Bits & Pieces

July 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Bram Stoker Award winner Maberry is well-known for his Rot & Ruin series, which features a postapocalyptic, zombie-terrorized world where its few survivors search for one another and congregate in spartan, cobbled-together communities. In his latest release, Maberry compiles 11 previously published short stories and 11 new ones (along with the script to the Rot & Ruin comic strip) to piece together the backstories of Benny, Nix, Tom, Captain Joe Ledger, and others. While readers will benefit from a frame of reference offered by reading the other books in the series, especially in terms of character development, this works surprisingly well as a stand-alone novel. The evil reapersfanatics determined to kill the few survivorsoutshine the perpetually vicious zombies in violence and perversity, while the survivors themselves strive valiantly to retain their humanity in spite of such horror. No, none of this series is for the faint of heart, but for the zombie-apocalypse-intrigued reader, it is a welcome addition to the collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)