At a Glance

Category/Genre(s):

Young Adult Horror

Age Range:

13-18

From the Publisher:

“Gabriella “Gusty” Gomez lost her mother, and now she’s losing her home.

“Gutsy and her friends, along with Benny and his crew, have just survived a massive attack on New Alamo by the Night Army—a mix of mindless shambling los muertos and sentient half-zombie ravagers. She’s also reeling from the revelation that the residents of her town were the lab rats of the biological testing facility linked to creating the most dangerous zom, the Raggedy Man, who controls all of the living dead.

“And the first raid was only a test. The real Night Army is coming, and this time, it’ll be a handful of survivors against seven billion zombies.” (source)

Strengths:

• Rot and Ruin Backdrop
• Deals with contemporary issues
• Amazing female heroine

Full Review

I have read every single one of the Rot and Ruin series. If you haven’t read them, you’ll want to check them out before picking this one up. Lost Roads (and the previous book, Broken Lands), is a sequel duology to the original series.

One of the things that I love about Jonathan Maberry’s zombie books is the entire backdrop. It feels real. I like how explains the science behind the virus in a way that feels natural and engaging. This leads to a better, more engrossing story.

I also like that the zombies are definitely a danger, but they aren’t the real threat in the books. This holds true in Lost Roads as well. Gutsy and her friends have to not only deal with being teenagers and making sure they don’t get bitten by zombies, but they have to worry about the terrifying things that the living are trying to do as well.

Maberry does a great job of meeting contemporary issues head on in his books. Gutsy and the survivors are living in what seems like an ICE detention center near the border. Despite the entire population on the world being decimated, there is still racism and bigotry that Gutsy has to face.

Speaking of Gutsy, I thought she was super awesome. She is tough, strong-willed and protective of her friends. She also has flaws that feel realistic and round her character out. Her budding relationship with the girl next door feels real and adds tension when things go awry. I would definitely want her on my side in the zombie apocalypse.

Final Verdict

If you like well executed zombies, be sure to check this series out.

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