Digital List Price: | $15.99 |
Kindle Price: | $2.99 Save $13.00 (81%) |
Sold by: | Amazon.com Services LLC |
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
OK
Audible sample Sample
Dust & Decay (Rot & Ruin Book 2) Kindle Edition
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 been 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.
But before they even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town, and 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. And not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will survive….
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Publication dateAugust 30, 2011
- Grade level7 and up
- File size11969 KB
-
Next 4 for you in this series
$26.96 -
All 5 for you in this series
$29.95
Editorial Reviews
Review
--Kirkus Reviews
"Maberry knows this world well; when the zombie apocalypse comes down, I want him on my team."
--Booklist
"Chock-full of gory action, complicated teen relationships, and several plot twists."--School Library Journal
"Fans of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games will devour this."--VOYA
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Product details
- ASIN : B004INH9PY
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (August 30, 2011)
- Publication date : August 30, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 11969 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Not Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 489 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #153,002 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #78 in Teen & Young Adult Zombie eBooks
- #111 in Children's Scary Stories
- #123 in Teen & Young Adult Survival Stories eBooks
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 3-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, anthology editor, writing teacher, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, Kagen the Damned, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. His comics include Black Panther: DoomWar, The Punisher: Naked Kills and Bad Blood. His Rot & Ruin young adult novel was adapted into the #1 comic on Webtoon and is being developed for film by Alcon Entertainment. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviews with images
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Benny Imura used to resent his brother for abandoning their parents on the First Night, the night the dead began to walk again. When he found out his parents were actually infected and Tom saved him, it made him see Tom in a new light. Then when Tom saved his best friend, Nix, and put an end to Gameland- the place where evil men kidnap kids and have gladiator-esque fights between them and zombies- Benny knew Tom was a man to look up to. Now, after seeing a jet fly above them, Tom is determined to leave the Rot and Ruin to find the jet and secure a better life with his brother and their motley crew of friends.
Despite training them, not all are ready to leave Sanctuary. Nix, after seeing her mother murdered by an evil bounty hunter and being thrown in Gameland, is ready to go. So is Lilah, the mythical Lost Girl who lived in the Rot and Ruin and turned out to not be such a myth after all. But Benny, Chong and Morgie aren't so sure. Morgie decides to stay home, and Chong's mother finally agrees to let him go as long as it is only for a few nights and he comes right back instead of going on the full journey. Unfortunately, she couldn't have known the trouble brewing in the Rot and Ruin.
The trip is immediately off on the wrong foot as strange things start to happen. They come across some weird characters, a man who was executed by way of zombie, and the monk and sisters at their first stop are missing. When Chong disappears, Tom goes to find him and leaves Benny, Nix and Lilah to wait for them to return. What he couldn't have known was that things have gotten very dangerous out there and someone doesn't want them to make it out of town. When thousands of zombies overrun the building they are hiding in, Nix, Benny, Lilah barely make it out alive, but they are separated. Now everyone is trying to make it to the next stop- the old hotel and trading post- alive. What they don't know is there are lots of people out there looking for them- some to warn them and some to kill or kidnap them. Can they find each other without falling prey to the zombies... or worse?
This was a phenomenal follow-up to the first book. I simply could not get enough of this story and stayed up way past my bedtime reading it. I absolutely love the characters, all of them. The good characters make you want to scream every time they are in danger and the bad characters make you want to find a sword and take them on yourself. The story is exciting and non-stop action. There are even some unexpected twists that I won't ruin for you, but I will hint that one involves a very surprising animal.
The writing is appropriate for a wide range of ages with no sexual content or inappropriate language. There is a good deal of violence, as one would expect in any zombie story, but it isn't overdone and it isn't the focus of the story- the characters are. I have read Maberry's adult fiction as well, and he tends to follow the same rules- the characters are your biggest investment, not the gore. He wants you to love them or hate them, but either way, you are invested in their lives. The other stuff is just icing on the cake. So even though the premise is violent, the story isn't too much so. Bring the Rot and Ruin into your life and you will never be the same... even if it means you are now a zombie!
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.
