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Jonathan Maberry

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Rot & Ruin (1) Hardcover – September 14, 2010

by Jonathan Maberry (Author)

4.6 1,429 ratings

Book 1 of 5: Rot & Ruin

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In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up–At first glance, this appears to be a retelling of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Delacorte, 2009) but with a male protagonist. But Maberry's vision of a zombie-infested future has more action, more violence, and more emotional depth. Benny Imura was a baby when the zombie apocalypse happened. His first memory is of his mother handing him to his older half brother as she is being dragged down by his zombie-fied father. He resents Tom for leaving his mother, for running away. To Benny, Tom is a coward. To everyone else in their fenced-in town, Tom is the toughest, bravest zombie killer in California. As Benny approaches his 15th birthday, he must find a job or forfeit half of his food rations. After losing half a dozen jobs, he reluctantly agrees to work as Tom's apprentice in the “Family Business.” When they travel out into the Rot and Ruin, he witnesses things that change his opinion of his brother and forever alter his perception of the world. He also learns that flesh-eating zombies aren't the scariest or most dangerous monsters around. As with all zombie stories, this one requires a fairly large suspension of disbelief, but once the brothers enter the Rot and Ruin, readers become too wrapped up in the plot to dwell on some lapses of logic. The relationship between Benny and Tom becomes surprisingly complex and satisfying, as does the romantic subplot between Benny and his friend Nix. The length of the book may intimidate some reluctant readers but the striking cover, compelling action, and brutal violence will draw them in and keep them reading.–Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School, CAα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

It’s been 14 years since First Night, when the dead came back to life. Six billion people have died (and reanimated) since then, and America has collapsed into isolated communities living within the great “Rot and Ruin.” Benny is 15, which means it’s time to get a job or face cut rations, but his general laziness leaves him with only one employment option: join his stuffy, sword-swinging, Japanese half-brother, Tom, as an apprentice bounty hunter. This means heading beyond the gates to slice and dice “zoms,” but Benny quickly begins to see the undead in a new light—as well as realizing that Tom is much more than he ever let on. The plot is driven by an evil bounty-hunter rival and the cruel games he plays, but Maberry has more than gore on his mind. The chief emotion here is sadness, and the book plays out like an extended elegy for a lost world. Tom’s a bit too perfect and his pontification too extended, but this is nevertheless an impressive mix of meaning and mayhem. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus

Review

"Thrilling, enticing, and surprisingly touching, Rot & Ruin will grip readers from beginning to end, and make them question who the real monsters are. It had me hooked from page one."--Heather Brewer, author of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series

"This is a romping, stomping adventure. And while most zombie novels are all about the brains, this one has a heart as well. With the dead prowling all around, fifteen-year-old Benny Imura learns the bittersweet lessons of life, love, and family in the great Rot & Ruin. Anyone with a pulse will enjoy this novel, and anyone with a brain will find plenty of food for thought inside."--Michael Northrop, author of Gentlemen

"George Romero meets The Catcher in the Rye in this poignant and moving coming of age novel set during zombie times. I welled up at the end, then smiled through my tears when I realized there was going to be a sequel. Bravo, Jonathan Maberry. Can't wait to read more." --Nancy Holder, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked and Possessions

"This is no ordinary zombie novel. Maberry has given it a soul in the form of two brothers who captured my heart from the first page and refused to let go."--Maria V. Snyder, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Study

* "The delineation between man and monster, survivor and victim is fiercely debated in Maberry’s thoughtful, postapocalyptic coming-of-age tale...In turns mythic and down-to-earth, this intense novel combines adventure and philosophy to tell a truly memorable zombie story, one that forces readers to consider them not just as flesh-eating monsters or things to be splattered, but as people.“--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An impressive mix of meaning and mayhem."--Booklist

“Horror fans will appreciate the gorge-raising descriptions of the shambling zombies...while zombie-apocalypse aficionados will cotton to the solid world-building and refreshingly old-school undead. --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"An action-packed, thought-provoking look at life—and death—as readers determine the true enemy."--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, five-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and adventure; and he writes for adults, teens, and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, The X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV, including V Wars, which is a Netflix original series. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including the X-Files books, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Hardboiled Horror, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. He lives in Del Mar, California. Visit him at JonathanMaberry.com and on Twitter (@JonathanMaberry) and Facebook.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Rot & Ruin 1
BENNY IMURA COULDN’T HOLD A JOB, SO HE TOOK TO KILLING.

