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Rot & Ruin

(Rot & Ruin #1)

Jonathan Maberry (Goodreads Author)

4.10 · Rating details · 31,561 ratings · 3,599 reviews

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach h ...more

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Hardcover, 1st Edition, 458 pages

Published September 14th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

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Jun 11, 2010 Penny rated it it was ok

This is what I learned from reading Rot & Ruin:

1. Zombies iz people too. So they should be treated with respect, yo. (more about this later)

2. Books containing zombies can be really irritating and boring.

You see, I didn't know this was a possibility. I mean, it's zombies we're talking about here. How could zombies be boring? Turns out all you need to do is add a lame teenage romance and BAM! What really matters (ZOMBIES!) gets shoved onto the backburner in favor of the not-so-i ...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fun-fantasy, kat-s-book-reviews

My little brother and I generally get along very well. Except for an occasional intellectual disagreements on ethics, morality, religion or politics we're pretty close. However, he can sometimes be a naive pain-in-the-butt. Until reading Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, I assumed this was something that would have to be cured by time, experience, and several well-timed and well-placed blows to the head.

However, parents and old siblings can now breath a sigh of relief because Jonat My little brother and I generally get along very well. Except for an occasional intellectual disagreements on ethics, morality, religion or politics we're pretty close. However, he can sometimes be a naive pain-in-the-butt. Until reading Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, I assumed this was something that would have to be cured by time, experience, and several well-timed and well-placed blows to the head.

However, parents and old siblings can now breath a sigh of relief because Jonathan Maberry has devised the perfect solution to our problems with snot-nosed, idiot teenagers!

In ten easy days your temperamental child can be transformed from shit-head to SMART-head! That's right. For only $49.99 plus postage and handling, to be paid in three easy installments you can have your very own zombie apocalypse! Guaranteed to straighten out and rectify almost any maladjusted behavior in children (excluding violence and extreme fear) and turn them into useful members of society. And if it doesn't work out - the zombies clean up the mess FOR you and nobody needs to know... CALL NOW for 250,000 extra zombies FREE for the price of 6,837,452,001!

Rot & Ruin is a great first installment in a zombie dystopian future about a boy named Benny and his older, exasperated brother Tom. This book is well written. Benny is a great character and his friends Chong, Morgie and Nix are good for a chuckle.

Tom, his dashing, debonair brother is lovable and... well, kind of hot really. Trying to deal with Benny as a fifteen year old and regular pain-in-the-ass and build some kind of relationship between the two of them, he drags Benny out of their safe town and into the 'Rot & Ruin'.

Benny's adventures there lead him to new insight into human nature and zombie nature. When things turn bad for his girlcrush, Nix, ("Oh no!" Benny says, "Don't tell people I have a crush on her! It's embarrassing and I might get cooties!") Benny has some quick growing up to do.

I really liked this story. It was such a refreshing difference in both the genre and in terms of the books I've been reading lately. The big romance in this book is not really between Benny and Nix or Benny and Lilah. It's a bromance between Benny and his brother Tom as they come together to heal their relationship and bring their small family back together.

The story is packed with action, adventure, zombies, gore and violence. That's why we read it, right? But it's also filled with loving, tender moments between the two brothers as they learn and discover new things about each other.

Nix and Lilah, the two girls in this story, are kick-arse and I give Maberry full credit and appreciation for developing two complex, intelligent and capable characters that totally own this book. From Nix who is strong and thoughtful, resourceful and compassionate, to Lilah who is cold, intelligent, capable, resourceful and dangerous. I want to see more women like this in fiction.

All up, this book is a fun, wonderful read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't wait to read more from Jonathan Maberry! Oh, and if you call now, I'll add in ANOTHER 250,000 zombies to that offer. 555-ZOMBIE-YEY-111. That's, 555-ZOMBIE-YEY-111. ...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Lyndsey rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed-2011, reviewed-2010, about-zombies-purple-people-eaters, reviewed-3-stars

You know when you see yourself in a picture and think, "Ahhhhhhhh! Is that me?"

You just don't look right because you're used to seeing yourself from a different angle in the mirror. That's how this entire book felt because I thought I was seeing it all wrong. Something just seemed off. But more on that later *long drawn out dramatic pause*............ Dun, dun, duuuuuuun.

Beware! Minor Spoilers are afoot (and tagged). That's if you can spoil something that's already 'Rot'ten and 'Ruin'ed to begin with. Haha. Oh, and Major Ranting * ...more

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Feb 21, 2015 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2015, ya-for-grown-ups, liburrrrrry-book, nomnomnom

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“Save words like ‘sorry.’ Save for the dead. Living don’t need them.”

Seriously. Once I ran through the gamut of vampires and werewolves and angels (oh my!) a few years ago, zombies were the next obvious choice. I plowed through zombie horror stories, zombie romance stories, zom-coms, you name it – but somehow I managed to miss this one.

When the Zombie Apocalypse finally takes place, I have a feeling we’ll find this to be the most true to how we all will live.

