turn.

I enjoyed how we initially empathise completely with Kesta, which lures us into a false sense of security as she starts to make decisions that are questionable. I liked that the virus is not just a take on Covid – the language used is different and the virus itself and its origins are interesting and felt realistic whilst still being unique to anything I had read before. It’s one of those books that is so hard to have a satisfying ending, but without giving any spoilers, I really liked the choices made and it’s a conclusion I still think about after I have finished reading it.

Overall, One Yellow Eye is not a fast-paced zombie horror - it’s a poignant story of grief and the inability to let go of those you love and the consequences of that in a dystopian setting. Gripping and sad and highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley, Tor Books UK and Tor Nightfire for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a good time with this book!

Really well paced and it dealt beautifully with the question - how far would you go for the person you loved?

The main character Kesta is essentially a zombie herself, living a double life, one foot in the present searching for a cure for her husband and one foot in the past life they had together. There’s some really sweet moments peppered throughout the story which is set against the backdrop of a zombie virus and a secret government project looking for the cure.

Refreshing to see a different style of book coming out in the summer other than the standard romance and thrillers that flood the market this time of year. A good debut and I’ll look out for more from this author

3.75/5 (rounded up to 4)

Thankyou to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I loves me a good old zombie yarn, even more so if it’s based in the UK. So when one of my oldest and bestest friends recommended this book to me (yes, we are both looking forward to 28 Years Later!), I immediately requested it!

And what a good yarn it is. It’s a much more nuanced and subtle zombie story than others I’ve read. There’s no lengthy descriptions of mass brawls and heaps of gore. Instead we get quite a personal story of grief and love. It follows Kesta, an introverted British scientist once married to the love of her life, Tim. Although they are still married, even though he’s sort of (un)dead.

I think the book zipped along; I read it in a couple of days. I loved the depictions of what grief and love can make you can do. The story really feels like how it would pan out if it did actually happen; it feels authentic.

I always feel like a hypocrite when I tell people that I love zombie films and books, because I don't think I'm ever satisfied with the endings.
I loved the realism that this was set into, with the rare and not yet known snake virus, and the strange adaptions to life again in southern England as everyone is getting back out but still deeply untrusting of the world.
I really liked following Kesta and enjoyed the development of her devotion and love of science turning maniacal and ruthless. The premise was so stunning and unique, but I found the ending was a little rushed.
I did find Jess was perhaps an unnecessary character and wished we could have had more of Cooke and Dudley.

This is essential a zombie love story but it’s done in a way that sets it aside from most zombie books. I found it quite hard to put down as I wondered whether the main character Kesta would save her man. Worth a read for a new take on the genre. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

I really enjoyed what I read of this book. The writing is just beautiful, conveying an atmosphere of both sadness and hope, with a deeply personal tale of grief, loss and love.

Sadly it was a DNF because my husband is a Paramedic who worked during the 2020 Pandemic. I battled on until the scenes which showed how the outbreak began... and I couldn't carry on, because it was just too close to home. We lived in London for years, I went past the Strand station daily, and hubby's from Hammersmith! I just couldn't pick up the book without feeling caught in emotions.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not (I think it is), but this is a powerful book that I'll try to return to when I'm more able. I'm certain others will like it, depending on how far removed they feel personally from the events of five years ago that still can seem quite raw.

I do wonder what it would be like to read this book in the Before Times...

Thankyou to Leigh Radford for sharing such lovely and powerfully human writing.

Personally, I have never come across a book that centres around the subject of zombies. The topic is oversaturated within TV and film, but not so much in books (from my experience anyway, I could be totally wrong!) Anyway, this is what drew me to this title, along with the premise that the main character, Kesta, is keeping her undead husband tied up in the spare bedroom whilst searching for a cure - a scenario which I found made an amazing baseline for the story.

The book started off a little slow for me, being wary of the frequent use of medical and scientific jargon, and worrying that this may reduce my interest, however that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was refreshing to see a story where the author has clearly put much time and research to ensure these aspects are as true to life as possible.