It was the family business. He barely liked his family—and by family he meant his older brother, Tom—and he definitely didn’t like the idea of “business.” Or work. The only part of the deal that sounded like it might be fun was the actual killing.

He’d never done it before. Sure, he’d gone through a hundred simulations in gym class and in the Scouts, but they never let kids do any real killing. Not before they hit fifteen.

“Why not?” he asked his Scoutmaster, a fat guy named Feeney who used to be a TV weatherman back in the day. Benny was eleven at the time and obsessed with zombie hunting. “How come you don’t let us whack some real zoms?”

“Because killing’s the sort of thing you should learn from your folks,” said Feeney.

“I don’t have any folks,” Benny countered. “My mom and dad died on First Night.”

“Ouch. Sorry, Benny—I forgot. Point is, you got family of some kind, right?”

“I guess. I got ‘I’m Mr. Freaking Perfect Tom Imura’ for a brother, and I don’t want to learn anything from him.”

Feeney had stared at him. “Wow. I didn’t know you were related to him. He’s your brother, huh? Well, there’s your answer, kid. Nobody better to teach you the art of killing than a professional killer like Tom Imura.” Feeney paused and licked his lips nervously. “I guess being his brother and all, you’ve seen him take down a lot of zoms.”

“No,” Benny said with huge annoyance. “He never lets me watch.”

“Really? That’s odd. Well, ask him when you turn thirteen.”

Benny had asked on his thirteenth birthday, and Tom had said no. Again. It wasn’t a discussion. Just “No.”

That was more than two years ago, and now Benny was six weeks past his fifteenth birthday. He had four more weeks grace to find a paying job before town ordinance cut his rations by half. Benny hated being in that position, and if one more person gave him the “fifteen and free” speech, he was going to scream. He hated that as much as when people saw someone doing hard work and they said crap like, “Holy smokes, he’s going at that like he’s fifteen and out of food.”

Like it was something to be happy about. Something to be proud of. Working your butt off for the rest of your life. Benny didn’t see where the fun was in that. Okay, maybe it was marginally okay because it meant only half days of school from then on, but it still sucked.

His buddy Lou Chong said it was a sign of the growing cultural oppression that was driving postapocalyptic humanity toward acceptance of a new slave state. Benny had no freaking idea what Chong meant or if there was even meaning in anything he said. But he nodded agreement because the look on Chong’s face always made it seem like he knew exactly what was what.

At home, before he even finished eating his dessert, Tom had said, “If I want to talk about you joining the family business, are you going to chew my head off? Again?”

Benny stared venomous death at Tom and said, very clearly and distinctly, “I. Don’t. Want. To. Work. In. The. Family. Business.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’ then.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little late now to try and get me all excited about it? I asked you a zillion times to—”

“You asked me to take you out on kills.”

“Right! And every time I did you—”

Tom cut him off. “There’s a lot more to what I do, Benny.”

“Yeah, there probably is, and maybe I would have thought the rest was something I could deal with, but you never let me see the cool stuff.”

“There’s nothing ‘cool’ about killing,” Tom said sharply.

“There is when you’re talking about killing zoms!” Benny fired back.

That stalled the conversation. Tom stalked out of the room and banged around the kitchen for a while, and Benny threw himself down on the couch.

Tom and Benny never talked about zombies. They had every reason to, but they never did. Benny couldn’t understand it. He hated zoms. Everyone hated them, though with Benny it was a white-hot consuming hatred that went back to his very first memory. Because it was his first memory—a nightmare image that was there every night when he closed his eyes. It was an image that was seared into him, even though it was something he had seen as a tiny child.

Dad and Mom.

Mom screaming, running toward Tom, shoving a squirming Benny—all of eighteen months—into Tom’s arms. Screaming and screaming. Telling him to run.

While the thing that had been Dad pushed its way through the bedroom door that Mom had tried to block with a chair and lamps and anything else she could find.