1. In all actualityhttp://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
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Oct 30, 2010 Morgan F rated it really liked it

Shelves: good-sized, read-2010, fantasy, its-a-boy, zombies, dystopian-apocalyptic, young-adult, 2010, goodreads-author, e-book

I am. I so am. BRING IT

I'm just kidding. When there is a zombie apocalypse (no, not if), I'm about 98% sure I would not survive. I would be like those chicks in horror movies who get killed off in the opening credits. But there is the 2% I do survive initially, and then after that, I have a plan.

I am skilled in no way shape or form. I hate the wilderness and physical activity. I am not a quick thinker and I panic under pressure. So basically, I am screwed unless I find Tom Imura. Tom Imura was one of the ...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Trudi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: zombies, young-adult, 2011, series, survive-this, science-fiction, infection, group-in-peril, favorites, apocalyptic-types

I have been on a zombie reading frenzy lately – I see a zombie book and I must read it, I can’t help myself. And the books are coming fast and furious, especially in the YA area. Some are good, some are awful, and some are outstanding. Jonathan Maberry’s Rot and Ruin falls somewhere just shy of outstanding. It reeks of EPIC WIN.

So yeah, I love this book and before I go all fangirl over Tom Imura and squee my head off let me highlight why you should start this series:

1) It is very well-written -- that’s not always a given, ...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Giselle rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

Long overdue for this zombie fan, I am finally - finally - reading this series! As you can guess I've been hearing a lot about this award winning author, Jonathan Maberry, and although I'm only on book 2 at the moment, I can already see why it garnered so much popularity (and book 2 is even better so far!).

This novel is set years after the zombies came, so it's not your run of the mill survival of the fittest story happening in the midst of an apocalypse, this one is about what happens after th Long overdue for this zombie fan, I am finally - finally - reading this series! As you can guess I've been hearing a lot about this award winning author, Jonathan Maberry, and although I'm only on book 2 at the moment, I can already see why it garnered so much popularity (and book 2 is even better so far!).

This novel is set years after the zombies came, so it's not your run of the mill survival of the fittest story happening in the midst of an apocalypse, this one is about what happens after that. After society has somewhat survived. After people have been forced to learn to live with unrelenting fear. After everyone in power is out there shambling away, leaving control to whoever takes it. This is the post apocalypse, ladies and gentlemen, it's violent, it's merciless, and the only way to fight for what's right is to go and do it yourself! This is basically the gist of what this series is about. With that said, don't expect constant flesh eating action. We're after something that is much more cruel than zombies - the latter having more or less settled down on a now barely inhabited earth. They remain a constant threat for sure, and the fear is looming in the background at all times, but it's not a continuous bloodbath like your average zombie horror flick. Although we do get some intensely kick ass zombie scenes that will get your adrenaline pumping once or twice. Learning about these zombies, the world building as a whole, kept me engrossed as much as any action sequence. I loved all the theories behind the zombies themselves which, if explored further, has the potential to become very interesting. Plus the details we do have so far - how they act, what they can/can't do (how sometimes they do turn doorknobs, etc) - are so well thought up. Very realistic; very eerie.

The main character, Benny, I admit, was not my favorite at the beginning. He came off as an annoying brat, and oblivious one time too many, but when he goes off into the Rot and Ruin with his brother - aka in the real world - he grows up fast. We see this teenage boy learn the horrors that lay beyond the fence, and, in turn, the change in behavior this elicits. It's impressive character growth. In the end he's still a teenager at heart and with harsh cracks in his soul, but he's a brave young man that I came to admire. As for Tom, he's the bigger, stronger, more intelligent big brother who plays a big role in this story. What I loved the most about him was how much of a survivor he was, while keeping his moral values in check - not always easy in this world! Plus he never gives up on his little brother regardless of Benny's grudge against him. There is one other character who comes into play who fascinated me from the start. I'm very curious to see where this character will lead us. Just the oddity of their mental/social development in itself is especially intriguing.

One thing I didn't feel in this book was the romance. Benny kept saying that he didn't feel "that way" about Nix, then a romance sprouts out of nowhere between them, lacking both buildup and emotional connection. You can't even blame it on a bond built from surviving together through extreme life and death situations because they're apart most of the book, until they're suddenly making out. I just didn't understand where it came from.

I can already say that Rot and Ruin is only just the beginning of what promises to be an excellent, hectic series. Like all great zombie stories, it' a very character oriented, well built world filled with villains who are even worse than the flesh eating monsters who started it all!

--

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

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Jul 10, 2012 carol. rated it really liked it

Recommended to carol. by: Trudi

Shelves: young-adult, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, multi-culti, male-lead, zombies

I know, zombies, right? So passe, so early century, so urban fiction--so yawn for so many people. The genre is erroneously underrated; the best zombie and apocalypse fiction is about wrestling with humanity, ethics and survival, with some hair-raising action to leaven the philosophy. At worst, they're Cracker Jacks, caramel popcorn fun with a prize at the end. I love me some apocalypse fiction, and when Trudi recommended this series, I knew I had to give it a go.