Challenges: Zombies, Read for Fun
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.75
Character Rating: 4.50
First Thought when Finished: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (Don't ask I am not going to tell you why)
What I Loved: I am not going to give spoilers so while I LOVED almost everything about this book, I can't really be specific. Dust & Decay is about journey, leaving the comfort (even in a Zombie infested world) of what you know and seeking out something better. This book really pulled at my heartstrings and made EVERYONE grow up! Dust & Decay reminded us that this is a world filled with bad people, interesting people, and really no answers as to what makes a Zombie tick. Perhaps it is the fact that once you think you have figured out how to live in a Zombie world, the rules change. I laughed, cried, and was seriously thinking about reading the last chapter way before I got there!
What I Liked: Jonathan kept it real! People got hurt, killed, treated badly, and unfortunately not everyone got what was coming to them! This just made Dust & Decay more gripping. He also introduced quite a few new characters that were perfect fits to the story. You just got the feeling that the crew was in for an adventure of epic proportions whether they were ready or not!
Final Though when Finished: Seriously September? *stamps foot*
Top reviews from other countries
Es ist Monate her, seit Benny Imura und Nix Riley während ihrer Abenteuer in der Zombie-bevölkerten Einöde des Rot and Ruin einen Jet über den Himmel fliegen sahen. Seitdem nutzten sie jede freie Minute, um mit Bennys großem Bruder Tom, seines Zeichens Zombiejäger, zu trainieren. Sie planen, ihre Heimat Mountainside zu verlassen – vermutlich für immer. Das Auftauchen des Jets bedeutet, dass es irgendwo auf der Welt noch Menschen gibt, die das Wissen der Vergangenheit bewahrten. Begleitet von Tom, Lilah und Chong werden Benny und Nix das Rot and Ruin durchqueren, um sie zu finden.
Doch bereits der Beginn ihrer Reise gestaltet sich als schwierig. In den letzten Monaten hat sich das Rot and Ruin verändert. Wilde Tiere streifen durch die Landschaft und die Zahl der Zombies ist explodiert. Gerüchten zufolge wurde Gameland neu errichtet. Der Jet verspricht eine bessere Zukunft, aber wie können Benny, Nix und ihre Freunde ihre Heimat guten Gewissens hinter sich lassen, wenn so viel im Argen liegt?
„Dust & Decay“ ist eine würdige Fortsetzung der Reihe „Rot & Ruin“. Jonathan Maberry hat ein weiteres Mal bewiesen, dass eine literarische Zombie-Postapokalypse nicht zwangsläufig gruselig, unappetitlich oder übertrieben blutig sein muss, um zu überzeugen. Seine Variante ist nahezu geschmackvoll und zurückhaltend, weil er die Zombies als Mittel zum Zweck behandelt. Sie sind ein natürlicher Teil des Settings, der Welt des Rot and Ruin, aber niemals Hauptthematik. Treten sie in einer Szene dominant auf, so liegt das immer daran, dass Menschen sie einsetzen, um ihre Ziele zu erreichen. Menschen sind die Monster des Rot and Ruin, nicht die Zombies, die nicht genug Verstand besitzen, um zwischen Richtig und Falsch oder Gut und Böse zu unterscheiden. Maberry entmystifiziert sie und bemüht sich um eine realistische Darstellung. Diese Herangehensweise rechne ich ihm sehr hoch an, denn sie ist frei von Klischees und bietet der Handlung immensen Entfaltungsspielraum. Dadurch sind viele Wendungen in „Dust & Decay“ nur schwer vorherzusagen und überraschend. Ich hätte erwartet, dass der Jet in diesem zweiten Band eine weitaus bedeutendere Rolle spielt, tatsächlich dient er aber nur als Katalysator, der die Ereignisse in Gang bringt. Er ist der Auslöser, der Benny, Tom und ihre Freunde veranlasst, sich wieder ins Rot and Ruin hinauszuwagen, dann treten jedoch aktuelle Vorgänge in den Vordergrund und verdrängen die Gedanken der Gruppe an den Jet. Demzufolge empfand ich „Dust & Decay“ weniger als neues Kapitel der Geschichte, sondern eher als Abschluss der Handlungsstränge, die im ersten Band „Rot & Ruin“ ihren Anfang nahmen. