Rot and Ruin

Holy zombies my friends! If you are a fan of The Walking Dead starring the adorable Andrew Lincoln, you will LOVE this book. It is about Benny and Tom Imura. Their parents were killed on First Night, when the zombies rose. Tom took baby Benny and ran for their lives. Benny thinks this makes him a coward- why didn't Tom go back and save their mother? Now Benny is 15 and has to get a job or have his rations cut in half.  He would rather die than work with Tom, a zombie Bounty Hunter. How could Tom, the coward, be a bounty hunter. He was nothing like Charlie Pink Eye, the most notorious bounty hunter in town. Benny admires Charlie and all his exploits. His best friend Nix, however, can't stand Charlie and neither can Tom. When all other job opportunities fall through, Benny begrudgingly goes to work in the Ruin with Tom to do some 'closure' work. What he sees changes his life and his opinion of his brother forever. When Nix is kidnapped by Charlie, Benny and Tom set off to find her and to find the Lost Girl, who is said to roam the ruins,  where they are faced with death every step of the way. This is a very thought provoking book. It poses the question, who really is the enemy, the dead or the humans who hunt them? Benny thinks he knows his brother and comes to find that Tom is anything but what Benny thought he was. This is really a story of humanity and what it means to be human in a zombie filled world. It is the story of family and bravery and yes a little bit about love. Tom is a fascinating character who shows Benny what it means to be human even when dealing with the undead. I had some tears in my eyes at various points and I didn't expect that. I look forward to Jonathan Maberry's sequel Dust and Decay to see where that jet was going, to see if Nix and Benny can make their romance work, to see if Tom can find some peace and to see if Lost Girl can live in civilization. Well done, well done. Happy reading my friends!