Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Dust & Decay
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Pages: 519
Genre: YA/ Horror
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. [via GoodReads]

As weird as some of you may think this is, I am a zombie lover. They scare the crap out of me but I can’t help watching and reading everything I can get my grubby little hands on. Even if it means losing sleep at night. Mr. Maberry’s Rot & Ruin remains one of the best zombie books evah (at least, in my book). I loved it! It wasn’t just guts and gore, but it surprisingly had depth and meaning.

Dust & Decay is the sequel to Rot & Ruin.  Our favorite characters are back! Benny Imura, his brother Tom, Nix Riley, and Lilah, the Lost Girl, are back out in the Ruin - this time in search of that mysterious jet.  After 7 months of training under the mighty Tom, the kids are now ready to take on what lies in the Ruin, a place where pretty much everything is out to kill you.  As always, things don't turn out as planned and sooner than expected they are split up and end up on quite the adventure. 

Benny, is a wonderful narrator.  I love his inner dialogues, how he still finds hope in a world where there really is none.  He's like a bit of sunshine on rainy day.  He's also quite the charmer.  His sense of humor and inner turmoil really make for good reading.  Mr. Maberry has once again impressed me in the depth he gives his characters.  Because while this story is zombie-infested and geared for teens (especially boys, I think), his characters go through a whole slew of emotions - giving the reader an adrenaline rush one minute and comtemplating humanity in the next. 

All in all, I thought this was a wonderful installment in the series.  It was full of action, adventure, laughs, tears... and zombies (of course), I found that I could not devour this one quick enough.

My Rating: