DUST AND DECAY by Jonathan Maberry

DUST AND DECAY by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Dust and Decay

Author: Jonathan Maberry

Publisher: Simon and Shuster

Publish Date: 2011

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Source: Purchased

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It's also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny's zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny's best friend Lou Chong are going with them. Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland -where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all...could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything...and not everyone in Benny's small band of travelers will make it out alive

So I came away from "Rot and Ruin" with a sense of awe and curiosity, and while I enjoyed the sequel, I just found it rather safe for a novel about a world infested with flesh-eating monsters.

Maberry still does a fantastic job with getting his world into the reader's head with his swift prose and clear descriptions, but the story was sometimes too clear, if that makes sense. I could see every twist and turn coming (except one) and I just wasn't as enthusiastic about this book. Maybe it was because this was no longer my first book about zombies and the novelty wore off.

Either way, the story still intrigued me, and the action was definitely fierce. The characters were brought further to life (and for the zombies, to death). I will still be reading the next installment in this series, but I probably won't go to three book stores searching for it, like I did for this one.

3.5/5