The Wood And The Rot

by Joseph Bonaldi, Andrea Lettic (Editor)

409 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2025

Reviews

[Daniel Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wood and the Rot breathes a new undeath to the zombie apocalypse. Even the living shamble forward, and the world itself feels infected. Ironic given that the core conceit is how to rebuild after the things that consumed normalcy have started reverting to the people they were before. It is not an action packed romp through a zombie wonderland, but if you've ever had to pick up the pieces of what once was and start again you'll find yourself somewhere in these pages. Hope can feel far off, but all we can do is march on to the next chapter. And when you've marched so long, who knows. You may have just found home where your feet give out.
I highly recommend this book.
If you enjoyed the quiet moments in the Last of Us, where the creeping infection of guilt and fear were as much zombies as the clickers, then I would jam this book in your hands so fast.
I tore through the book like a biter through a photographer.

[Samuel LB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my friend’s debut novel. We’ve all heard about the zombie apocalypse several times. But what happens after? This novel explores it. The main character Malcolm comes to face his guilt and his actions after coming back from being a zombie. The trauma that he and society experiences from what is a living nightmare resonates throughout this story and makes the reader reflect on what they would do in this scenario. The characters are likable. The story keeps you hooked. The reflections are hard to ignore.

For a debut novel, this one is definitely not one any reader should sleep on.