Reviewer John M. Alleman: John holds
a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of West
Florida. His literary interests are numerous and eclectic, with a
special affinity for environmental ethics and metaphysics.
By John Alleman
Published on December 21, 2010
Author: Ben Tripp
ISBN: 978-1439165164 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Author: Ben Tripp ISBN: 978-1439165164 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Craving a zombie thriller with some meat on its bones? Grab a copy of Ben Tripp’s Rise Again: A Zombie Thriller and let that slake your appetite.
Originally drafted as a movie screenplay, Rise Again found its way on the shelves of bookstores, and a book worth grabbing, it is.
Rise Again
is not your ordinary run-and-gun or duck-and-cower kind of thriller.
Sure, Ben Tripp fills the pages with everything you’d expect from a
zombie apocalypse--grotesque man-eaters, death-defying close calls,
not-so-death-defying close calls, dire means to survive, etc. That’s all
nice and good, but those elements are merely necessary for Tripp’s
novel to call itself a zombie thriller; all those elements combined
aren’t the meat of what makes Rise Again shine in all its gory, I mean glory.
What
sets it apart is a female lead who’s accustomed to crises and competent
in the trenches, the variety of characters representing various
demographics in the struggle to live, the gritty honesty with which
Tripp examines the ugly side of humanity amidst the end of the world,
the way you get swept up in the action, the fear, and the determination
to escape a fate worse than death.
More importantly, what positions Rise Again in the limelight is what it doesn’t contain in its pages: Rise Again
doesn’t focus on useless bumbling characters to convey a state of
panic; it doesn’t merely trail a single character and plot line, boring
the reader with monotony.
It
all starts with a Fourth of July celebration in the small town of
Forest Peak, California. Danielle Adelman--sheriff of Forest Peak, jaded
war veteran, lackluster sister--expects a normal holiday of keeping the
peace until the sun goes down and the tourists find their way home.
When droves of people begin flooding the streets, screaming and flailing
their arms until they drop dead in their tracks, Danny realizes it’s
not going to be a normal holiday.
Panic
ensues and the situation quickly careens out of control until Danny is
left with the responsibility over a community of terrified tourists and
Forest Peak natives. Shock, disbelief, grief set in when everything
settles. Horror and hope commingle when the bodies begin rising and
lumbering about. Terror grips when the dead start feeding on the living.
Before
Danny knows it, she’s the leader of a traveling caravan of survivors
trying to keep themselves that way. All the while, she harbors a secret
dilemma: accept responsibility over her charge or break away to find her
sister who ran away just before apocalypse arrived.
Rise Again
follows all the strategic decisions and impulsive missteps of Danielle
Adelman while detailing the hopes and tragedies of the survivors and
commenting on ethics and social solidarity amidst the end of the world.
So gather your wits and beware for “…the infected dead will rise again…”