I was looking for something easy to listen to and picked up the YA book Rot & Ruin without really knowing what it was about — except that it was about zombies. I was expecting a pretty typical “run from the monsters” plot and was completely surprised by the sympathy the author evoked for the zombies. Don’t get me wrong, there’s action, plenty of “uh-oh the monsters might catch me” suspense, but I was surprised at who was the real monster.
The world has been changed by a cataclysm – some sort of medical or environmental disaster that caused some people, including Benny’s parents, to turn into zombies. And as people turned to zombies, they infected others until their sheer numbers overran cities large and small…
Groups of survivors gathered in outposts with fences and patrols to keep the zombies out. Most people don’t venture into the “great Rot & Ruin” – the zombie- infested expanse separating the outposts from each other.
That’s the post-apocalyptic world Benny Imura has grown up in. And he hates zombies with a white hot passion. His older brother, Tom, is a zombie hunter, supposedly one of the best. But Benny doubts it. His earliest memory is of Tom running away when his parents were turned to zombies. Benny hasn’t forgiven Tom for not staying to fight.
Benny goes to school and hangs out with friends. But some of Benny’s favorite times are when the “real” zombie hunters like Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer tell stories of how they fought zoms in the Rot & Ruin. It sounds so cool when they tell the stories.
In the fall after Benny turns 15 he has to find a job or face having his rations cut. When he runs out of options, he reluctantly approaches his brother about going into the family business. But hunting zombies is not what Benny thought it would be.
There’s depth to this story, as well as lots of nail-biting tension and some really heart-wrenching revelations. Rot & Ruin is the first in a series. I can’t wait to see what happens next to Benny and his friends!
Check the WRL catalog for Rot & Ruin
Check the WRL catalog for the audiobook of Rot & Ruin
Blogging for a Good Book 
Reblogged this on omreddy.
I read this awhile back. Picked it up St an airport during my many travels and fell in love. Brilliant concept
Never read a book about zombie… but your description attracts me.
I’ve looked at this book a few times but never picked it up. Usually zombie stories freak me out, but I loved Carrie Ryan’s “A Forest of Hands and Teeth,” and I like the idea of a book portraying zombies somewhat sympathetically – great review! I’ll definitely check it out now. :)