A review by nblevine
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

4.0

He's in his big brother's strong arms. He looks back to see his mother reaching for him and straining away from his father who has already turned into a zombie. Benny sees this image in his mind over and over. It has defined his relationship with his brother, Tom who's a respected bounty hunter. It has defined Benny's whole world. How could Tom have left their mother there doing nothing to rescue her? Now at 15 years old, Benny, having nearly exhausted all the possibilities of jobs in Mountainside must give real consideration to apprenticing with his brother, Tom, 'coward' and zombie bounty hunter. It's on his first trip into the Rot & Ruin beyond the fencing that keeps Mountainside 'safe' that Benny finds even his deepest held assumptions challenged.