Rot & Ruin

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Brian Hutchison

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin is his debut work for young readers. Fifteen-year-old Benny Imura lives in a world infested with zombies where, when a kid turns 15, he must get a job to continue receiving food rations. Benny has no interest in the family business of zombie killing, but figures he doesn’t have much of a choice. He’s tried out a bunch of other jobs, and hasn’t found anything he likes. But as Benny starts training with his brother, he learns things about being human that he never expected.

©2010 Jonathan Maberry (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Zoms

I loved this book. Great world building, engaging characters, an awesome story. I am ready for the next book.

Great listen

Very good story. Keeps the story moving and is never boring. Enjoyed this book very much.

Amazing Story!

Looking for amazingly well rounded, compelling characters? A fleshed out world that is unique in scope? Well paced? This book has it in spades, and the voice performer is nuanced in his performance of each character.

Just when you thought it was safe.....

First I will start by stating I am a avid Zombie fan. If a Zombie story was written, read, or made into a movie I have seen and heard it. I am very picky and selective on what I consider to be a "good" Zombie story. Rot and Ruin is, in fact, in my top 10 favorite Zombie stories. Sometimes the scariest thing about Zombies in the apocalypse is just surviving. Sometimes identifying the enemy is not always black and white. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the words and into the Ruin.........Beware!

a must listen to to add to your zombie library

Any additional comments?

14 years have passed since first night- the night the dead came back to life and started eating people. benny was only 18 months old when his father tried to eat him, his mother, and his older brother, tom. benny is turning 15 so he has to find a job. everybody over 15 in mountainside must find a job to earn their food rations. benny and his friends, chong and mortie, must find jobs so they try apprenticing. benny hates every job he tries- he can't see himself performing those tasks for the rest of his life. his last resort is to go into the family business, but benny hates his own brother. benny thinks tom is a coward b/c his only memory from first night is tom holding him and running away as their father attacked their mother.

tom is one of the local bounty hunters. he travels into the rot and run (everything outside of their protected community) to kill zombies, but not just any zombies. tom is hired by people to find and quiet their loved ones so they can have closure.

Tom allows benny to come with him on a mission into the rot and ruin to determine whether or not he’s really cut out for being a bounty hunter b/c most people have become accustomed to living in the safe area and haven’t had to confront and fight a zombie in years.

This is when the story starts to pick up. The first 2 hours are kind of slow so please hang w/it!

This story is about a teen boy growing up in a dystopian world after a zombie apocylapse. I would sort of classify this story as YA (young adult) but not sappy YA. What do I mean by that? I admit it! I’ve listened to the hunger games and divergent. While both are actually pretty good, there were some sappy lovey-dovey parts that I think girls really dig but kind of put guys off. Sorry ladies! LOL There is a young love story. It has its awkward, cute, fumbling, and frustrating moments that happen b/ween teenagers, but it’s not emotionally over the top, e.g. his deep gaze made my heart thunder away as I thought about his rugged hands caressing my face as his tongue gently explored my mouth.

I can relate to the emotions better than in those other stories I cited b/c this story is written by a man. Hold on a second ladies! Even though this story is not told in the 1st perspective, it is told more from a boy’s perspective. I’m trying not to give too much away, e.g. names, but we do see some of the girl’s perspective of the budding relationship.

Ok…the last thing I’ll say about the YA angle is that it reminds me of the innocence of my 1st crush and girlfriend. Don’t get all teary eyed! LOL I grew up in the late 1980s when there still was a modicum of innocence for teenagers. Ok…now you’re laughing at me, but we can debate it later, just trust me.

Not only is there a budding love story, but a story about brothers. All his life, benny has hated his brother tom for running away and abandoning their mother to die at their father’s hands. Tom, who was 20 on first night, has given benny his space, waiting for the right time to tell benny his side of the story.

Tom is a great character. He is honest, honorable, and reliable. Benny looks up to tom’s rivals w/o even knowing that much about them except that they’re bounty hunter, and they’re not cowards like tom. Tom is not petty, and he never holds this against benny. Instead in their time together, tom asks benny questions, talks to him like he’s an adult, and actually insists benny come to his own conclusions. Tom is the kind of guy you wished was your older brother.

Holy cow! I’ve gotten this far, and I’ve hardly mentioned zombies! Most of the zombies in this story are the slow, shambling kind, but newly awakened zombies are smarter and faster. That’s not to say the slow ones aren’t scary. They’re fearsome b/c of their relentless, never tiring nature. And in packs extremely dangerous.