Eventually I found that I couldn’t put this book down with how gripping, heartbreaking and darkly humorous this was, and I fully recommend this to anyone who loves a bit of sci-fi/horror.

Excellent book, a different take on the aftermath of a zombie outbreak, dealing with grief and hope and love. Beautifully written, fast paced and full of emotion. I look forward to reading more by Leigh Radford.

ARC kindly supplied via NetGalley.

One Yellow Eye is a riveting, emotional tale of a zombie apocalypse but with a rare twist - humanity has (seemingly) survived and wiped out the infected. But Kesta suffers every day from the devastating loss of her husband, though he isn't as far from her as he might be.

Desperately clinging to what's left of the man she loved, and battling to secure a place on the elite and secretive (though admittedly, for a secret government agency, the name and purpose of it seemed entirely too well known, though I can let that slide as of course, Kesta and those close to her would have probably been more in-the-know than others without a connection to the scientific community.

This is a zombie horror story but also fits nicely into the lit fic category due to the detailed and insightful prose and exploration of morality and what people would do for the ones they love. I will be highly recommending this book!

Really enjoyed this, I love a human story within a zombie setting. Heartbreaking at times, I was really rooting for Kesta and hoped she would get the ending she wished for., even though the ending was inevitable. It was a story about a woman’s struggle to deal with her grief with a zombie backdrop, I loved it.

We've all played that silly game "would you still love me if ..." haven't we?

London post zombie outbreak, the streets have been cleared and all the infected exterminated by the army, by the police and by their own loved ones. Or have they?

Kesta is keeping a secret in her spare room. Her husband has been bitten and is currently handcuffed to the radiator. The banging noises coming from her flat are indeed not a rouge tumble drier.

A scientist by day, Zombie nurse by night, the clock is ticking to find a cure as Kesta ends up working Project Dawn, the government team of researchers. What can go wrong?

I loved Kesta. She's determined, clever and tenacious and she desperately loves Tim, even if he is a zombie now. I found her really relatable - after all we all think we want to do the right thing, but when it comes down to it, it can be hard to let go. She's also very funny and I laughed out loud at her dry observations.

There were some stand out scenes for me. One such scene was when my heart was simultaneously breaking yet galloping with tension as Kesta and Tim celebrated their anniversary. Intense.

I found the sections about Project Dawn really interesting. The scientific elements were really inspired and added a sense of realism to the whole zombie thing - I mean it made it sense?! Remind me never to go to Madagascar.

One Yellow Eye might on the face of it be a book about Zombie's, but it's actually an astute examination what it means to be human.

"Love is a wound from which you can never heal"

The ending may have made me shed a little tear. Perfect. The author acknowledgements and inspiration behind the book are very emotional and I recommend reading them.

All the stars, and highly recommended, I simply loved it. A propulsive page turner, I devoured it. It's funny, it's entertaining, it's tender - a brilliant story and a really fresh take on the genre.

One Yellow Eye is a fresh take on what has now become an oversaturated and stale genre.

I enjoyed the discovery of the origins of the virus which was both different and realistic. I also liked how the main bulk of the story was set in just two locations which added to a sense of panic, claustrophobia and time running out.

However, I felt the characters were lacking. Whilst I understood Kesta's motivations, I felt her and Tim's relationship wasn't given the detail and back story it deserved. Due to this, I didn't feel as invested in the story as what I would have otherwise. I also found some of her actions to be bizarre such as staying out late and drinking heavily. I found Jess to be an unnecessary, irritating character and would have liked to have seen more of Dudley and Cooke instead - the two best characters who were sadly relegated to side character status.

Add in a flat, rushed ending and overall One Yellow Eye is an enjoyable but slightly disappointing read.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan | Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the ARC.

Book Review: One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford

Kesta’s husband Tim was the last person to be bitten in a zombie pandemic. The country is now in a period of respite, the government seemingly having rounded up and disposed of all the infected.

