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!

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.

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.