Benny Imura is fifteen. Fourteen years ago, on First Night, he saw his parents killed by zombies. He's always kind of resented his older brother, who ran with him instead of trying to save their parents.But now Benny's fifteen, and the rules of their enclosed little town say he has to get a job. And the only job he can find is working with his brother as a zombie killer.
It's not how he imagined it.
It's much, much worse.
rot and Ruin is unique among the zombie genre; the zombies aren't the bad guys. Sure, they'll eat you if they can, but there's no malice in it, any more than there is in the mosquito that bites you. Zombies are people who caught a disease, were bitten by zombies or died of other causes.
Of course, not all the characters share this view. Benny doesn't. But he grows and learns through the novel, and watching him is fascinating. Apart from a couple of speeches from his older brother, Benny is left to come to his own decisions, and through entirely natural growth his entire worldview has flipped by the end of the book.
This is the first of either a two or four book series, depending on who you believe. Either way, I'll be looking forward to the next book.
Benny shook his head. 'Doing this over and over again would drive me crazy. How do you do it?'
Tom turned to him as if that was the question he'd been waiting for all day. 'It keeps me sane,' he said. 'Do you understand?'
Benny thought about it for a long moment. Birds sang in the trees and the cicadas buzzed continually. 'Is it because you knew what the world was before?'
Tom nodded.
'Is it because if you didn't...then maybe no one would?'
Tom nodded again.
'It must be lonely.'
'It is.' Tom glanced at him. 'But I always hoped you'd want to join me. To help me do what I do.'
'I...don't know if I can.'
'That's always going to be your choice.'
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