Dark Days

Dead City #3

by James Ponti

Molly’s up against the undead—and the fate of Manhattan is in her hands—in the third and final book of the Dead City trilogy, which Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins says “breathes new life into the zombie genre.”

Molly and the Omegas fight to contain the storm unleashed by Operation Blue Moon. As they do, Molly’s personal life is thrown into turmoil when she discovers that one of her closest friends has joined the ranks of the undead, a development that threatens the Omegas as well as Molly’s relationship with her mother.

As Molly and her friends battle the Dead Squad (a special NYPD task force made up entirely of zombies), they discover that the world’s largest gold reserve is kept in a vault eighty feet below the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They find a photograph of the vault’s construction in the 1920s and realize that the construction crew was led by none other than the leader of the undead, Marek Blackwell. Could this explain the source of all his money? And if so, what is he planning to do with it? Is he rebuilding Dead City…or is he building an undead army?

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Zombies, Supernatural, Mystery, Horror, Adventure

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

James Ponti is the New York Times Bestselling author of three Middle Grade book series: the DEAD CITY trilogy about a secret society that polices the undead who live beneath New York City; the Edgar Award-winning FRAMED! series about a pair of Sherlockian tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, D.C.; and the all-new CITY SPIES about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 spy team.

James grew up in Atlantic Beach, Florida and lives in Orlando. He's a die hard fan of the Boston Red Sox, the USC Trojans, and the Italian National Soccer Team. He loves travel, writing, and spending time with his amazing family.

Reviews

[Reading is my Escape · Rating 4 out of 5]

Team Omega is back

Molly Bigelow and her Omega team have been banned from investigating Marek Blackwell and his plans for New York City. But when they discover that Blackwell is raising money for an undead army, they have to act. But will they be in time?
 
--from the publisher


I loved the entire Dead City series. James Ponti did a fantastic job creating a believable world filled with relatable characters to love and villains to hate. The characters have flaws and self-doubt but manage to overcome them. I love the unusual explanation for the existence of zombies.
 
There are some twists in this book that  surprised me a bit and that was fun. I did feel like the ending was too sudden. I expected more action and suspense. The overall story seems to wrap up nicely though and I think this might be the last book in the series.
 
This book is great for kids with an interest in zombies. It is fun and not too scary, but it is suspenseful. In our school, it is popular among the 4th and 5th graders. It appeals to both boys and girls. 
 
Recommended to:
Boys and girls in grades 4-8, especially those who like their zombie stories a little less scary and not so gross. Scary rating: 2/5, Gross rating 3/5.

[Brooke Beeson-King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the ending to this middle grade trilogy! There were some surprises! My students and I love these books! I was fortunate to have an advanced copy of Dark Days. Now when the book is published, I don't have to keep a copy from my students!

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friendship, family, zombies, and courage fill this action-packed fun series. This is book 3. I like the strong female character and dry humor with a bit of history on New York and how it was first built.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dead city trilogy is absolutely terrific. The story lines have twists and they keep you on the edge of your seat. I read this book in 2 days. It was impossible for me to put it down! Seriously, everyone should read this trilogy. Well done James Ponti!

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024

2020

2019
A great ending to a wonderful series!

I was really happy that Ponti included the scenes with Beth (it never sat right with me that Molly got the zombie training while Beth didn't, so I was really happy when that was cleared up).

Molly learns more about friendship, loyalty, and trust in this book. She previously hasn't had much experience in friendship before the Omega group, so when one of the group members goes through something incredibly tough, Molly doesn't handle it super well at first. She eventually comes around, but unlike Alex and Grayson, it does take her longer to get a handle on what happened.

This book was amazing, though, in more ways than one. I loved the way the characters have grown since the first book. Family and friendship is an undeniable theme running through this entire book. I loved how vulnerable the characters could be with one another. And the ending was so sweet, and definitely more than a little sad/happy. I was incredibly happy with how it ended, even though it was a little bit sad what happened to Milton and Marek. But, like, in a good way.

