The Rising [Mass Market Paperback]

Before I start my review, I would like to suggest for anyone intending on buying this book to think seriously about buying `City Of The Dead' by the same author at the same time. The reason for this is that this book continues in COTD, and I pretty much guarantee that readers will want to pick up the next instalment as soon as they finish `The Rising'.

I came across this author purely by accident when searching for Zombie novels on Amazon - for some reason I had the urge to read some good old zombie hardcore for a change ! And I am sure glad that I did. Keene's writing in my own opinion seems to take the form of a good story encased with as much gore and stomach churning detail that would be legally available for him to do before he would be encased in a padded jacket and locked in a cell. This book is certainly the most blood filled, intestine dripping story I have ever read and certain people out there may well be horrified at the pure amount of pages taken up by Keene's obsession almost of babies, children and other less unfortunates being mutilated and turning into the un-dead. But then it is not so shocking when you think that those less well able to protect themselves would actually be more susceptible than most.

Unlike Monster Island by David Wellington, I felt this book went into detail about why the dead were returning to life, and Keene also came up with a reasonable explanation for why the head zombie and major `bad guy' OB wanted to create his army of the dead. (More filled out in COTD).

The book is primarily about the struggles of one man to reach his son, who he believes is still alive and hiding out in the loft of his ex-wife's house, along the way meeting up with other travelling companions who aid him in his quest. The heroes in this book are not gung ho types but rather the down trodden and forgotten people that we all pass by in the street - a heroin addicted prostitute, an old preacher, a soldier with a conscience.

The other thing I really liked about this book was the reaction of the army to the outbreak. The general idea that the military would remain sane and unaffected by the momentous events of `The Rising' is clearly destroyed by Keene in this book. Indeed the zombies in this book would on occasion seem to be the better option !!

However, traditional fans of zombie novels and movies may well be disappointed in the amount of living dead - other than human - that populate this book. If you cannot stomach the thought of zombie bunny rabbits, mice, cats and dogs, squirrels, lions, apes, reptiles, boa-constrictor, deer, birds, bats, general road kill and yes..........even a herd of Zombie cows that I had joked about in my review of Wellington's Monster Island, then this novel may well not be for you. Zombies in this book can also talk, drive motorbikes and cars, aswell as firing guns and rocket launchers !

I would normally want to give this book 4 out of five, because I really do not like the idea of creatures other than humans turning into zombies - society I feel would be destroyed in days rather than weeks - but this book is just so addictive that I feel I have to give it the full five ! Incidentally an explanation as to why more than humans turn into zombies appears in the first 40 pages of COTD.

As much as I would like to say this is the best horror book I have read, I would be too afraid of men in white coats knocking at my door, strapping me to a gurney and wheeling me away. But it is an excellent read none-the-less.

Knock. Knock....

I've not really read much horror since I got bored with Stephen King stuff years ago and got this because I was waiting for a decent Sci-Fi or Fantasy series to come out and felt like a change.
Fast paced, characters that became likeable after only a few pages, characters that felt like leads being snuffed out unexpectedly, psychos, horrific story lines, the right amount of gore and thinking, gun-toting, car driving zombies.
Brilliant!!!

Brian Keene's zombie novel "The Rising" is a refreshingly original tale based within a post apocalyptic world where the undead have killed the majority of humanity. Keene's zombies are not just mindless, decaying corpses, slowly shuffling their way around, looking for victims to devour and to join their ranks. Far from it! Like in David Wellington's "Monster" trilogy, these zombies are fast, cunning and organised. With the original idea of the corpse bodies being taken over by evil spirits that have been banished from our world for billions of years, the novel sets out a whole new angle on the zombie sub genre.

From the very beginning, the reader is thrown in to the claustrophobic survival of our lead character Jim Thurmond. Like in Bowie Ibarra's zombie tale "Down The Road", the main thrust of the story's plot is the survival of the main character as he takes on a massive journey, battling against the undead and any other foes along the way. With "The Rising", the reader follows Jim as he travels across America to rescue his son Danny who he is sure is still alive.

Keene uses not only human corpses for reanimation into zombies, but any animal that dies becomes another one of the living dead. This original take on the genre adds more horrific consequences for the characters, with zombie birds, rats and other wildlife all out to kill off humanity.

Throughout the novel the reader is introduced to other survivors along the way, each one described with a great amount of characterization. Death is everywhere within the story, leaving you guessing who will die next at the hands of the zombie army.

The novel races from start to end, delivering a fast paced, action-packed gore-fest, with a truly dark atmosphere that creeps through the pages. Ending on a massive cliff hanger that will lead you straight into the sequel "City Of The Dead", it's worth buying the novels as a pair as they really need to be read one after the other.

The novel runs for a total of 321 pages and was first published in January 2004 by Leisure Books.