Review: In the Land of the Dead, by Jonathan Maberry

Author: Jonathan Maberry

Title: In the Land of the Dead

Series: Benny Imura #1.5

ISBN: none

Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young readers

Disclaimer: The Publisher has made this bonus content available from their website.

Buy your copy: Download from this link

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“This is a series of short stories that take place between Rot & Ruin and Dust & decay” GoodReads’ blurb

I don’t usually review short stories or collection: I tried at first, but it was too hard so now I just comment on the really good stuff. In the Land of the Dead belongs to that category, even though it’s just some 20 pages worth of it.

Frankly, when I read it I thought it’d be just a little something to keep fans entertained until Dust & Decay released. As per usual, I was wrong. I mean, yes, sure, it works as a quick (under an hour) fix but in just four super short stories the author has not only captured the mood and the feeling of the world we left behind after book 1... he’s also given us precious clues about how the characters will have grown in Dust & Decay, about the relationships new and old that have been formed and reforged, about the odd, odd events that are making the zoms travel west like a horde of lethal lemmings.

I can’t say much about this piece without telling you exactly what it is about, but I believe it’s a must read if you plan to continue the series (and of course you plan to; how could you not?). I don’t know yet how Dust & Decay will start, but I think the insights gained through In the Land of the Dead will definitely help us to better understand and love the characters and their world.

The bad news is that nothing will make sense if you’ve not read Rot & Ruin first, so don’t try this as a freebie to get the feel of the author first or you’ll totally spoil yourself!