2017

[Katherine Loyacano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Days by James Ponti is the third book in the Dead City middle-grade series. The Omega team has been unjustly terminated, but that doesn’t stop Molly and her friends from investigating and fighting a new zombie task force of the NYPD called the Dead Squad. Their undead leader has a nefarious plan, and he will stop at nothing to rebuild Undead City.

I’m a fan of Molly Bigelow. She has come a long way on her journey as an Omega team member and really knows how to kick zombie butt. When she makes mistakes, she owns up to it and strives to do better. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect those in her life. The Omega team was hit hard by the undead in Book 2 which impacts the team greatly in their last adventure. Secrets are revealed, tough decisions are made, and assistance from some unlikely people help the Omegas regroup and effectively face their formidable foe. Dark Days is a terrific conclusion to this face-paced, humorous, and action-packed middle-grade series that blends zombies, family ties, and friendship together nicely.

[Emmalynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last book in the trilogy and it ended with whimper. I think the author gave a giant clue in the last two lines of a research poem how this book was going to end if we the readers paid attention. If we went in expecting a great big war.. nope.
The Omega’s are trying to solve and stop Merrick’s plan for the Zombie apocalypse while at the same time deal with Natalie’s change into one of the undead. Each member of the team has to handle this in their own way, plus feelings of insecurities about their place/importance in the team.

Overall, it’s not a bad ending, but it could have been better. The book leave some plot holes open. At the end, Merriick gives up way to easily after being such an evil presence for all of the three books, there’s no real resolutions for the undead and their equal rights/status,

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's tough to end an action packed, fast-paced middle grade zombie series and Ponti works hard to wrap it all up. There is plenty of action, some surprises, humor, and a sweet reminder that family and friends are the important things in life. A question at the end about what happens to Natalie and the other Undead, but overall a satisfying conclusion to a popular series.

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the most part! The ending was... bad... but I wasn't expecting anything fantastic so it's fine, lol. I have more questions than answers overall with this trilogy, but I don't regret having read it, so we'll take that for the win. 3.5 stars!

[Niya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very surprisingly good. I say surprisingly cause I picked it up cause I have never explored the zombie genre. But for a teen-friendly, clean book I enjoyed it immensely. I'm gonna give it to my imaginary, future kids to read.

[Makena Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️

[Maryam Siddiqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

nooo why did he have to die???why why

[Nicoleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

***************WARNING SPOILERS**********.

The world is in Molly's hands when leader of the dead squad threatens her mom and Milton. She has to resort to telling her sister all about omega and how their mom is undead. Her personal life also goes into chaos as she realizes her best friend is undead and excuses her of being a level 2 zombie.

[Risks Are · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Dead City and Blue Moon, so I thought this would be just as good, with a fantastic writing style and some type of- well, anything. The grammar is atrocious, the plot is loose at best, and the whole project feels rushed, like James Ponti had a contract that was about to expire and he needed to squeeze more money into the Dead City franchise. If he took this, gave it a plan and worked on the grammar, maybe if he made the characters three dimensional again, maybe if he did that, I'd give this 5 stars. For now, go home and re-read Dead City. It's easily the best one. Then, re-read Blue Moon, almost on the same level, and then, just read fan-fiction. The grammar'll be the same, and I bet the plot will be more developed.
Risks Are Great signing off.
Find me on Quizup and musical.ly!

[Sarah Yao · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the beginning I was confused as to why she was in jail. Then I thought, "Eh, it's going to tell me near the end." I didn't see Natalie becoming undead until the words were in my face. GRAYSON YOU ARE AWESOME AND DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE. When Beth found out about Omega and her mom, I teared up... I ship Alex and Natalie. Milton Blackwell is still a better brother than you Marek. At least he compensates in the end by choosing to be brothers and dying with Milton, although I instantly started reading the ending 1,000 times and crying each time. THE FAMILY IS UNITED AGAIN!!!!!

Kudos James Ponti! BRAVO!

[Diana Gagliardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, zombies that think and plan and do so in terms of decades and more...awesome.

This could be the end of the Omegas, could be. Certainly the end of one of the main stories. A trilogy- with more coming in the same world? Could be!

