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 … be human.
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Zombie fun and games, but the games aren’t fun. Excellent zombie tale of truths, lies, mistakes, abuse, control and revenge. There are some men that are just evil, and they aren’t zombies.
The dead have control of the world. The living are living in fear, hidden behind walls, willing to just exist to be safe. The past has forever scared them. The new generation, the ones they didn’t live through the first night of the zombie rising are itching to know what’s out there, or at least the truth of what happened. When a town bully turns deadly, events drive the, out beyond and what they find there will bring on many more questions.
I really enjoyed this zombie tale. It wasn’t as gore centered as a few of my other zombie reads are. I don’t really notice the characters were so well developed.- Now waiting on book 2
Rot & Ruin is the first volume in Jonathan Maberry’s popular Benny Imura series. This novel introduces 15-year-old Benny and follows his adventures as he becomes an apprentice to his zombie-killing older brother Tom. The narrative is set in the fictional town of Mountainside, California, and takes place thirteen years after the zombie apocalypse. One of the really impressive things Maberry does in the novel is how well he handles his world building closely within Benny’s point of view. This is a fast-paced novel full of conflict and vivid imagery, and it’s not surprising that it became a bestseller.
I love a good zombie story and this one is an absolute gem. The characters are teens through and through, but they are tough and they grow! Besides, Jonathan Maberry is a VERY cool dude!
The author has a grasp on psychological horror that his characters are able to communicate.. Not to mention I find his work terrifying. The grit and gore is present as is expected in the genre but is done in such a way as to add color to the story – not gratuitously.
This is such an amazing book. Zombie books are a dime a dozen, but this one truly stands out. It’s not so much about the zombies as it is about living in a world where zombies are a very real thing. The characters elicit emotions that perhaps we wouldn’t necessarily feel when they begin to understand that zombies are just the undead, they were once humans like them. This story is beautifully written and wonderfully unpredictable. 10/10 recommend
This is one of my favorite YA books. Maberry creates a new flavor of zombie apocalypse, one that is particularly terrible. He also brings his martial arts experiences to the book, which means his fights are detailed, excellent and realistic. Tom is the classic mentor, and Benny manages to be the typical 15 year old who is kind of bratty but not so ridiculously obnoxious that I can’t enjoy the story. Great characters, creepy adventure, all with Maberry’s signature horror.
“This is a bad, bad business. Whole world gets wiped out, and people are still preying on one another. People just don’t learn.”
I really did not know what to expect with this book when I finally decided to pick it up. All I knew was that it was about zombies. Boy was I wrong. This book is about so much more than zombies. This book talks about the possibility about what life could look like afterwards. How the world changes. Jonathan Maberry turns an eye towards human nature and how people react to how the world nearly ended. I enjoyed every second of this book. It was funny, sad, action-packed, and made you think more than once. I liked the way it made you think about what zombies really are.
I really enjoyed the main character Benny who is a 15 year old boy who decides to join the family business with his brother Tom who is a bounty hunter. Tom takes Benny out into the Rot & Ruin, a place outside of their small fenced in towns where zombies roam free and there no laws to abide by. As Benny is goes out into the wild, Tom shows him a whole new world that most people in their town has turned a blind eye on, and even given him a different outlook at how he sees zombies. They used to be people too.
If you get the chance to read this book I would definitely suggest giving it a try
This is a great book. Very enjoyable, easy to read, and a real page-turner. The characters are relatable and the world realistic. A must-read.
A group of friends trying to find their way in a zombie-infested post-apoc world. Love Maberry’s books.
A different take on the zombie genre. A lot of fun. Definitely worth the read.
was a very good book and benny went through a lot and nix how shes in love with benny but doesn’t now how to express it to him!