"Rot & Ruin" by Jonathan Maberry

Judge a book by its cover
A cool zombie cover?  Done.

Synopsis

In the zombie-infested world Benny Imura has grown up in, once a teenager turns fifteen, they much find work - or lose their food rations.  After expending all his options, Benny reluctantly agree to train a zombie killer with his lame big brother, Tom.  But the Rot and Ruin isn't want Benny thought it was going to be - and Tom isn't the lame big brother Benny original thought he was either.

Humble Opinion
I love me some zombies.  The general premise is the same - people trying to survive in a zombie infested world - but each zombie story makes the zombie world itself a little different.

In Rot & Ruin, the story takes place in the little town of Mountainside, somewhere in the former state of California.  Benny, having no other viable option left, agrees to train to be a zombie killer like his brother, Tom.  Benny thinks Tom is lame and a coward, compared to the other zombie killers (aka bounty hunters) in town, Charlie Pink-Eye and Motor City Hammer.  But once Tom takes Benny out into the Rot and Ruin, he discovers that everything he thought he knew about the world and his brother is wrong.

SO MUCH HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK!  I'm finding it hard to even summarize!

*You meet the Lost Girl, Lilah, who has grown up in the Rot & Ruin since she was a child.
*You find out there is place called Gameland, where people are taken against their will to participate in the Z-Games aka zombie fights
*People that you like DIE!!!  I almost started crying at one of the deaths because I was so pissed.  I LOVED that character and Maberry just... GAH!  Fuck you Maberry.  Fuck you.
*You follow the budding romance of Nix and Benny.
*There is an epic battle at the end of the book that makes you unable to put it down!
*Someone that you THOUGHT died comes back, which you don't expect to happen (except I just told you) and you have to re-read the sentence three times just to make sure you read it right and then you want to cry all over again from joy.

Final say

I REALLY liked this book!  It's a great story that appeals to both male and female audiences, because it has the action and suspense that guys want; and it has strong female characters (with some love interest thrown in there) that females like.  I had so much trouble putting this down.  I really, really, really enjoyed this book and would very much like to see it made into a film or television series.  Mainly because I want to swoon over Tom and his fighting skills.