But Kesta has a secret…. She’s hiding undead Tim in her spare room. And she’ trying to find a cure to bring him back.

Kesta balances keeping him a secret from her nosey neighbours and doorman alongside her job as a medical researcher by day. Can she save him before he is discovered? or worse… accidentally trigger another outbreak?

Rating: 3.75⭐

I don’t read many zombie books, but this was so easy to binge and is an impressive debut. Although the ending felt rushed, I quite liked how the plot wrapped up.

I liked the scientific elements when she was in the lab trying to work out the cure, and her determination to find out if there’s something more sinister going on at the lab she works at. What kept me reading was the anxiety induced thoughts of if Tim was going to be discovered or if he’d try and run away.

Whilst Kesta is not likeable (and neither are any of the characters really) it didn’t take away from the plot and you still root for her. Her world is very small, and she is either in her flat or in the lab - and with the loss of Tim her world has shrunk further.

She is driven to finding the cure by her love and her obsession means she has tunnel vision and doesn’t really look out for or care about anyone else. You get flashbacks to when they first met, but other than that the depth of their relationship isn’t explored. There are also some plot points that I thought could have been interesting elements if explored further - such as a reporter nosying into Kester’s business.

Radford does well setting the scene in a now desolate London a year after the first zombie appeared with empty streets, suspicious neighbors willing to report you, and cinemas slowly reopening and showing only zombie films 😆

I read this as part of a read along with Bookbreak. This was really fun to read alongside others and discuss as the plot went on.

Would you read this one?

While I enjoyed some of the themes explored, particularly around the limits people will go to protect those they love, I ultimately found Kesta to be a deeply unlikeable character. She goes beyond morally grey into dubious and malicious. Her motives, although at first they seem to be centered in love, they quickly devolved into obsessive control and manipulation. And the love that's supposed to be a driving factor is never really explored on a deeper level. There's no backstory to support it.

Some interesting thoughts and I liked that this took a typical zombie story down another avenue, but ultimately I just didn't like the characters enough to really care.

One Yellow Eye was an interesting take on the zombie genre.
The outbreak is over. The infected have all been exterminated. Life is returning to something like normal in London.

Kesta is a medical researcher with a secret - her undead husband, Tim, locked in their spare room, kept sedated with drugs stolen from the hospital where she works.

The book follows Kesta as she becomes more and more desperate for a cure.

I really liked the ideas behind this, and I was fascinated by the theories of what caused the outbreak. Sometimes it was a bit heavy on the science, but that did lend realism to the story.

I can’t say I liked the characters. Kesta, despite her grief and desperation to find a cure for the virus, mostly came across as selfish. Everything she does is about herself, her desire to not be alone, and not what would really be best for Tim.
It might have been easier to understand and relate to her a little more if we had more insight into their relationship. It really seems like her entire personality has always been based around work and Tim, but we don’t see why the relationship was so wonderful. There’s a flashback to when they first met but we see little else of them before the outbreak so we don’t get to see this love that has forced Kesta to take such drastic steps.

Jess was also pretty unlikeable, although it was clear she was trying to be a friend to Kesta.

The whole book has a desolate feel to it - London is no longer bustling, and people are still living in fear, trying to get over the outbreak. It qlso manages to be very claustrophobic, with Kesta spending most of her time either in the lab or in the spare bedroom with her undead husband.

3.75 stars, rounded up.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

A profoundly human and fascinating twist on the zombie genre, ONE YELLOW EYE is a story of love, ambition and morality all in one tense, page-turning package. Leigh Radford has managed to balance the science of a pandemic with the tension of a thriller, I was completely captivated and rooting for our protagonist, while also secretly hoping she’d get caught because she was clearly on the brink of insanity. The ending was devastating but so perfect. I couldn’t have loved this book more - a favourite of 2025!

A fun zombie story that just slightly unhinged in the way it looks at the lengths you’ll go to for someone you love. Gory but not splatter punk. Horror but not scary. Full of dark humour, this was a great read.