There's some novel interesting stuff here with zombies being more possessed by demonic forces than brain impaired undead. Animal zombies as ravaging hordes is an interesting idea. Unfortunately it is undercut by the execution - bizarre actions by the surviving humans (in the usual humans are worse than the plague itself fashion), ill advised descriptions of black characters and prostitution among other things. The framework story itself ends on a cliffhanger - not necessarily bad, but felt cheap given the stumbling narrative preceding it and knowing there's a sequel. ( )

CW: Suicide rather than be eaten by zombies, sexual references ( )

I am obviously way late to this party, having just read this book first published in 2003. So, how does this story hold up today? Pretty damn well. Reading The Rising is like watching a thrill-ride indie zombie flick or one of those crazy, low-budget Syfy Channel movies. It's pure entertainment, and it delivers. Other than the total cliffhanger ending, because this was the first in a series of what will soon be five books. The characters are not super developed, the dialogue is not always realistic, the prose is not exactly poetic. But it isn't supposed to be. Keene has said he considers himself a pulp writer. The Rising is a solid story of gross-out moments, cool death scenes, and ass-kicking survival. ( )

I'm not exactly sure when zombies came back into vogue but I'm glad for it. Or at least I'm glad that all the zombie books that I've been picking up have been well written. And THE RISING falls into that same category.

The zombies appear because souls or beings from another dimension are making it through a hole or a dimensional weakening created by a scientist. And in a nice tie up, this becomes an issue near the end of the novel. While being zombies and still wanting to kill the living (mostly so that their brethren can come through and take over the body), these zombies are intelligent and can shoot guns and strategize. Their main limitation is the usual zombie slowness. The bulk of the story though is about Jim Thurmond who is trying to travel across states to get to his ex-wife's house and rescue his son. And in a nice pacing, the book does have sub-stories involving other characters that play an indirect part in Jim's journey. The climax puts everyone at the same place at the same time but not necessarily interacting with each other.

The book itself is very involving and enjoyable. I found that I didn't care positively for them as much as I should have but I did care negatively for everyone who delayed Jim's travels. In the end, I think those work out to be the same thing. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next novel by Keene. ( )

3.5 stars!

It didn't take long to make my way through this zombie filled wasteland of a book. Humans, (whether they still be humans or be they zombies), are not the only monsters here.

I loved the originality of this story. I can't get into the specifics of it without spoilers, but some of the things imagined and written about in The Rising have still not been done in other zombie books or movies. I really felt something for a few of these characters too. The author pretty much put everyone and everything at risk, so I had no idea what might happen to these people; there was no safe feeling like some books provide you, where you know the good guy will win in the end.

What I did not like is a short list and here it is: The narrator and the fate of most of the female characters. First, the narrator had a fine voice but he mispronounced some words, (brackish is not brake-ish), and his tone of voice was often off. (Obviously, the tone thing is a personal opinion, while the mispronounciations are not.)

Second, I've been a horror fan for a long, long time and I'm quite used to the treatment of women in horror stories being less than stellar. I also understand that a female, or male protagonist for that matter, has to be put into positions where the reader can root for her or him. However, what happened to the women here bothered me a bit more than usual. Perhaps, because the descriptions were graphic? (But I've read Laymon, Barker and even some Lee and none of those bothered me.) Maybe it's because I'm getting older and my tolerance for that type of behavior, even in books, has now dwindled down to nothing? Even if I can't quite put my finger on it, it bothered me, so that's that.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! The originality of it was mind-blowing, and it must have been the horror book of ALL horror books when it originally came out back in 2003. Remember, this was before The Walking Dead and the whole zombie mash-up thing, (Pride and Prejudice With Zombies, anyone? WTF?). I do plan on reading the sequel, City of the Dead, but I'm going to do just that-read it, instead of listening, because the narration of this one did diminish my enjoyment a little bit.

Recommended to fans of ZOMBIES! ( )