It opens in a small t
I know, zombies, right? So passe, so early century, so urban fiction--so yawn for so many people. The genre is erroneously underrated; the best zombie and apocalypse fiction is about wrestling with humanity, ethics and survival, with some hair-raising action to leaven the philosophy. At worst, they're Cracker Jacks, caramel popcorn fun with a prize at the end. I love me some apocalypse fiction, and when Trudi recommended this series, I knew I had to give it a go.

It opens in a small town of 28 thousand, with fifteen year-old Benny and his best friend Lou Chong forced to look for jobs, the bane of countless teenagers during countless summers. Only, if they don't find a job, food rations will be decreased by half, and we all know how teens like to eat. Benny lives with his half-brother Tom in a gated community, only this particularly community is gated to keep the zombies out. Benny has been carrying a grudge against Tom since the day of the Fall, fourteen years ago. He has a memory of Tom carrying him, racing away from the arms of his mom and leaving her to their father, who was already a zombie. Since then, Tom has spent years raising and protecting him, now working as a zombie-quieter. Benny truly doesn't understand his brother's expertise and philosophy, instead admiring the town bounty-hunter thugs who brag about number of kills and scavenged riches. To absolutely no one's surprise, Benny fails as all the jobs he tries and resigns himself to apprenticing with Tom. Tom takes him outside the fence, and Benny finds many of his beliefs and emotions challenged. They return to town, more stuff happens, and Benny has to do some fast growing up as they race against time to save ---

The expositional process of going through different jobs is a novel and clever one, introducing the reader to various roles and norms within the community. The locksmiths repair locks so people can be locked in at night (in case they die of natural causes), and erosion artists act like police sketch artists for those missing family and friends. There isn't too much that is unique in the town setting or in society's reaction to the Fall, except for a religious faction that blames the zombies on technology. Religion plays another role outside the fence when Benny meets the zombie sympathizers. Mentality and technology have an 1800s Western feel, with bounty hunters and traders being the few willing to set foot outside of town.

I lacked patience for early Benny; he's such a teenager, but of course, that's so he can grow exponentially by the book's finish. Characterization was done well; developed so that we had a feel for their complexities and motivations. Teenage dialogue, slacking and angst was believable. Zombies were standard for the genre. Writing was competent, with enough variety in structure and word choice to remain interesting, even if it didn't lead me to marvel over its beauty. There's a twisty ending, one part that we could see coming, another twist we couldn't, and it lends an emotional gravity to the book.

Three and a half stars on the GR scale of enjoyment, rounding up because 1) I feel like it, and 2) I recognize my enjoyment in the first part was slightly compromised by the ~~idiot~~ naive teen angle ~~that left me wanting to slap Benny~~. But that's me and teenagers, and probably a mark of how well Maberry creates characters. ...more

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Nov 18, 2017 Kyle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

WOW! Talk about an excellent read!

It only took the first two or three chapters to find me deeply immersed in this novel. The story surrounds Benny, a fifteen-year-old, growing up in a zombie-infested world and is basically his coming of age story.

I couldn't help but become attached to the characters in this book. Benny and his brother Tom, Benny's girlfriend but "not the girlfriend," Nix. There is her competition, the Wild Girl. Finally, there are Benny's heroes Charlie Pink-eye and the Hammer. Even tho

...more

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Jul 03, 2013 Shelby *trains flying monkeys* rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-series, zombies, end-of-the-world, read-2014

The ratings from my friends on this book are all over the place. Some loved it-some hated it. I almost took it back to the library without reading it because of that. Glad I gave it a go.
Benny is a typical teenager in the beginning of this book. I didn't like his smart little butt and spent most of the time wanting to smack some sense into his head. Honestly, he kind reminds me of Carl from the Walking Dead. I couldn't stand that kid in the beginning of the series and half the time now I want to knock h ...more

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Jun 20, 2013 Mr. Matt rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015, dystopia, young-adult, horror, zombies

There are many stories about the outbreak of the impending zombie apocalypse. Tales of those first, terrible days when the horror of the outbreak strikes home. Rot and Ruin, in a pleasant surprise, breaks the mold on zombie stories. It picks up the story fifteen or so years after that first night. The initial chaos is gone. Humanity has figured out how to deal with the undead. They are slow. They are stupid. They are clumsy. While still a terrible threat, they are manageable.

It is in There are many stories about the outbreak of the impending zombie apocalypse. Tales of those first, terrible days when the horror of the outbreak strikes home. Rot and Ruin, in a pleasant surprise, breaks the mold on zombie stories. It picks up the story fifteen or so years after that first night. The initial chaos is gone. Humanity has figured out how to deal with the undead. They are slow. They are stupid. They are clumsy. While still a terrible threat, they are manageable.

It is in this setting that the story of Benny Imura unfolds. Benny is a fifteen year old kid who is trying to find his place in the fenced in town of Mountainside. Like all kids, at fifteen he must find gainful employment or his rations will be cut. Benny bounces from one to the other before discovering that he has no other alternative than to apprentice with his brother, Tom. Benny can't stand his brother because all he remembers is that his brother ran with him, leaving his mother to his already zombified father.