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte Maberry nicht widerstehen, die Neugier seiner Leser_innen mit der einen oder anderen Aussicht auf die nächsten Bände zu wecken. Was auch immer dafür verantwortlich ist, dass Menschen nach ihrem Tode als Zombies wiederauferstehen, es verändert sich. Ob es nun Strahlung, ein Virus oder eine göttliche Strafe ist, es scheint sich zu entwickeln und ein neues Stadium zu erreichen. Leider ist niemand in der Lage, diesen Entwicklungsprozess zu deuten oder zu interpretieren, weil erschreckend wenig über Zombies bekannt ist. Niemand weiß, was die Apokalypse auslöste oder wieso die Toten nicht tot bleiben. Das Wissen, das die Menschen über die Untoten angesammelt haben, ist mickrig und beruht ausschließlich auf Beobachtungen, die mit Mythen, Halbwahrheiten und Lügen gespickt sind. Scheinbar ist Nix die einzige, die das Phänomen tatsächlich hinterfragt – Maberry lässt seine Leser_innen Einblick in ihre Gedanken nehmen, indem er einige Seiten ihres Notizbuches integrierte. Für mich führten ihre Notizen zur meiner Ansicht nach wichtigsten Erkenntnis des Buches: so geht es nicht weiter. Die Menschen müssen anfangen, sich mit dem Zombieproblem auseinander zu setzen und die Erde „zurückerobern“, sonst wachen sie eines Tages auf und müssen feststellen, dass in der Welt kein Platz mehr für sie ist. Die Vogel-Strauß-Taktik ist auf Dauer ihr Verderben.
„Dust & Decay“ ist ein hervorragender Beleg dafür, dass man eine Zombiegeschichte unterhaltsam, spannend und aufregend gestalten kann, ohne auf plumpe Action und blutigen Horror zurückzugreifen. Ich empfand diesen zweiten Band der „Rot & Ruin“ – Reihe als respektvoll und stimmig; er beinhaltet genau das richtige Maß an Realismus und bietet sympathische Figuren, die mir ans Herz wuchsen. Meiner Ansicht nach hat Jonathan Maberry ein verlässliches Gespür dafür, eine ausgewogene, konsequente Handlung zu konstruieren, die Leser_innen und Charaktere gleichermaßen ein ums andere Mal überrascht. Er vermittelt einen glaubhaften moralischen Anspruch und legt großen Wert auf Entwicklung. Wenn ich „Rot & Ruin“ abgeschlossen habe, könnte ich mir sogar vorstellen, es auch mit seiner „Joe Ledger“ – Reihe zu versuchen, die er für eine ältere Zielgruppe geschrieben hat.
„Rot & Ruin“ ist eine Zombie-Postapokalypse für Leser_innen, die keine Zombies mögen. Ich weiß, das klingt paradox, doch ich kann euch aus eigener Erfahrung bescheinigen, dass diese Reihe auch dann überzeugt, wenn man Zombies in der Literatur gegenüber eher skeptisch eingestellt ist. Dank Jonathan Maberry schlägt mein Herz nun für Untote.
The author exposes the fragility of human decency and the simplicity and ease with which people may sink to the depths of evil wonderfully. Throughout these books Mr Maberry develops his characters in a wonderfully human and believable way, despite the unreal setting and extraordinary trials they face. The obvious villains he presents us with in Charlie pinke-eye's brood are just the rotten face of the "ordinary" men and women of Benny and Tom's fenced community, the truest perpetuators of misery in the tale. The analogies in this book between modern developed nations and third world countries are obvious to me, and very enjoyable.
Benny Imura is a potentially unforgettable hero in the making, to rival even his supernaturally cool brother Tom. Benny's development has been funny, touching, hard to read, and wonderful to see. I simply cannot wait to meet these characters again, who already feel like old friends, in the third book. When I grow up, Iwantto write like Jonathan Maberry .
Just read it. You won't regret it, but first pick up Rot & Ruin, the 1st book where you'll meet Benny and Tom Imura, the lost girl and all the rest.