Benny remembered Mom screaming words, but the memory was so old and he had been so young that he didn’t remember what any of them were. Maybe there were no words. Maybe it was just her screaming.

Benny remembered the wet heat on his face as Tom’s tears fell on him as they climbed out of the bedroom window. They had lived in a ranch-style house. One story. The window emptied out into a yard that was pulsing with red and blue police lights. There were more shouts and screams. The neighbors. The cops. Maybe the army. Thinking back, Benny figured it was probably the army. And the constant popping of gunfire, near and far away.

But of all of it, Benny remembered a single last image. As Tom clutched him to his chest, Benny looked over his brother’s shoulder at the bedroom window. Mom leaned out of the window, screaming at them as Dad’s pale hands reached out of the shadows of the room and dragged her back out of sight.

That was Benny’s oldest memory. If there had been older memories, then that image had burned them away. Because he had been so young the whole thing was little more than a collage of pictures and noises, but over the years Benny had burned his brain to reclaim each fragment, to assign meaning and sense to every scrap of what he could recall. Benny remembered the hammering sound vibrating against his chest that was Tom’s panicked heartbeat, and the long wail that was his own inarticulate cry for his mom and his dad.

He hated Tom for running away. He hated that Tom hadn’t stayed and helped Mom. He hated what their dad had become on that First Night all those years ago. Just as he hated what Dad had turned Mom into.

In his mind they were no longer Mom and Dad. They were the things that had killed them. Zoms. And he hated them with an intensity that made the sun feel cold and small.

“Dude, what is it with you and zoms?” Chong once asked him. “You act like the zoms have a personal grudge against you.”

“What, I’m supposed to have fuzzy bunny feelings for them?” Benny had snapped back.

“No,” Chong had conceded, “but a little perspective would be nice. I mean . . . everybody hates zoms.”

“You don’t.”

Chong had shrugged his bony shoulders and his dark eyes had darted away. “Everybody hates zoms.”

The way Benny saw it, when your first memory was of zombies killing your parents, then you had a license to hate them as much as you wanted. He tried to explain that to Chong, but his friend wouldn’t be drawn back into the conversation.

A few years ago, when Benny found out that Tom was a zombie hunter, he hadn’t been proud of his brother. As far as he was concerned, if Tom really had what it took to be a zombie hunter, he’d have had the guts to help Mom. Instead, Tom had run away and left Mom to die. To become one of them.

Tom came back into the living room, looked at the remains of the dessert on the table, then looked at Benny on the couch.

“The offer still stands,” he said. “If you want to do what I do, then I’ll take you on as an apprentice. I’ll sign the papers so you can still get full rations.”

Benny gave him a long, withering stare.

“I’d rather be eaten by zoms than have you as my boss,” Benny said.

Tom sighed, turned, and trudged upstairs. After that they didn’t talk to each other for days.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; First Edition (September 14, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1442402326
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1442402324
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 11 - 13 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL780L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.7 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #474,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #152 in Teen & Young Adult Zombie Fiction
- #750 in Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories
- #103,572 in Children's Books (Books)

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4.6 1,429 ratings

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Jonathan Maberry

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JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 3-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, anthology editor, writing teacher, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Kagen the Damned, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. His comics include Black Panther: DoomWar, The Punisher: Naked Kills and Bad Blood. His Rot & Ruin young adult novel was adapted into the #1 comic on Webtoon and is being developed for film by Alcon Entertainment. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

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Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the exciting and epic storyline with a lot of action. The characters are well-developed and relatable. Readers praise the writing quality as wonderful, tight, and intelligent. It's described as a young adult novel for children 14+ due to language and violence. Customers appreciate the depth of the story with fascinating insights on humanity and life lessons.

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Readability Storyline Character development Writing quality Adult content Depth Pacing Heartfelt story

137 customers mention "Readability"133 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the book design enjoyable, with a good story and characters that can be passed on to younger readers. The book has gore and action, though some readers found it predictable. Overall, they consider it a quick, enjoyable read with heart.