[Joey Baile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead City dark days was by far my favorite book in the entire series. Dark days was the third and final book of the Dead city trilogy. It had everything! There was plenty of action, drama, comedy and much more. I love how almost every other chapter there is a twist that throws the reader completely off and surprises them. Molly and her omega team still work great together and that is one important factor to their success.

The book starts off with Marek still alive. Marek is the main antagonist in this story and he is sick and wounded. He is sick and wounded because at the end of the first book Molly amputated his legs and arms for good. They had thought that Marek was dead. Marek used body parts from his brothers, but the problem was it was not working as well. Midway through the story Molly finds out that their team leader Natalie, is dead. Molly discovering this leads to some conflicts between her and Natalie. For Marek to survive he needs his brother Milton's body parts to survive. So it is up to Molly and her team to protect Milton as bodyguards and make sure that nobody can harm Milton. It ends up where Milton sacrifices his own life so that his evil brother Marek can not live.

Like I said, this book is amazing! I highly recommend that you read not just this book, but all three. I think this trilogy can fit for any sort of reader no matter what he likes or dislikes. I really enjoyed reading this book and if you get a chance I know that you will like this book too. The only thing I had a problem with was some of the cheesy fighting. But besides that everything seems perfect. I wish that James Ponti could have made at least ten more of these books.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Marek Blackwell returned from death, Molly and her friends face their greatest challenge yet. Marek and his undead army are clearly up to something much more than a series of underground developments. Yet Molly and the Omegas have shut down their operations in order to avoid all out war. Molly can't help but be curious by the signs that something big is coming up. And when her mother finally resurfaces, she discovers she's right and it's up to her and her team to find out exactly what Marek's plans are without furthering endangering themselves or the other Omegas. But when Molly discovers that one of her friends is undead it shakes her to the core and makes her wonder who she can trust. All of these things together, along with Molly's awesome family and Molly's sometimes snarky narration make for a great conclusion to the Dead City trilogy. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, mostly because of Molly's great narration. The zombies were gross but I loved Molly and her friends and the way they worked together. And Molly's family is awesome. This is a great middle grade series for readers who want zombies mixed up with a nice dose of family and friends, not to mention some great action sequences.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4 stars for this middle grade zombie series! I listened to the audiobooks for all three and it made my household chores, dinner prep, and driving time fly by. The characters in this series are just fantastic. There’s a team of friends who grow together in deep ways as the books unfold. There are some loving parents (some that are harder to like), some really fantastic adults (and some who are villains), and there are quite a few zombies. Each book starts out with a very brief present day intro, then the majority of the story is a giant flashback getting the reader caught up. Ponti used this technique in his TOAST series and it’s never hard to follow and I find it pretty clever and fun. There is quite a lot of zombie violence and death, but because the book does a good job with the blend of lightheartedness and depth, it worked well and was never too gross. My one gripe is that the conclusion was too quickly resolved and too neat and tidy. Kids will be ok with it, and I see how this early series gave the author opportunity to try out some things that he’s perfected in later books. Highly recommend for middle grade readers (8+) and this would absolutely work as a family audiobook. Just maybe don’t listen while you’re eating lunch.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read the first two books of this series ages ago and hadn't gotten to the final one. A student was reading through them and she loved them, so she insisted I read this. I plowed through it in just a few days because it was, as are the others in the series, "unputdownable." It's well written and thoroughly entertaining.

Though the ending doesn't mean a final solution to the zombie problem, it does mean that Molly, her family and friends are now free from constant threat, and can go on with their lives (or their un-lives, as the case may be).

I would love to hear how Ponti came up with the fascinating idea that something in Manhattan schist makes zombies possible, and that staying near it is necessary for them to stay "alive" and to "recharge." Wish I could come up with ideas like that!

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect wrap-up to the series. There were a few loose ends, but still a good wrap-up!

But there were a few holes in the plot. . .
If Molly, Alex, Natalie, and Grayson all had trackers on them, then the Dead Squad must have known where each of them lived. So why weren't they ever caught while at home? Also, what are the odds of Natalie (whose tracker was in her jacket) wearing that same jacket each day? Seemed a little weird.
Second, yeah, Milton and Marek are now dead, but there are still several more Unlucky 13s alive. And the Dead Squad is still around. So what happened with that? And I was hoping that Milton's experiments would reveal the secret of the schist, or something like it. . . Oh, well.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of this series and the first book, but at the end it just felt too light and simple. I know Ponti was always trying to keep this as a "most people are good" story with more focus on the friend and family element than the zombie apocalypse that may occur, but felt he leaned a bit too much in that direction to the detriment of the plot and the reader.

