Rot and Ruin details the life of Benny Imura, a teenager living in a post-apocalyptic, zombfied world. At 15, he has the option of choosing from a number of jobs, such as spotter for the watch or zombie bounty hunter. The list of jobs is both unique and realistic. Though he doesn't want to, Benny finally agrees to join his brother Tom in the zombie hunting business. The pacing is quick and keeps readers interested. 
 However, the novel does rely on a bunch of cliches: the romance is obvious and a lot of the events are heavily foreshadowed. This goes for the entire series as well as this book. While the characters are developed, they could be a lot more complex; the quick pacing of the plot detracts from some of the potential character development. For this reason, I think this novel is better suited for younger YA readers; as an adult, the patterns in the prose are much easier to spot. That being said, this was a fun, fast-paced reader.