Dust and Decay

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Brian Hutchison

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times best-selling author and multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Maberry continues the story he began in Rot and Ruin.

Six months have passed since Benny Imura and Nix Riley learned that flesh-eating zombies aren’t the scariest or most dangerous monsters around. Now, Benny’s brother Tom is training them in the art of zombie whacking. But as they plan to leave and find a better future, a zombie attack puts a crimp in their plans. And soon, they discover an old enemy they believed was long-gone may actually still be alive.

©2011 Jonathan Maberry (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

hoped for more

over all the book was enjoyable bet it could have been so much better. The idea of these kids have wooden swords and nothing about that makes sense.

It's not Joe Ledger

What did you love best about Dust and Decay?

There are always two sides to a story, and this story was no different. You have people who want to have a better life, and then there are people who want to rule everybody else on their terms, making themselves gods. I was surprised to learn about how some of the good people were secretly enjoying the bad side of the world, and even making profits from other people's pain. Interesting twist to the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tom, definitely. He as a really good guy who was sincerely interested in the best for people, despite what people did to him and the people he loved.

What three words best describe Brian Hutchison’s performance?

ehhh. Brain sounded like he was sorta going through the motions. There didn't seem to be a real interest in the story by Brian. Based on other readers, I think he could have done much better

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Tom's standoff with the dark characters, shaping his hand into a pistol, and shooting one of the bad guys. The looks on the bad guys faces.....priceless

Any additional comments?

For me, I think Brian could have done a much better job. It just "sounded" like he was reading a story, not really participating in the story.

Maberrys Top Family story

My 4th time reading it! Very good characters. I love this series. Rot and Ruin!

Dust and decay

Well I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The twists & turns, character development, and zombie interactions was phenomenal. This is my fav book in the series. I even teared up at the end. Great work and 5 star read

Not as good as the first book but still well done

This is the second book in the Benny Imura series. Honestly I didn’t like this book nearly as much as the first. There are two more books in this series “Flesh and Bone” and “Fire and Ash”.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was really well done. It has the same narrator as the first book and I really enjoyed listening to it. The narrator does an excellent job with character voices and an excellent job conveying emotion.

Everyone is recovering from the events with Charlie Pink-Eye in the first book. Benny, Nix, and Tom are ready to leave Mountainside and track down the plane they saw in the first book. However Mountainside doesn’t want to Tom to leave, they are worried about other evil bounty hunters moving in to take his place. One bounty hunter, named White Bear, is causing a lot of trouble. Now there is a bounty on Tom’s head and it seems like Gameland is more prosperous than ever.

This was still a good book but I didn't like it nearly as much as the first one. I was disappointed that this book was about similar issues as the first book. I was all excited to read about Benny, Tom, Lila, and Nix's journey across the Rot and Ruin, instead what I got was more of the same as the last book.

Pretty much as soon as the group leaves Mountainside things start going wrong. We end up reading about territory wars with “evil” bounty hunters and trouble with Gameland. I find the whole Gameland idea to be a bit silly and was disappointed that so much of this book focused on that. I was hoping to read more about the Rot and Ruin as a whole, and gain better understanding of this world and why the zombies happened.

Benny has definitely grown as a character since the first book. Nix is harboring a lot of rage for what happened to her mother in the last book, we watch as she struggles through this anger.

Lila is in the story a lot, which is awesome. She too is struggling with issues of fitting in. She is so used to surviving alone, that it is tough to watch her as she struggles to become part of society.

We meet a lot of awesome new “good” bounty hunters. It was super fun to meet some of the bounty hunters we’ve heard so much about from the Zombie cards. We also meet a lot of completely evil baddies. There was a lot more action in this book as welll we get to see Tom kick some serious butt. As I mentioned above we also get very up and personal with Gameland.

This book is still well written and I love that there is a lot of philosophical introspection as well as zombie fights. There is brief mention about zombies starting to Swarm and some curious stuff going on where zombies are acting different than they have in the past. I just wish we had got to hear more about that and less about Gameland.

Overall a decent continuation of this series. These books are well written and I love that there is time spent on philisophy, as well as fighting zombies. I was disappointed that this book was more about Gameland and evil bounty hunters. I was hoping to read about Nix, Benny, and Tom journeying across the Rot and Ruin. We do get to meet a lot of new bounty hunters that are awesome and there are some spectacular fight scenes in here. Recommended to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic zombie novels.

great series!

almost started crying at end of book. Grown so attached to the characters that you just want to cry when you lose one.

Wow!

There was not a moment during this book that I wasn't on the edge of my seat!

Recommend

Another great book following Rot and Ruin. You won’t be able to put it down.

Great book

I'm so hurt, but I'm ready for the next one! Buying it right now! Thank you

Absolute masterpiece 10/10

There is not a moment of this book that gives you time to catch your breath as Jonathan Maberry buffers you through the turbulent and beautiful chaos of the Rot and Ruin. This is my 4th read and just like the very first time I read it, I laughed, cried, fell in love with Tom, and empathized with the pain of all the protagonists. This is a book for all ages and absolutely transcends “zombie books”. If you’re looking for a book you just can’t put down, then you’re in the right place.. ENJOY!