The third one was an improvement over the second by a bit, and did tie out most of the open issues, and also while providing some finality on the main antagonist allowed for further adventures of the Omega team so we'll see where he takes things, but in total have to put this in the "it's ok ... that's about it" level of these types of stories.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly and her team are trying to find out how Merek is going to finance his zombie army. When they realize that some of the zombies have taken over a division of the New York City Police Force, the Omegas begin to wonder if they can really stop Merek. Also they discover that Merek is ill and needs his brother, Milton's body parts in order to survive. Now Molly must call on all of her friends and family to try and stop Merek and his evil plan.

Dark Days is a good ending to the Dead City trilogy. All of the loose ends are tied up and we learn a little more about each of the characters. Although, the ending is a bit of a let down overall, Dark Days ends the trilogy in a satisfying manner. 3 1/2 stars.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished the Dead City Saga by James Ponti today, wrapping up with book three -- DARK DAYS. The third installation in the series was indeed fraught with dark days, high drama, and intense action. The Dead City books are so much more than a middle grade zombie romp. They're filled with interesting facts tied to their story threads, complicated family dynamics that will feel familiar to many readers, and complex characters that make you feel like you really know them. I thoroughly enjoyed the Dead City Saga and thought DARK DAYS wrapped everything up perfectly. If you're looking for some solid upper middle grade reading, grab copies of the Dead City trilogy by James Ponti.

[Krishnan Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty consistent with the 2 previous books in the series and it was a satisfying conclusion to the series even though not everything was tied up.

I did feel a bit sad that Natalie became a zombie. Near the end, I was wondering how all of the plot points would get wrapped up. Eventually, Marek's death was final but there were other things in progress like the Federal Reserve being robbed, RUNY, etc. We don't really know what happened to those activities once Marek died.

Overall, this was a relatively light fun listen. As in the previous books, I felt the narrator was excellent.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I was going to like this book the best of all, but it wound up disappointing. I was left completely dissatisfied and with so many questions and loose ends. Nothing got solved! What happened to the whole "rights for the undead" movement? How many living actually know about the undead? Do they need jobs? What about the undead whole police force? I have even more questions about Molly's mom and how their family is going to function. Is Omega even still a thing or is it forever on hiatus?

I just... ugh. Not my favorite.

[The Endless Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg, i cannot believe it! The first two books weren't as good at the end as the last one is! I love it, definitely. I also kind of liked Marek, he was pretty charming and i felt he still loved Milton. I also like Milton, he's amazing. The ending was a mixture of sad and happy though. I'm glad Molly was able to make them both realize they still loved each other! And they both died together, while embracing! I loved it, if you have nothing against undead and some body parts, you should dsefinitely read! 100% reccommend!

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best and first series of books I ever read. I relate to the main character in some ways so that made it even better for me lol. I've grown up a lot but I still base my taste in books mostly off of this series. When people ask me what my favorite series is I always say this one. I've read through the entire series at least 3 times and um considering reading it again lol. I'm rambling, but I just really REALLY like this series

[Fathima · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so exhilarating. The chapters were engaging, also a little emotional, I guess, and it made me read continuously without having intervals. I loved how strong and understanding the friendship was between the four of them and how smart every single character in the book and the bond between the Molly's family and how the brothers reconcile at the end... I just enjoyed every moment I read this book. But it's sad that the series is concluded. Thank you author for this amazing story.

[Alyssa Vang · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great ending to this series! I had a lot of fun reading about Molly and her Omega group fighting to keep NYC safe from zombies. It was definitely more lighthearted than most zombie books (which makes sense being mid-grade), but it was full of tense moments and fun adventures. I loved this series and definitely recommend it! Especially to any guardian out there who has a kid that wants to start horror; this is a great starting point series.