"...This book was simply fantastic. It really showed the superstitious nature of the survivors in the small town...." Read more

"...There was also plenty to please this girl reader, and there were some heartbreaking moments that really made me love the characters...." Read more

"...All in all, I really enjoyed the book and have already Kindled the second installment." Read more

"...I could go on and on about how wonderful this book is. Because it was so good, I'm worried that the next two books may not live up to the first...." Read more

115 customers mention "Storyline"111 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the storyline. They find it exciting and epic, with a lot of action and feeling. The descriptive writing helps readers see Benny mature and develop. The book has an interesting premise and stays with the plot. It tackles complex topics like life and death, grief, and purpose.

"...This book is a great story for the students who are interested in some action but really like a character driven story, as Benny and Tom are the..." Read more

"...There's plenty of guts and action to please boy readers, and the characters show much more insight and maturity than many of the YA titles out there..." Read more

"...There is a bit of romance in the book as well, as Benny’s longtime friend Nix is a secondary character with a crush that becomes pretty complicated,..." Read more

"...Maberry does a masterful job of world building. Zombies are more than just zombies-- the remaining humans have created a culture around them...." Read more

61 customers mention "Character development"58 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the believable characters and the emotional depth of the story. They find it easy to get involved with the characters, especially the villains. The storyline is unique and more about people drama than zombie drama. Readers appreciate the heartfelt zombie story like Warm Bodies.

"...the students who are interested in some action but really like a character driven story, as Benny and Tom are the true focus of this incredible book...." Read more

"...plenty of guts and action to please boy readers, and the characters show much more insight and maturity than many of the YA titles out there right..." Read more

"...Benny is a good protagonist in his own right and we spend most of the time in his head and you can actually feel and see him growing as a person as..." Read more

"...The characters are many layered as well, as three dimensional as you get...." Read more

33 customers mention "Writing quality"29 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find the characters believable, and the prose flows smoothly. The story is intelligently written, vividly depicting what's happening. Readers appreciate the author's creativity and wit. The book is described as an easy read with detailed narrative and dialogue between memorable heroes.

"...The writing is not too mature or too immature. It would be appropriate for stronger junior high readers all the way through high school readers...." Read more

"...that their relationship progression was so rewarding and finely revealed...." Read more

"...The lyrical and descriptive story telling Seeing Benny mature and develop more meaningful relationships The nonstop action..." Read more

"...It's got everything and the story is written intelligently, not mindless like so many "Zombie" books...." Read more

25 customers mention "Adult content"25 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the adult content in the book. They find it entertaining for young adults due to its violence and mature themes. The story is described as thrilling and gruesome, transcending its YA category.

"...In fact, it might just be one of the best zombie stories, YA or adult fiction, I have ever read!..." Read more

"...There's plenty of guts and action to please boy readers, and the characters show much more insight and maturity than many of the YA titles out there..." Read more

"...The heart of this book, really, is the family aspect and the bond between brothers as they learn things about each other they didn’t know before...." Read more

"...It's about children and adults, mostly YA, though, and how they surpass many much older as they travel the road to becoming compassionate human..." Read more

18 customers mention "Depth"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and inspiring. They appreciate the poignant growth of Benny Imura and the philosophical depth. The book has heart and emotional growth, with an apt metaphor for life. Readers mention that the lessons are real-life applicable and eloquently thought through.

"...and it’s such a haunting setting for the story and an apt metaphor for life...." Read more

"...Rot and Ruin, on the other hand, was intelligent, thoughtful, moving, and fast paced...." Read more

"...It's got everything and the story is written intelligently, not mindless like so many "Zombie" books...." Read more

"...It's about society, about people, about the world around us. It'll make you cry. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you think...." Read more

18 customers mention "Pacing"15 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find the storyline engaging and easy to follow. The writing is good and the story develops at a great pace.

"...Ruin, on the other hand, was intelligent, thoughtful, moving, and fast paced...." Read more

"...its realistic and it actually grows, it isn't rushed - it develops at a great pace...." Read more

"...The style is sparse and fast-paced. Maberry’s writing reminds me of Zen; say the most using the fewest words...." Read more

"...It was refreshingly obvious, and I thought it was great. 4) Zoms. The language that Mr. Maberry used was fun...." Read more

15 customers mention "Heartfelt story"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the story engaging. They appreciate the characters, friendships, and love. The book provides a heartfelt story about family and friendships in a zombie apocalypse. Readers praise the compassionate older brother and respectful survivors.