Tom is a bit of a bounty hunter. A man who brings closure to families by putting their undead loved ones to rest. And this is where the author separates himself from the other zombie apocalypse books out there. Tom teaches his brother that the zombies are more than the shambling undead. They were people once. They had lives and hopes and dreams. They had families. Tom humanizes the undead. And it is effective. Because they are so slow and so stupid and so clumsy, I felt sorry for them. They have no chance against humans who know what they are doing.

Folded over this whole story is a mystery - the mystery of the Lost Girl. On First Night, one of the residents of Mountainside helped a little girl and her sister escape the undead. Benny catches wind of the story and begins digging into it. It turns out that his brother has seen and even spoken to the Lost Girl. Who is she? Why won't she come into town? and why is she killing men? This mystery and the story of the Lost Girl set this book apart. Yes, the living are the real enemy and the undead are simply a danger to be endured - like a storm - but Rot and Ruin takes a new turn on this overdone story line. The story is the mystery - not the overdone story line.

In the end, just a great story - a great story for kids or adults. Four and a half stars rounded down to four. There were a few niggling things that detracted from the whole for me. First, the story started slowly. I did not truly immerse myself into the story until maybe a third of the way in. Next, there were more than a couple of points where I just said "come on!" to myself. There is no way that a certain character wielding a sword could survive certain things. These negatives, however, shouldn't detract from what is a pretty darn good little story. Highly recommend.

...more

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Dec 11, 2010 AH rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Young adults, boys

Shelves: dystopian, zzread-feb2011, zombies, young-adult

Is the zombie apocalypse close at hand?

Are zombies the new vampire? Both are undead. Both bite. Unfortunately, zombies have gotten the short end of the stick. Zombies are not glamorous. They are not sexy or sparkly either. Zombies are just ….well ewww.

I must preface this review with the fact that I usually don’t like zombies. I don’t go out of my way to read about zombies, or watch *shudder* zombie movies. I get squeamish at the sight of blood and gore.

Rot & Ruin is a great rea Is the zombie apocalypse close at hand?

Are zombies the new vampire? Both are undead. Both bite. Unfortunately, zombies have gotten the short end of the stick. Zombies are not glamorous. They are not sexy or sparkly either. Zombies are just ….well ewww.

I must preface this review with the fact that I usually don’t like zombies. I don’t go out of my way to read about zombies, or watch *shudder* zombie movies. I get squeamish at the sight of blood and gore.

Rot & Ruin is a great read. Aimed at the young adult market, I can certainly see my 14 year old son getting a kick out of this book. I loved its underlying theme: zombies are just like people except they’re dead (and they may want to bite you). I despaired at the world of Rot & Ruin, a world of abandoned technology and zombies.

Rot & Ruin is the story of Benny Imura and his legendary brother Tommy. Benny barely remembers First Night, the night the zombies took over. Benny is just your average 15 year old boy who must find a job in order to keep receiving his food rations. The job market in the zombie post apocalypse sucks, probably worse than today’s job market. Benny tries some truly horrid jobs, but never lasts. He finally takes the last possible job – his brother’s apprentice. Tommy is a heroic zombie hunter and well known throughout their world. I really liked how Benny’s view of Tommy changes significantly during the book and how Tommy allows this change of attitude little by little.

I loved how Benny is portrayed as just a regular teenager, with teenage angst and issues. Benny’s friends are also very entertaining. I loved Morgie and Chong and enjoyed reading about their job hunting woes. Nix was another interesting character and I loved how all the boys wanted to date her. I was intrigued by the Lost Girl Lilah. For a girl who grew up on her own, she was fierce, lethal and very resourceful. The bad guys in this book are especially heinous. Charlie Pink-Eye and Motor City Hammer are very unscrupulous zombie hunters.

I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next installment of Benny and Tommy Imura’s story.

Guest post on Paranormal Wastelands

Update 1/15/12 - Prequel to this story is posted on this link. Click on the banner that says Bonus Material (in the middle of the page).

Update 5/23/12 - Rot & Ruin is now on the Badass Book Reviews' Best Badass Zombie Books List. Check it out!
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Oct 08, 2012 Shannon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, young-adult, male-author, male-protagonist, zombies, 2015

I'm not anti-zombie in any way, shape, or form, but I tend to only read/watch stuff with zombies when I'm really in the mood for them.

Twice has sort of reignited my ... er ... hunger? for them?

I seriously loved how this author didn't just rehash other zombie stories and instead made it undeniably his own. I also enjoyed that he didn't sugar-coat anything; there's lots of gory parts in this book.

I liked the setting, the ...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Lou rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, june-read, other-beings

http://more2read.com/?review=rot-ruin-benny-imura-1-by-jonathan-maberry
This story is about two brothers, The Imura brothers, Tom the bounty hunter and Benny the not so yet bounty hunter. Benny since First Night, the time when the Zombie outbreak began has not yet killed, has now come to the stage in his life where he's going to have to make some big decisions. Will he embrace the path of a bounty hunter like his brother or not? What sets Benny on a stepping-stone to his chosen destiny is the search for one girl, that he becomes besotted with.

