Fire & Ash (4) (Rot & Ruin) Paperback – August 26, 2014

Benny and company continue their adventures in the Rot and Ruin in this final book in the series. The story resumes shortly after the end of Flesh and Bone (book 3) at Sanctuary with Chong starting to succumb to the Reaper Virus and showing the effects of this on Lilah, Benny, Nix, and Riot. Joe Ledger has been largely out of sight since they arrived and they haven't a clue what's going on. In the interim, St. John hasn't been sitting still and has started his army of Reapers and zoms moving toward the gang's old hometown of Mountainside and the other villages of Nine Towns, looking to complete their holy mission of wiping life from the face of the planet in the name of their god, Thanatos. Brother Peter, St. John's right hand man has a splinter group of Reapers watching and plotting outside Sanctuary. In short fashion, the coaster has left the station and the thrill-ride begins.There's conflict galore in this last part in Benny's tale, on the level of personal, interpersonal, and the explosive finale when everything comes to a head and the story closes. Maberry takes you through an emotional wringer as the teen heroes inevitably evolve and grow in the circumstances presented. Often you're taken through scenarios with the kids that are the opposite of what we want for them as readers who have grown to know and care for these characters, yet everything is true to their personalities and the situation. He's crafted Benny and the others into characters that ring true, vibrant with life, and aren't caricatures of young adults and their dilemmas (post-apoc or not). He's made them visceral, real.And true to form - this is a Maberry tale after all - the pace and action are blistering. From personal one-on-one fights to battles with thousands of participants, the tempo is unrelenting. There's no unnecessary exposition or info-dumps in this book, and every page chugs forward as the disparate parts and plans the author has seeded throughout the 4 books rapidly slide and lock into place. And there's an almost audible 'click' as these puzzle-pieces come together. The logic is there and you see what he has been leading us toward, and you see the unavoidable end is nigh.The payoff to this 4-book saga was so amazing. Several friends and I have had lengthy discussions about this finale. The review was always the same. Jaws had to be lifted off the floor. Grins took hours to fade. Things like that. Comparisons were made to the payoff value of the 7-book Harry Potter series. That speaks volumes toward the crafting and skill put into this book and the whole series. Maberry's made a name for himself for his trademark "Hell, yeah!" moments. Be they action sequences, great characters peeling off witty dialogue, and so much more. Get this: ALL of Fire and Ash is a "Hell, yeah!" moment. Every bit.Lastly we see the circle of the Maberry-verse close further. We do learn more about the timeframe of First Night as discussed since book 1 in comparison to the chronology of Maberry's other big series (Joe Ledger/Echo Team), with a few passing comments about characters from other tales being a part of Benny's world. Much like King's Dark Tower series, the reader gains more big picture info of how all these tales are told in one cohesive world, instead of unique unrelated worlds of their own. There is an increased satisfaction in the overall feeling at the book's end to see how big Benny's world is. It made the risk more real for me. More compelling and rich. If you haven't started the Rot and Ruin series yet, remedy that. If you have, and you haven't gotten this book yet, you need to remedy that as well.The bottom-line is that this book in particular, and the series as a whole, has been one of the most rewarding reading experiences I've ever had. Sincerely. This isn't great Young Adult fiction. It's great fiction, period.