"...The heart of this book, really, is the family aspect and the bond between brothers as they learn things about each other they didn’t know before...." Read more

"...author addresses topics like prejudice, bravery, compassion, pride, selflessness, guilt, and so much more, all while keeping you at the edge of your..." Read more

"...However, I will say there's a great story here. It's about fear and bravery, and it's about courage and evil too...." Read more

"...Tom Imura, Benny’s older brother, is patient, compassionate, and a skilled fighter, but a man who sees himself as less than perfect...." Read more

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OpheliasOwn
Brilliant Zombie Series
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2013
Verified Purchase

OK, "Zombie Apocalypse meets Catcher in the Rye" may seem like a ridiculous pairing, but in Jonathan Maberry's Rot and Ruin, it just works. This zombie Sci-Fi thriller meets coming-of-age tale is quite simply the best YA zombie story I have ever read! In fact, it might just be one of the best zombie stories, YA or adult fiction, I have ever read!

Benny Imura was just a toddler when his brother, Tom, took him and ran away from their home on the First Night. Benny has never forgiven his brother for running away and not saving his mother from their father who had already become one of the monsters. Even though Tom has since become a bounty hunter who ventures into the Rot and Ruin to kill zombies for money, Benny still thinks Tom is a coward.

Together they live in Mountainside, a small fenced town that works together to survive the zombie apocalypse that started 14 years ago. Benny has just turned 15 and all 15 year olds must find a job or their food rations will be cut in half. Benny and his friend Chong start looking for jobs, but can't find anything that isn't disgusting, terrifying, or simply too much effort than they are willing to give. Chong gets a job as a lookout on the fence tower, but Benny's imperfect eyesight keeps him looking. Finally, without any other options, he must resign himself to apprentice with his brother, and nothing could annoy him more.

When Tom agrees to take Benny into the Ruin and show him what he does, Benny has no idea what he is in for. Benny hates the zoms and has long since idolized the ruthless bounty hunters like Charlie Pink-Eye and Motorcity Hammer. Once in the Ruin, however, he sees Tom's side of the world. While the zoms are certainly to be feared, they aren't to be disrespected. Tom teaches Benny that the zoms were once people, and his job is very different than the other bounty hunters. Instead of bringing back limbless torsos for money like the other hunters, Tom goes on specific missions for family members to give them closure and "quiet" their loved ones. When Benny accompanies him on a quieting, it becomes clear Tom is anything but a coward. When they come upon a group of bounty hunters "having fun" with a bunch of zoms, Benny truly understands Tom's job finally- it isn't about killing monsters, it is about ending someone's suffering.

Things begin to go awry in the superstitious town of Mountainside when the newest Zombie Trading Cards are released. In addition to Benny getting the new hunter card- Tom- he also gets the Lost Girl card. The Lost Girl is a myth of a feral girl who survives in the ruin. She is stunning and Benny instantly feels protective of her. When he begins to investigate the card, however, he finds his brother may be the best source of information about the Lost Girl. Unfortunately, Charlie Pinkeye is also interested, and not for humanitarian reasons. He has much more disturbing reasons for wanting to find the Lost Girl, and when he attacks Benny's friend Nix and her mother, Benny and Tom must go into the Ruin to save Nix before Charlie can put her into the Zombie Games- a twisted gladiator-esque challenge where the hunters pit children against zombies.

This book was simply fantastic. It really showed the superstitious nature of the survivors in the small town. Once they had shielded themselves from the zombies, they weren't willing to even consider what happened outside the fences. Like the other townsfolk, Benny only sees the zombies for what they currently are- flesh munching, mindless monsters. Tom sees what they were- people like you and me. It shows the humanity within a pretty scary genre.

The writing is not too mature or too immature. It would be appropriate for stronger junior high readers all the way through high school readers. There isn't an abundance of violence, even though the story centers around zombies and bounty hunters. This book is a great story for the students who are interested in some action but really like a character driven story, as Benny and Tom are the true focus of this incredible book. All I can say is even if you are not a zombie enthusiast, you should give this book a chance- it will really blow your preconceived notions out of the water!