Forget the tag/>This http://more2read.com/?review=rot-ruin-benny-imura-1-by-jonathan-maberry
This story is about two brothers, The Imura brothers, Tom the bounty hunter and Benny the not so yet bounty hunter. Benny since First Night, the time when the Zombie outbreak began has not yet killed, has now come to the stage in his life where he's going to have to make some big decisions. Will he embrace the path of a bounty hunter like his brother or not? What sets Benny on a stepping-stone to his chosen destiny is the search for one girl, that he becomes besotted with.

Forget the tag of 'Young Adults fiction' as the only thing you are going to miss is unwanted foul language and sex scenes. This story gets to the meat and bone of what is a really good thriller about zombie hunters, many of today's fiction that i have read for the Young Adult genre have cheesy one liners and cliché scenes, in this one gem you would not find this. Maberry takes you straight to the heart of the story and the action of the moment in this flowing and page-turning story. This has the makings of a TV series, similar to ‘Supernatural' where you also have two brothers who hunt out demons and ghosts instead.
There is something more worse out there than zombies, more of an enemy for the Imura brothers, this enemy is killing off family members. A few of these bounty hunters, evil individuals have started something called the Gameland and are taking everyone down without rules.

With really good locations like 'The Hungry Forest' the author has created an interesting and engaging story. All I need now is to buy myself one of those Zombie cards from the story, they are like picture cards on the front of each was a portrait of a famous bounty hunter. On the back was a sort bio and the name of the artist. The next book in the series has all the makings of something even better!.

"Out here-I kill. Walkers, bad men. I kill and I live. I'm safe here"

"Cadaverine was a nasty-smelling molecule produced by protein hydrolysis during putrefaction of animal tissue. Benny remembered that from science class, but he didn't know that it was made from actual rotting flesh. Hunters and trackers dabbed it on their clothes to keep the zoms from coming after them, because the dead were not attracted to rotting flesh."

"The pair of them-Charlie and the Hammer-were the toughest bounty hunters in the entire Rot and Ruin. Everyone said so. Except for a few weirdoes, like Mayr Kirsch, who said that Tom Imura was tougher."

"Most of the hunters were paid by the town to clear zoms out of the areas around the trade route that linked Mountainside o the handful of other towns strung out along the mountain range. Others worked in packs as mercenary armies to clear out towns, old shopping malls, warehouses, and even a few small cities, so that the traders could raid them for supplies. According to Charlie the life expectancy of a typical bounty hunter was six months."

" 'Quieted' was the acceptable term for the necessary act of inserting a metal spike, called a 'silver', into the base of the skull to sever the brain stem. Since First Night, anyone who died would reanimate as a zombie. Bites made it happen too, but really any recently deceased person would come back. Every adult in town carried at least one silver, though Benny had never seen one used."

"Every dead person out there deserves respect. Even in death. Even when we fear them. Even when we have to kill them. They aren't 'just zoms,' Benny. That's a side effect of a disease or from some kind of radiation or something else that we don't understand. I'm no scientist, Benny. I'm a simple man doing a job." "Yeah? You're trying to sound all noble, but you kill them." Benny had tears in his eyes.

" The world is bigger and harder to understand than you think, Benny. It was before First Nigh and it still is now. You have to keep your mind as wide-open as your eyes, because almost nothing is what it seems."

"She may answer to the name Lilah or Annie. Approach with caution, she is considered dangerous and may suffer from post traumatic stress disorder."

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Sep 24, 2011 Lisa Mandina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had been wanting to read this book for a long time. The whole zombie book trend has really hooked me I think. And this book did not disappoint. In fact, you'll notice I gave it 5 stars, and lately, even books that have been really good have only gotten a 4 from me. But I felt this was really different, had something new. Not sure exactly what I'd say was "new", but I did really enjoy this.

I didn't start out with the description of the book thinking that it would be this good though. This is a I had been wanting to read this book for a long time. The whole zombie book trend has really hooked me I think. And this book did not disappoint. In fact, you'll notice I gave it 5 stars, and lately, even books that have been really good have only gotten a 4 from me. But I felt this was really different, had something new. Not sure exactly what I'd say was "new", but I did really enjoy this.

I didn't start out with the description of the book thinking that it would be this good though. This is a boy main character, and in this future world, when you reach a certain age, you must get a job or you don't get as many rations. In a way, the ration part, reminds me a bit of The Dead-Tossed Waves. Because one of the characters in that lost his sister because he was looking to get her money to live on by joining an army. And it was a zombie book. But going on, Rot & Ruin started out with the main character hitting the age and going to look for a job. The different jobs that were available were pretty interesting. Looking at pictures of lost loved ones and trying to predict how they would now look as a zombie. Checking the fences around the town to make sure they were strong enough to keep the zombies out. Working in a factory to squeeze the "juice" out of the dead zombies to make "cadaverine", a scent used for those who went out to hunt the zombies. Staying in the lookout towers to keep an eye on the zombies, the job his friend Chong gets. And finally, the job his brother has, zombie hunter. After either not being qualified for some of the jobs, or not wanting the others, Benny ends up working with his brother Tom.
Benny does not respect his brother. His first memory is of his mother handing him to his brother, and telling him to run as his father was attacking them as a zombie. And Benny cannot believe his brother left his mother to die. So now Benny cannot believe the big tough reputation his brother has as a zombie killer.
I thought this would be just a book about a boy learning how to hunt zombies and coming to respect his brother through that. But it was more. Learning to realize that the zombies weren't evil, they were just a disease that had taken over the bodies. The main story being that just normal people were really the ones that could be evil. The family stories, the "First Night" stories, I just felt all of it was really good. I can't wait to read the 2nd book in the series. Of course it will have to wait till I finish reading the books for Gateway nominee list, but it will be probably in December. ...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Mariel rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: the three r's

