Rot & Ruin

by Jonathan Maberry

Who would have ever thought that you could cry over a zombie novel? Well that is exactly what happened to me as I read Rot & Ruin, the first book in a post-apocalyptic zombie novel series. This story is set 14 years after a plague has hit the earth and caused the dead to rise and humanity to fall. Benny Imura is one of the lucky ones that survived the fall and is now living with his brother and others in a town called Mountainside, right on the border of the zombie-infested Rot and Ruin. His brother, Tom, has a job as a zombie killer, but as far as Benny knows, he's the weakest and most cowardly of them all. But when Benny reluctantly agrees to train as a zombie killer with his "boring" big brother, Tom, his whole view of zombies and...
the world around him is challenged and he is forced to consider that perhaps the most terrible monsters are the human ones.

I never would have thought I could love a novel about zombies. Never! But I absolutely did. What I loved about Rot & Ruin was that it was not just another violent zombie story (although there is plenty of that), but it also is a coming of age story wtih a lot of emotional depth. I found myself hurting for the zombies and pulling for Benny to be the hero he didn't think he could be. And I loved watching how his relationship with his brother, Tom, changed as he learned more and more about the reality of the Rot and Ruin. If you love violent action stories--you'll love this one! If you love heartfelt stories--you'll also love this one! Keep an eye out for the sequel--Dust and Decay.
--Ms. Bell