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MyBookishWays
Unlikely Hero
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2010
Verified Purchase
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Rot & Ruin has zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. It also has all of the good stuff that usually accompanies zombies, thrills, chills, and of course, kills. However, Rot & Ruin is not a zombie book, not in the traditional sense. It's a coming of age story in a time where everything is dangerous, and nothing is quite how it seems, and about the birth of a hero.

The book begins about 15 years after First Night, when the dead started coming back to life, and focuses on Benny Imura, 14, and his older, zombie hunter brother Tom. Benny is about to turn 15, and that means he'll have to get a job, or his food rations will be cut in half. I'll be honest, at the start of this book, I thought Benny Imura, our 15 year old star, was a whining, moody little brat and was actually worried that I wasn't going to like him at all. On the other hand, his older brother Tom was a quiet, kind, strong presence that eventually grew into a much bigger role later in the novel. Benny tries his hand at a number of jobs before deciding, kicking and screaming, to go into the "family business", aka zombie hunting, or as Tom prefers, becoming a "closure specialist". Benny has fuzzy, vague memories about Tom running away with him and leaving his parents to the mercy of the zombies on First Night, and has nursed bitter resentment for him ever since. Benny idolizes the obnoxious, loud mouthed bounty hunter Charlie, and thinks his brother is a coward, not only for what he perceives happened on First Night, but because Tom rarely talks about what he does to put food on the table.

It's only when Tom takes Benny out into the Rot & Ruin (the zombie infested area beyond their fenced in town), that Benny begins to realize just what his brother does on a daily basis, and his entire world view is turned upside down, and when his friend Nix is kidnapped by zombie hunters with the most evil of plans, Benny has to look inside himself to find courage he never knew existed.

This book was hard for me to review, because I recently read Patient Zero, and The Dragon Factory, both by Jonathan Maberry, and I absolutely could not put them down. So, perhaps unfairly to this book, I expected more of the same, just toned down for a Young Adult audience. Rot & Ruin took a bit longer for me to get into, but that was ok, because the payoff was worth it! There's plenty of guts and action to please boy readers, and the characters show much more insight and maturity than many of the YA titles out there right now. There was also plenty to please this girl reader, and there were some heartbreaking moments that really made me love the characters. I wavered between a 4.5 and a 5 on this one, so I'll give it a 5! I'll eagerly look forward to the next Benny Imura novel!

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vi
Webtoon to Novel
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2022
Verified Purchase

I read the webtoon and loved it. Saldy, they didn't make the entire story from the novel to the webtoon version. I decided to buy the 1st tome to try the novel one to know the whole story that i couldn't read on Webtoon. I really like zombie apocalyspe adventure so this will be a thrill!

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vi

Webtoon to Novel

Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2022
I read the webtoon and loved it. Saldy, they didn't make the entire story from the novel to the webtoon version. I decided to buy the 1st tome to try the novel one to know the whole story that i couldn't read on Webtoon. I really like zombie apocalyspe adventure so this will be a thrill!

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Sharky Summers
fantastic zombie apocalypse read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2024
Verified Purchase
I always start reading a bit apprehensively, will it be a good book, won’t it.
I needn’t have worried, it’s a excellent book, great characters good and bad, I never like spoiling the story for someone else so I don’t go into details about the story, but if you like Zombies, you won’t be disappointed.

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Kindle Customer
Thrilling from start to finish...
Reviewed in Australia on September 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
For what is well worn territory, that can easily feel stale this is a thrilling, emotional and beautifully written take on post apocolypic society where human nature is the real th. I cant wait to start the next book.

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Stefano Percario
Rot & Ruin
Reviewed in Italy on October 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
A very nice surprire: there is much, much more then zombie horror in this book.
Action, suspense and reflections on sense of life in the same package.
I'm already reading the rest of the series.
Highly reccomended

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Danny
dope book
Reviewed in Canada on April 2, 2022
Verified Purchase
this was a dope book :)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Zombie Series

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5.0 out of 5 stars Webtoon to Novel

Webtoon to Novel

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5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic zombie apocalypse read

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling from start to finish...

5.0 out of 5 stars Rot & Ruin

5.0 out of 5 stars dope book

Brilliant Zombie Series

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Webtoon to Novel

fantastic zombie apocalypse read

Thrilling from start to finish...

Rot & Ruin

dope book