Recommended to Mariel by: retch & roll

I don't really have anything new to add about Rot & Ruin other than throwing in my voice to chime with the naysayers in a bored "Nay!" I may even be lip synching. I'm not feeling the effort at all.
Imagine the most stereotypical response of a fifteen year old boy and apply that to any points the zombie killing concept/teenaged boy living in a post apocalyptic world can dredge up and that's your book. Stir in a dash of "I should have cared all along!" and generic teen friendships story. ...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Janina rated it really liked it

Recommended to Janina by: Tina & Teccc (don't you love how this sounds with the title?)

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, dystopian-apocalyptic

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 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)!
...more

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Dec 07, 2010 Lucy rated it liked it

Shelves: zombies, young-adult, disappearing-parent-syndrome

To say I am a fan of zombie books and films would be putting it mildly. As a small child in church, I'd sit on the kneeler and watch people going up for communion and imagine who I would want in my post-zombie village.

Another fact you should know: I read half of Jonathan Maberry's Patient Zero and I just wasn't into it. I kept putting it down and stopped picking it up, not because it was bad, but because I didn't really care about what happened next. I remember finding the dialogue a To say I am a fan of zombie books and films would be putting it mildly. As a small child in church, I'd sit on the kneeler and watch people going up for communion and imagine who I would want in my post-zombie village.

Another fact you should know: I read half of Jonathan Maberry's Patient Zero and I just wasn't into it. I kept putting it down and stopped picking it up, not because it was bad, but because I didn't really care about what happened next. I remember finding the dialogue awkward and unnatural, especially when the author was going through FBI measures, but I can't say for sure without a re-read. However, Rot & Ruin, on the other hand, I read in a single day.

Writing caliber wasn't my problem with Maberry's first novel. He does write well. He has a good pace and rhythm, makes excellent word choices and, at least in Rot & Ruin, his dialogue rarely felt stilted or false. He has a lot of talent and I can see he's still polishing it into something particularly remarkable. Rot & Ruin captivated me so much I might even give Patient Zero another shot, although I'll have to buy a second copy since I gave away my first. I will, however, be keeping my copy of Rot & Ruin.

The story was pretty original, the lead character's voice strong and clear, and the minor characters were charming. I'm a fan of Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon Lexicon because in a sea of YA fiction about unhealthy supernatural romance Brennan wrote about a family, about love and sacrifice. Rot & Ruin had similar wonderful markers. The important relationship was between the two brothers, while the rest of the story circled around them in perfectly timed movements.

Some zombie novels suffer from having the zombies be a distant, obscure part of the universe that you rarely see. Other zombie novels are annoying, non-stop action with little character development. Rot & Ruin had an excellent balance of both along with some original plot lines and world building. The only turn off was the elder brother, Tom, went over the top with the lectures way too often. It was when my attention was most likely to stray. I'd recommend the book for anyone ages 12 and up. Some violence would make me hesitate over handing it to anyone younger. ...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

Loved this! It was zombie killers a la Clint Eastwood. There was a western flavor to this that I really liked.

Benny Imura is fifteen years old and looking for a job. His older brother Tom is a bounty hunter but Benny can't stand the idea of working with him because Tom is a coward. What kind of "man" would run away from his parents and not try to save them from the zombie horde? But that's just what Tom did, taking his infant brother Benny with him.

Now, fourteen years lat ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Beatrice ~ Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned, young-adult

Zombie novels aren't my cup of tea. Preferrably, I enjoy watching movies or playing video games with zombies in it because of the thrill and jump scares. Rot & Ruin is a pleasant surprise. This book has been sitting on my shelves for years and I made a right decision picking it up. It's a refreshing and meaningful dystopia story. It's not just about survival and killing the living dead as Jonathan Maberry digs deeper than that.

Our protagonist is a 15 year old boy, Benny Imura . At fi ...more

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Sep 13, 2010 ~Tina~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: apocalyptic-dystopian, favorites, read-2010, young-adult

There are moments that define a person's whole life. Moments in which everything they are and everything they may possibly become balance on a single decision. Life and death, hope and despair, victory and failure teeter precariously on the decision made at that moment. These are moments ungoverned by happenstance, untroubled by luck. These are the moments in which a person earns the right to live, or not.

Inspiring? Moving? Emotional? These are just some of the words I didn't expect to expr ...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Bonnie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-post-apocalyptic, ya, zombies-like-brains, buddy-reads-mom, eek-the-creepies, award-bram-stoker

2.5 stars

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

I’ve read several zombie books in the recent months. Because of this I know that it’s important for the author to come up with some original aspect to centralize their story around. I don’t feel that this book did it… what this book felt like to me was a typical YA story with zombies thrown in as an after-thought.

