Book Review: Flesh and Bone by Jonathan Maberry

Reeling from the devastation of Dust & Decay, Benny Imura and his friends plunge deep into the zombie-infested wastelands of the great Rot & Ruin. Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America, searching for the jet they saw in the skies months ago. If that jet exists then humanity itself must have survived…somewhere. Finding it is their best hope for having a future and a life worth living.
But the Ruin is far more dangerous than any of them can imagine. Fierce animals hunt them. They come face to face with a death cult. And then there’s the zombies—swarms of them coming from the east, devouring everything in their paths. And these zoms are different. Faster, smarter, and infinitely more dangerous. Has the zombie plague mutated, or is there something far more sinister behind this new invasion of the living dead?
One thing Benny and his companions can’t afford to forget: In the great Rot & Ruin, everything wants to kill you. (Description from http://www.amazon.com)


My thoughts:

• I went into this book thinking it was the final book in a trilogy. But no! I read in the author's forward that this series is a quadrology! I have never heard that expression before.  

•  Jonathan Maberry is not only an excellent writer, but he is a thoughtful person. I loved the author's note that spoke of grief, because this series deals with it a lot.  I love that he told his young readers to ask for help if they are dealing with any kind of grief. They are not alone. Young people need to hear this more often.

•  The story starts about a month after the destruction of Gameland.  Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong are once again navigating the Ruin in search of that airplane. That search puts them right into the center of a war. Something that is possibly more horrifying that the zoms that surround them.

•  This war is going to make them question humanity.

•  Maberry is a great writer who understands character development.  The four main characters grow up amid chaos and are still very resilient.  Each on of them is so weak and strong in different ways (both physically and mentally).  They amaze me.

•  Maberry writes excellent secondary characters. Some are full of wisdom. All are quirky. They are all important to the development of the story.

•  The book contains a lot of action, violence, grief, sadness and some hope. Perfect set up for a great ending.

• Fire and Ash will be published September 26, 2013. Can't wait.