Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Oh man, what a cover. As one of Yalsa's Best of the Best this year, and with such a fantastic cover, I picked this up with high hopes. It's a post-apocalyptic zombie story that's not campy (Forest of Hands and Teeth but for dudes). Benny Imura decided to join the family business - killing zombies. Joining up with his brother, Tom, Benny goes outside of the fence into the Rot and Ruin and learns so much more about life than just a career in zombie killing.


I will say, that I listened to this one, which almost always makes me not like the book as much as if I read it (unless done really well) and that is the case with this one as well. Benny was a little too obtuse for my taste (seriously, borderline offensive to teenagers obtuse) and the book was probably about 100 pages longer than it needed to be (there was a lot of description and down time between action). Also, biggest pet peeve, I found the dialogue quite inauthentic. However, I think it would still be a sound recommendation for teens just, maybe, older teens that have more patience... but older teens that can overlook murderous villains saying the word "butt" instead of a curse word. Really, if you are willing to kill and torture, I doubt you watch your language...

That being said, I would consider reading the sequel (coming out pretty soon) I would just make sure to read it instead of listen.