The premise is that zombies have risen to take over the world but these zombies are different. Intelligent and possessed of a hive-mind, they have settled into the business of exterminating mankind with a ruthless efficiency. Fortunately, their bite has an unintended consequence for a small collection of humans as they develop superpowers because of it.
Victor Tookes, the titular being who the zombies fear, sets out to rid the world of the undead scourge on behalf of his infant son Max.
This time, the humans fight back.
The series contains the following tropes:
- Action Girl: Leo is the toughest woman in the world. She's not alone.
- Alien Invasion: What separates this from most zombie stories.
- Always Chaotic Evil: The E'clei are a race of parasitic alien conquerors who wear the corpses of humanity. It gets played with later when Max reprograms some.
- Apocalypse How: Humanity is reduced to a tenth of its original size.
- Armies Are Evil: Victor tends to treat the United States government's remnant like this. Then again, they're always trying to take Max. The remnant he encounters in Fracture are so far past the Moral Event Horizon, it's not even funny.
- Badass Boast: Victor is going to kill every single zombie in the world. He doesn't, but his son does.
- Battle Couple: Leo wants to form this with Victor. He's not interested due to his dead wife.
- Badass Family: The Tookes are this in a nutshell.
- Berserk Button: Do NOT threaten Max.
- Big Bad: Laura is this for much of the books. It's a role eventually usurped from her.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Colonel Frye hovers between this and Well-Intentioned Extremist. He is seriously outclassed by Victor, however.
- Big Good: Victor Tookes becomes this to the world as The Leader of the superpowered group that is killing the evil zombies. His son, Max, takes over the role in time.
- The Chosen One: Max is this to the Maxists. He is believed to be the one who will save the world from the zombies because of a bit of brainwashing he once did. He eventually fulfills this prophecy.
- Cool Versus Awesome: Superpowered humans versus Zombies.
- The Determinator: Victor Tookes intends to kill all seven billion zombies on Earth.
- The Extremist Was Right: Victor thinks they have to kill every zombie on Earth. Who here on TVTropes.org thinks he's right? I suspect it's a majority.
- Hive Mind: The E'clei have one of these, though groups of them can form individual personalities (sort of like Legion in Mass Effect).
- Hive Queen: Laura fills this role for the E'Clei. Until someone else takes her place.
- Knight Templar Parent: What everyone accuses Victor of being in regards to his plan to save Max. It turns out this was just good sense.
- Morality Pet: Max is this to Victor. It's implied he may verge on a Morality Chain given how close to the edge Victor sometimes goes.
- Not Wearing Tights: Victor's group has all the powers of the Avengers or Justice League but go by their real names and don't wear costumes.
- Super-Empowering: All of the super-powered humans are this.
- Rape Is A Special Kindof Evil: On display in Fracture with the United States Remnant. Victor and his group proceed to deliver some much-much needed payback.
- Religion of Evil: It seems the Maxists are being set up to be this. It turns out, they may have been right all along.
- Our Zombies Are Different: They're a bunch of corpses animated by microscopic alien parasites, linked together in a gestalt.
- The Virus: Not strictly true but E'clei have the memories of their hosts, which they happily use against their targets.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Victor is often the subject of this for the fact he's determined to wipe out every zombie on Earth, no matter the cost.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Pretty much in the title.
