Zombie Books

I'm not sure where do post this, so I apologize if this isn't the right place.

I want to find a book (ideally a series) that feels like The Walking Dead but obviously isn't the material that the show is based on.

I want:

New characters, maybe a new source of disease, a new thought process behind what to do in sticky situations. Something that feels real and gritty. Something that isn't cheesy. Something that isn't as much horror as it is thriller.

I don't want:

Something that has already been adapted into a movie (WWZ, I am Legend, et cetera) as I have probably already seen them and am not interested in reading the book too. I also don't want zombie X human romance, like Warm Bodies (just not my thing). I have seen Newsflesh recommended but I don't think that's what I am looking for either. Not a fan of stories told from the perspective of a zombie– unless that might be a plot twist later in the book.

Are there even any books like this out there? Will I just have to pull my brain cells together and write one?