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.

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.

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.