Throughout the story, benny learns more about what it was really like on first night. One of the nice touches mayberry adds is zombie cards. Zombie cards are cards that have pictures of famous bounty hunters on one side and descriptions and histories on the other side. Benny comes across a super rare zombie card of the lost girl. Her story is awesome.

I haven’t said much about the town they live in, mountainside, but if you’ve read this far, then I suggest you stop reading and download the book!

I’m an avid zombie fan, and I really enjoyed this book! This is a zombie apocylapse story w/real characters! While not my favorite type of zombie story, I like the initial outbreak plots the best, I can say this is one of the better stories that I’ve listened to in a while! And Ohhh…it happens to have zombies in it.

Overall, I would say this is a MUST listen to if you’re a zombie fan! Just remember, the 1st 2 hours are kind of slow.

I Am Going To Leave the Dying to the Dead

WHAT IS DONE IN THE RUIN STAYS IN THE RUIN
Maberry builds a world which is easy to picture and in which you will feel you live in. Some writers are so good that they set a mood. The mood set in this book reminded me a lot of the same mood Brandon Sanderson set in his book Elantris. In this world everyone fifteen and older must have a job. There are several imaginative jobs that you would only have in a society that includes Zombies. In the boy scouts they teach you how to defend against Zombies. The lead character is a teenage boy and a lot of people will have problems liking this teenager since he is kind of a lazy cry baby, yet does that not fit a lot of real life teenagers or yourself at that age.

PEOPLE NEED SOMETHING TO BLAME
The Zombie Queen gave this one of her rare five stars. She is half my age and I do believe younger people will like this a little better then older. I still don't understand why some authors think that books for young teens or kids should not be written as cleverly as those for adults. I believe a lot of people will like this and I did enjoy it, but not as well as the other books I have read by Maberry for adults. There is a lot of preaching in this and I don't believe kids like to be preached to anymore then adults. The character Tom is too perfect, he is the anti-Joe Ledger. He is kind of a professor Know it All. I am also tired of Albino people always being the bad guys. Why does Maberry and several other authors think it is okay to demonize anybody of any race. There is a lot of speechafying in this also. Like the bad guys in most bad movies, the good guys make long speeches before pulling the trigger.

CLOSURE ISN'T CLOSURE UNTIL SOMEONE IS READY TO CLOSE THE DOOR
These titles are just a small example of the constant platitudes given in this book. The narrator was alright for the first couple of hours, but his style started to bother me after a while. It is hard to describe and you may not notice it, he kind of talks at you. He puts a period at the end of every sentence. The second half of the book I put him on fast play and I enjoyed the narration better.

Written for 11-13 yr olds

Had a few moments of goodness, but otherwise I thought it had more painful moments for an adult reader....

Brian Hutchison is a pleasure to listen to..

ROT & RUIN is a dystopian type zombie book that’s more about the good and evil of human nature than the living dead. Written in an engaging narrative with unforgettable good guys, monstrous bad guys and…oh yeah, zoms. The characters are well rounded and fleshed out cleanly. Maberry obviously has a gift for dialog. It’s easy to be charmed by 15 year old Benny Imura’s quick wit and stubborn teenage disposition; as well as his older brother Tom, with his calm demeanor and authentic goodness.

Beautifully written, ROT & RUIN (Benny Imura #1) is a book that anyone who enjoys a good story with lots of emotions, layers and adventure will enjoy, regardless of age or gender. This was my first taste of Jonathan Maberry’s work and I can honestly say I’m now a fan… and I’ve already started the next book DUST AND DECAY :)

Good and safe.

Would you consider the audio edition of Rot & Ruin to be better than the print version?

I always enjoy audio books more than print versions. I listen while driving and working out. Great way to cover books.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

This book is very safe to read. Nothing that would be considered too sexy or too gross. The story takes a bit to get started and to fill out, but when it does it becomes good. My personal taste in Z books is much more intense, but I still liked it. Hoping for more in next in the series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I wish it was, but it takes a bit to create momentum.

Any additional comments?

Kids could read this book with no worries.

Maberry is amazing!

Jonathan Maberry continues to impress me with him ability to create great books. Rot and Ruin was much different from the previous stories I read like The Joe Ledger series, but both books in this series (Rot & Ruin and Dust and Decay) were great reads that kept me on the edge of my IPod.