“It’s sort of a shock to see your head detached that way.”

76. Fire & Ash – Jonathan Maberry

Fire & Ash is the end of the Rot & Ruin series, but it also draws together Maberry’s other zombie series, so, if you’re looking to catch up with some significant characters, they’re here. And it’s pretty normal for a zombie series to find a Sanctuary that’s totally not a sanctuary in the true sense of the word. There’s not really a way to be totally protected once the apocalypse comes, so you make your choices. While Benny, Nix, Chong in his halfsies state, and Lilah are trying to navigate Sanctuary and understand all the information that’s now available to them that hasn’t been before, like the origins of the zombie plague and what a future might look like alongside normal diseases that could have been cured in the beforetime becoming deadly all over again, the Night Church is also still pursuing their zealot murder mission and closing in. There’s a lot of action in Fire & Ash, as well there should be, and yet Maberry still takes the time to examine who these teens have become over the course of their adventures and who they want to be to each other and overall. It’s a definitely well executed conclusion to one of the best zombie series, YA or not.

 

Ozymandias watches Danger Crumples end this series of photographs.