Janina's Reviews > Rot & Ruin

Rot & Ruin was the first zombie book I ever read and judging by how much I liked it, I think it won't be the last (recommendations are welcome; I'm not exactly an expert). I would categorize it as middle grade, though, so if you're looking for a 'hard-core' ;) zombie book, you might want to look elsewhere.

First of all, I really like the makeup of this book: We have an eye-catching – and slightly creepy cover – and then on the inside we have some 'zombie-cards' (the kids in the story collect them) of famous people and a 'zombified' author portrait. Laughed out loud at some of this stuff. And the best: The book's interior – the story – can actually keep up with that. Too many other books with awesome covers disappointed lately.

About the story:
The US in the near future: most of the country has been deserted; people live together in small towns behind huge fences, shielding themselves against millions of zombies. Benny Imura lives in Mountainside, together with his half brother Tom, a zombie hunter, after his parents were killed and resurrected as zombies on First Night – the night the dead began to rise and threw the whole world into chaos.
Although he believes his older brother to be a coward and their relationship isn't exactly a good one, Benny joins the 'family business' and begins to hunt zombies together with Tom. Soon he has to learn that the dead aren't the real evil out there.

Despite the fact that this novel is clearly plot driven and includes a fair amount of violence and gore, it also has its quiet moments and there were even a few scenes that made me get a little teary-eyed. This novel is about so much more than 'going out killing zombies' – it focuses just as strongly on relationships of all kinds. At the centre of attention is Benny’s development after his first trip out into the Ruin: to be honest, he comes across as quite a pain-in-the-ass in the beginning, though he clearly has a good heart. But when his friend Nix is in danger, he is forced to mature quickly, sheds his know-it-all attitude towards his older brother and does everything possible to help those close to him.

I loved how the relationship between Benny and Tom developed, how Benny slowly began to realise what was behind his brother's mask of indifference and started to admire the way he did his job. Their relationship is what keeps this story going. The occasional banter between them was fun, and their 'bonding moments' were moving.

Also, hats off to Jonathan Maberry for writing two female characters who clearly own this story. Both of the girls are resourceful and strong in their own way, they don't need any rescuing and are perfectly able to make – and defend – their own choices. I would really like to see more girls of this type in all genres.

And most of all, I appreciated that all these characters dealt with traumatic experiences as I would expect real people to do. They suffered and didn’t move on quickly after a few moments of sadness and anger. They carried those experiences with them, and they have changed their ways of behaviour and altered their personalities.

Although this novel clearly has its own ending and could be read as a stand-alone (no mean cliff-hanger here), there clearly is the potential for a sequel. Will be checking out Dust and Decay (which is just a great title, by the way)!