The Rising

What can i say about The Rising? It started off good, it "cut to the chase" as some would say. We immediatley knew that something was wrong, and it was bad. The book was great. The finish was great. The sequel is great. The style of writting was great. I loved everything about this book and it was a real pageturner. I finished it in 2 days. You won't want to put it down. You definately get your moneysworth with this book. Might be Brian Keene's best write. Alos, be sure to pick up the sequel, City of the Dead.

Brian Keene's debut novel, "The Rising" takes traditional zombie tales and adds a few twists. When scientists open a pipeline from the world of the dead to the living, known as the Void, all hell literally breaks loose. Jim Thurmond is a West Virginia construction worker who, like many Americans, are stunned when they begin seeing the dead start reanimating. When divorced father, Jim, receives a desperate message for help from his son, Danny, living in New Jersey with his mother, Jim begins a five-state trek to save his son. Along the way, Keene creates some memorable characters who help Jim with his quest. There's Martin, the minister whose gentle and calm demeanor helps keep Jim focused. The two intrepid travellers also meet up with a dynamic ex-hooker named Frankie who has a tremendous will to survive. Together, they slowly make their way to New Jersey. In his rapid-fire way of writing, Keene creates all kinds of scenarios for the trio to meet up with thousands of zombies. Much of the book is centered around a military group under the command of a sadistic leader who treats humans no better than the zombies do. All in all, Keene creates some vividly graphic encounters between humans and zombies that will not appeal to the squeamish. Be forewarned: blood and gore flow freely in "The Rising". Keene also creates a different kind of zombie for his readers. This zombie is calculating, faster moving, and capable of independent throught. Zombie animals are even present and play an active role in the novel. The book ends in a cliffhanger, so this reviewer recommends purchasing a copy of the sequel, "City of the Dead" and having it close because the reader will want to dive right into it after finishing "The Rising". "The Rising is a terrific zombie novel for those who like the genre'!

What an incredible book. The last time I read such a sweeping, epic horror novel - where every character jumps off the page as a real person (good and bad alike) - was when I'd first read King's THE STAND. THE RISING is MUCH more merciless - as one blurb says, it's "not for the squeamish". Many scenes are extremely graphic, since Keene is not hesitant to walk over someone's concept of "taboo". This could make a book hard to read, but in Keene's hands it's masterwork. Though he's relatively new to the mass market, his writing is as good, if not better, than most popular writers out today. You learn to trust him very early on. From the first page, through relentless and always-interesting plotlines, to a closing scene which satisfies on many levels, THE RISING - though not for the faint of heart - is one of the best books to hit the horror world in a long time.