Rot & Ruin’s ‘original aspect’ focused on a group of people trying to change the world to make people see and understand that zombies don’t have an ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Yodamom rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, tissue-box-special, yummy-men, strong-women, zombies

Zombie fun and games, but the games aren't fun. Excellent zombie tale of truths, lies, mistakes, abuse, control and revenge. There are some men that are just evil, and they aren't zombies.
The dead have control of the world. The living are living in fear, hidden behind walls, willing to just exist to be safe. The past has forever scared them. The new generation, the ones they didn't live through the first night of the zombie rising are itching to know what's out there, or at least the truth of ...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Mauoijenn rated it really liked it

Shelves: dysfunctional-families, end-times-almost, freaks-4all-ages, just-4-thought, 2015-rc, horror-gore-bloody, wacky-bizarre-weird, creepy-fun-times, dying-dead-death, braaains-4-dinner

I was rather surprised by this one. I had started reading it before I got too sick to even try and read the print in any book, so I came back to this one as it stuck in my mind. I guess that's good news. It was very good. I hope the rest follow in it's path.

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Sep 13, 2012 Mlpmom (Book Reviewer) rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-books

Way different than I thought it would be but in a really good way! Full review hopefully to come.

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Dec 06, 2010 Isamlq rated it really liked it

Benny Imura has a couple of days till turning fifteen. Fifteen year olds in his post apocalyptic world are expected to contribute to society otherwise they find their rations cut in half (Everything I’ve said happens in the first couple of pages.) He also lives with his half brother, Tom Imura, whom he loathes. Why? You’ll just have to read on. Things get really exciting as he looks for a job only to find that the only viable option is to go into the “family business” with Tom who happens to be ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Josh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read_2019, own, horror, zombie

Fourteen years after the zombie apocalypse, high walled and fenced-off settlements have established a safe way of life for the survivors and those born after the event. Benny Imura was only two years old when the world fell to murderous madness, his older brother Tom, a fresh faced newly minted police officer, just 20. In Rot and Ruin, the brothers forge a bond beyond the family ties as they traverse the treacherous landscape outside the veiled safety of their settlement in search of a missing m ...more

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May 27, 2018 Levi Walls rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-reading-list

HOOOOLLEEEEEE ZOMBIE TITS
That was a wild ride!! I had a hard time putting this book down every night, and now that I'm done I want to read the rest of the series, like all of them today without stopping. Aaaand anything else Jonathan Maberry ever writes (not all of them today, that would be impossible😜) What could be a better compliment for an author? Resounding enthusiasm over here. Highly recommended. Don't be a bitch-ass critter like Charlie Matthias, do the right thing like Tom and Benny an ...more

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Dec 13, 2009 Jennifer Wardrip rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trt-gold-star-award-winner, trt-posted-reviews, read-personally-by-moi

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

Benny just turned fifteen. In his world, that means he must find a job in order to continue receiving his rations. The problem is, Benny can't find a job he likes. He and his best friend, Chong, waited too long to get one and all the easy jobs are gone. What's left isn't very appealing. He's tried being a locksmith, a fence tester, a fence technician, a carpet coat salesman, a pit thrower, a crank generator repairman, a spotter, a bottl Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

Benny just turned fifteen. In his world, that means he must find a job in order to continue receiving his rations. The problem is, Benny can't find a job he likes. He and his best friend, Chong, waited too long to get one and all the easy jobs are gone. What's left isn't very appealing. He's tried being a locksmith, a fence tester, a fence technician, a carpet coat salesman, a pit thrower, a crank generator repairman, a spotter, a bottler, and an erosion artist. It seems like the only option left is to join the family business.

Benny's brother, Tom, is one of the most respected and successful zombie killers. The problem is, Benny doesn't know why people think Tom's that great. He's never seen Tom do anything especially exciting or impressive - in fact, he's actually turned away from violence, which makes Benny think Tom's a coward. Tom is nothing like the totally cool Zombie Killers like Charlie Pink-Eye and Motor City Hammer. Benny has never intended to do what Tom does. He's always said no every time Tom asked him to become his apprentice. But, his lack of success in any other job has left him no choice.

Benny learns a lot while out in the Rot & Ruin with Tom. He learns about his own past, what it is that Tom really does, and what separates man from monster. Benny's outlook on life completely changes as he begins to realize there might be more to life than just his small town of Mountainside.

ROT & RUIN is a perfect choice for readers who enjoyed THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. Both books take place in a small town of survivors surrounded by fences that keep the zombies out. ROT & RUIN is set in a time when people still remember what happened when the zombies started rising, so the reader gets some first-hand accounts of First Night (the night the world changed). ROT & RUIN also gives us some of the blood and gore that we sometimes want in a zombie novel.

