Whitehead has stated that the novel was partly an attempt to return to his adolescent fascination with horror writer Stephen King and science fiction icon Isaac Asimov.

[2] In the January/February 2012 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (3.5 out of 5) with the critical summary stating, "For those who loved the literary upgrade that Justin Cronin provided for vampires in The Passage, Whitehead's effort won't satisfy quite as much".

Glen Duncan, who likened the pairing of genre and literary fiction to "an intellectual dating a porn star," concluded that Zone One "is a cool, thoughtful and, for all its ludic violence, strangely tender novel, a celebration of modernity and a pre-emptive wake for its demise.

"[5] Charlie Jane Anders observed, "this is one zombie story that nobody's ever told before," and opined, "the book pays off marvelously.

"[5] Anders wondered if the heavy, unpredictable, and sometimes indiscernible use of flashbacks represented a deliberate attempt "to deny the reader any feeling of narrative satisfaction, through denseness and obfuscation.