Benny, Nix, Chong, Lilah, and Riot have been in our lives for three years now. They have loved, lost and survived. But most of all, they have grown into strong, fabulous individuals who aren't ready to lose their world to the zombies or the evil people who still live and breath but bring just as much death as the zombies. In Jonathan Maberry's conclusion, Fire and Ash, we see a bunch of kids who are no longer children. They have accepted the responsibility of their world and are not about to give up like so many of the world's adults have.When they found the plane, Benny and the others thought they had found all the answers to saving the world. They were wrong. They almost died. They were saved by Joe Ledger. Brought to Sanctuary where the monks believe the zoms are the meek who shall inherit the earth and the scientists who don't leave their bunker, the group hoped a cure would be on its way, but things are more complicated than that. The material collected from the plane is incomplete, and without the final documents, it is impossible to see where the original doctors were going with their experiments. But there are bigger problems afoot than the lack of a cure. The zoms are changing. They have evolved. Something has happened and now there are zoms who are really fast, really strong, and scariest of all, those who can think, reason, plan, and even use tools to get what they want: fresh meat.While the people at Sanctuary are hoping for a cure, Saint John and the reapers are hoping to play out their final leg of armageddon. They want to kill every living person on earth and final rejoice in the death of all. Saint John doesn't have to rely on faithful followers joining his ranks. When faced with slow, painful death or joining the reapers, the choice usually isn't that difficult to make. Now with tens of thousands of reapers and at least twice as many zoms controlled by the reapers, they are marching from civilization to civilization to exact their final plan. What Saint John and his followers didn't expect, however, were a group of kids who might be underestimated frequently, but are never underestimated twice.Loving a series is a special experience. You grow to count on the next book being released for another connection to the characters you love. You wait with baited breath to find out the conclusion to the world you have loved for so long. And when that conclusion comes, it is terribly bittersweet. You know it is the end, but you are so happy to see how it ends. This was my relationship with Maberry's Rot and Ruin series. I absolutely loved this series, and for me, this was the most perfect conclusion. I find myself stunned by the conclusion and yet so happy with it that I feel the need to thank Maberry for bringing such an amazing ending into such a hopeless world. As with the rest of the series, you will have some heartache and people you love will be sacrificed to the Ruin, but overall, you know that this is the way it has to be. We grieved with the loss of Tom Imura, but we also knew the rest would carry on his legacy. In Fire and Ash, we experienced triumph and loss simultaneously.The transformation of the characters from start to finish of the series is one of the more dramatic and more realistic of the YA series out there. What was most interesting to me was how over the execution of the series, the zombies essentially became the backdrop to an incredibly rich, well-developed character driven story with deeper rooted evils than just the walking dead. This is the work of a master who knows there is more to the story than just the obvious. I have had great success in giving this series to students who are reluctant readers because there is more to it than just mindless chomp and chew. So, in all, I couldn't think of a better execution of Benny's story. I am incredibly sad to see this series go, (and I am not afraid to beg to see it continue!) but I loved the way Maberry ended the world I grew to love. And if you are an overall Maberry friend, you will be very excited to see an old friend, Mr. Joe Ledger!

"Fire & Ash," the final book in Jonathan Maberry's "Rot & Ruin" series, is a powerful conclusion to Benny Imura's journey. After being captivated by the first three books, I couldn't wait to see how it all ends.In "Fire & Ash," Benny and his friends face their greatest challenges yet as they confront the ultimate threats in their post-apocalyptic world. The action is relentless, the suspense is palpable, and the emotional moments hit hard. The stakes couldn't be higher as the characters fight not just for survival, but for a future worth living in.

Jonathan takes me right into every moment with the characters. Amazing journey. Makes me sad when I gave to put the book down

My 12 yr old loved it

Libro super-coinvolgente. L'ho divorato (come gli altri della serie). Bellissimo !!! Lo consiglio a tutti, amanti e non del genere zombie. Fantastico.

4ième tome toujours aussi bon, avec un le crossover (Joe Ledger) dommage qu'il s'agisse du dernier . 4 c'est bien mais il y avait potentiel à plus

Just finished devouring my shiny new copy...feeling a little bereft as I believe this is the end of Benny,Nix,Lilah,Chong,Morgie and Riot's journey...beautiful strong teenagers who have faced every challenge imaginable,supported and fought each other through every trial...Faced insurmountable odds with their teeth gritted and come out on the other side only just...Everyone bears the scars,noone has been protected from devastating loss in a truly horrific world....Mr Maberry has created these people whom I,as a reader have loved and gone through every trial,picturing every scene,every drop of sweat and tear shed!!!This,I believe the final episode has not disappointed,our kids remain true to their characters and their journey has no lack of shocks and horrors to face,including Joe Ledger in his rightful place as a survivor just pulled me in even deeper...the only disappointment in the ending is saying farewell as I close the book to put on the shelf with my other favourites..Excellent Series!