Jonathan Maberry did an excellent job developing the characters and creating an interesting setting. The reader can get lost in Benny's world. ROT & RUIN gets the Gold Star Award because I couldn't put it down. In fact, I stayed up until 3:30 A.M. one night to finish. This story caused me to cringe, gasp, chuckle, and cry. Absolutely amazing! ...more

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Jun 11, 2010 Megan rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: not-mine-library, young-adult, zombies, audio-book

It would be nice to think that this is simply a reflection of my reading tastes being very different from Jonathan Maberry's writing style. After all, I despised Patient Zero when so many people loved that book. And here again, I very strongly dislike Rot & Ruin. But is it really just me?

Maberry is the king of telling, not showing. One dimensional characters who seem so cliched. Even the zombie attacks couldn't make this more enjoyable. It was a chore to finish this and no matter how cool ...more

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About Jonathan Maberry

Jonathan Maberry

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JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers. His books have been sold to more than two-dozen countries.

He writes in several genres. His young adult fiction inc JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times best-selling and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today’s Top Ten Horror Writers. His books have been sold to more than two-dozen countries.

He writes in several genres. His young adult fiction includes ROT & RUIN (2011; was named in Booklist’s Ten Best Horror Novels for Young Adults, an American Library Association Top Pick, a Bram Stoker and Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading winner; winner of several state Teen Book Awards including the Cricket, Nutmeg and MASL; winner of the Cybils Award, the Eva Perry Mock Printz medal, Dead Letter Best Novel Award, and four Melinda Awards); DUST & DECAY (winner of the 2011 Bram Stoker Award; FLESH & BONE (winner of the Bram Stoker Award; 2012; and FIRE & ASH (August 2013). BROKEN LANDS, the first of a new spin-off series, debuts in 2018.

His thrillers include The Joe Ledger Thrillers from St. Martin’s Griffin (PATIENT ZERO, 2009, winner of the Black Quill and a Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Novel; EXTINCTION MACHINE, (2013; now in development for TV by SONY); PREDATOR ONE, and others. His first middle grade novel, THE NIGHTSIDERS BOOK 1: THE ORPHAN ARMY, was named one the 100 Best Books for Children 2015, with a sequel, VAULT OF SHADOWS debuting this year from Simon & Schuster. His standalone teen science fiction novel, MARS ONE, is in development for film by Zucker Productions and Lone Tree Entertainment. His upcoming standalone suspense novel, GLIMPSE, has gotten advance praise from Clive Barker, Scott Smith, James Rollins, Heather Graham and Charlaine Harris.

His horror novels include The Pine Deep Trilogy from Pinnacle Books (GHOST ROAD BLUES, 2006, winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel and named one of the 25 Best Horror Novels of the New Millennium; DEAD MAN’S SONG, 2007; and BAD MOON RISING, 2008), as well as DEAD OF NIGHT, 2011 (named one of the 25 Best Horror Novels of the New Millennium) and its sequel, FALL OF NIGHT, 2014. He also wrote the movie novelization, THE WOLFMAN, 2010, winner of the Scribe Award for Best Adaptation; and DEADLANDS: GHOSTWALKERS, an original novel inspired by the million-copy-selling role-playing game. He has also written the foreword to a new annotated edition of DRACULA from Writers Digest Books.

Jonathan and colleague #1 NY Times bestseller Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures) each wrote an X-FILES ORIGINS novel for teens; with Kami focusing on Fox Mulder in AGENT OF CHAOS; and Jonathan telling the backstory of young Dana Scully in DEVIL’S ADVOCATE.

Jonathan is the creator, editor and co-author of V-WARS, a shared-world vampire anthology from IDW, and its sequels, V-WARS: BLOOD AND FIRE, V-WARS: NIGHT TERRORS, and V-WARS. And he writes a best-selling monthly V-WARS comic. A board game version of V-Wars was released in 2017; and the series is in development for TV by IDW Media.

He is also the editor of the dark fantasy anthology series, OUT OF TUNE (JournalStone), a series of THE X-FILES anthologies which launched in 2015; SCARY OUT THERE, an anthology of horror for teens; and the anthologies ALIENS: BUG HUNT, NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD (with George Romero), JOE LEDGER UNSTOPPABLE (with Bryan Thomas Schmidt) and two volumes of mysteries: ALTERNATE SHERLOCKS and THE GAME’S AFOOT (with Michael Ventrella).

Jonathan was an expert on the History Channel documentary series, ZOMBIES: A Living History and TRUE MONSTERS. And he was participated in the commentary tracks for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: REANIMATED.

His many nonfiction works include VAMPIRE UNIVERSE (Citadel Press, 2006); THE CRYPTOPEDIA (Citadel, 2007 –winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction; co-authored by David F. Kramer); ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winner of the Hinzman and Black Quill Awards and finalist for a St ...more

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Rot & Ruin (7 books)

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Quotes from Rot & Ruin

“There are moments that define a person's whole life. Moments in which everything they are and everything they may possibly become balance on a single decision. Life and death, hope and despair, victory and failure teeter precariously on the decision made at that moment. These are moments ungoverned by happenstance, untroubled by luck. These are the moments in which a person earns the right to live, or not.” — 201 likes

“Often it was the most unlikely people who found within themselves a spark of something greater. It was probably always there, but most people are never tested, and they go through their whole lives without ever knowing that when things are at their worst, they are at their best.” — 135 likes

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