
I have been terrified of zombies ever since 1968 when I first saw George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead on the big screen. Now it appears that moaning, hungry zombies are everywhere! They have definitely captured our collective imagination. And, in this particular action-packed novel, they have seemingly taken over the entire world since First Night when the dead reanimated for some unknown reason and began to attack the living. Benny Imura, who was just a toddler when he lost his parents on First Night, lives with his older brother Tom in Mountainside, a zombie-proof California compound.
Benny has been content to spend his spare time hanging out with his buddies and trading zombie cards. But now he is almost fifteen years old, and must find a job so that his share of rations won’t be reduced. After halfheartedly (and unsuccessfully) searching for easy work inside the town fences, Benny decides to bite the bullet and accept an apprenticeship with Tom, a renowned and respected zombie hunter. Benny despises his big brother. He thinks of Tom as a coward who left their parents to be devoured by walkers on First Night, and he is less than enthusiastic about leaving the safety of Mountainside to roam around the Ruin with his brother searching for zoms to “quiet.” But, as Benny soon learns, things are not always what they seem. The undead are not necessarily evil, the living are not always good, and Tom Imura is far from being a coward.
If you are a fan of The Walking Dead and post-apocalyptic fiction, you will love the thrilling adventure, danger, revenge and even romance that take place in the vast Rot & Ruin. But is the Ruin really all that’s left? Find out in Maberry’s sequel, Dust & Decay. And, in case zombies really do take over, it might be smart to brush up on them by checking out Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Zombies by Matt Mogk. Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Max Brallier will tell you how it’s done.







