Lost Roads

June 19, 2020

Gr 8 Up-In book two of the "Lost Roads" series, Gabriella "Gutsy" Gomez, Benny Imura, and Joe Ledger have survived the massive attack on New Alamo by the Raggedy Man's Night Army of the living dead. To make matters worse, Captain Collins, who used the residents of New Alamo as lab rats, has escaped. Gutsy knows that the first attack on New Alamo was only the beginning. While searching for supplies, Gutsy and friends encounter something worse than zombies: the Wild Men. With the Night Army and the Wild Men coming, New Alamo must make one last stand. Maberry expands the universe of the "Rot & Ruin" series with the follow up to Broken Lands. The story begins immediately after the events of the first book. Readers unfamiliar with the original series or previous books may struggle, as jumping into the established world is overwhelming. While the action and fight sequences are well written with an appropriate amount of gore and horror, the pacing is uneven as subplots and interludes slow the narrative down instead of increasing the suspense. The characters are interesting and diverse, but the frequent switching between points of view makes it difficult to connect to any character beyond Gutsy and Benny. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds or Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave should be encouraged to start with Rot & Ruin. This book is a great choice for fans of the original series who want more.-Kaetlyn Phillips, Yorkton, Sask.

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