Rise Again

A Zombie Thriller

By: Ben Tripp

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's summary

Forest Peak, California. Fourth of July. Sheriff Danielle Adelman, a troubled war veteran, thinks she has all the problems she can handle in this all-American town after her kid sister runs away from home. But when a disease-stricken horde of panicked refugees fleeing the fall of Los Angeles swarms her small mountain community, Danny realizes her problems have only just begun—starting with what might very well be the end of the world. Danny thought she had seen humanity at its worst in war-torn Iraq, but nothing could prepare her for the remorseless struggle to survive in a dying world being overrun by the reanimated dead and men turned monster. Obsessed with finding her missing sister against all odds, Danny’s epic and dangerous journey across the California desert will challenge her spirit... and bring her to the precipice of sanity itself.

Filled with adventurous human drama—and shocking inhuman horror—Rise Again marks a vivid and powerful fiction debut.

©2011 Ben Tripp (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Danny's journey through a land of death to find [her sister] Kelley makes for a remarkable character-driven story, and the final sentence takes it to another level." ( Library Journal)

Good read

As far as zombie books go, this is definitely a good one. I love all things zombie and I was not disappointed with this story.

Wow...Dude can WRITE!!

This book was surprisingly well written. I enjoy a good zombie apocalypse book, no matter the quality; but this book was very well written! The characters are well drawn and believable. I am not a war veteran, so I cannot speak to the authenticity of the post combat emotions expressed by the protagonist, but I had no trouble suspending my disbelief. I cared what happened to the characters in this story.

This novel reminded me of the first time I saw "An American Werewolf in London" because it was simultaneously funny and really disgusting. As I was listening to the novel I alternated between expressions of disgust and laughter.

Kristen Potter, the reader, was well cast for this reading. She gave life to the characters and made them real and accessible.

Overall, I really enjoyed this audio book and would recommend it to any zombie fan, as well as folks who are just looking for a well written, fun, audiobook.

Good story, Unlikable Hero, and HORRIBLE Narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Rise Again to be better than the print version?

No, I would suggest just buying the print. Kristen Potter is possibly the worst narrator that I've ever heard. She reads the entire book as if she's about to fall asleep. Even during parts of the story that could be extreme, and intensely satisfying...she drones it down to a pure bore and makes it a struggle to stay awake. Ms. Potter should stop narrating audio books, and go teach a high school English Lit. class....she has the voice for that, her students would get a good nap in before their next class.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't really like any of the characters that much. But I believe this was because the narrator failed to give them any character. They all sounded the same, droll, monotone and boring..........Well, maybe Amy. She was ok.

What didn’t you like about Kirsten Potter’s performance?

Everything. She was pretty terrible.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, The story was pretty good, but for me there were no moving moments, but I rarely experience that in any book anyway...so no fault of the author there.

Any additional comments?

The most disappointing part of this adaptation other than the poor narration, was the main character Danny. The author tries to pass her off as a combat vet, and at the time women were not allowed in combat roles in the military. Fault one with her story. She gets into one little scrap in the desert and it destroys her life. That is a slap in the face to real life soldiers who struggle with the rigors of military deployment, and the horrors of combat...yet many of them still come home and have the strength to carry on a normal civilian life without having to turn to alcohol or drugs to cope. Danny is over all a horrible, and unlikable character, who spends more time whining and crying about her horrible life and her self medication with alcohol, than actually playing a lead heroic role.

Not bad, nothing new

This was an ok zombie story but it was just a repeat of all the others out there with the typical scenarios. As usual, the author finds it necessary to include a black character to kill off. So tired of that one, I mean really, it's 2013 and we still have to include tokens. On a different note, I don't know what to make of the main character. I found it hard to like her or any of the others to be honest. Sadly, I just didn't care if they got whacked or not! This certainly isn't one of my favorites and will not get a second listen from me, but it is an ok story for those who like the basic zombie tales.

Maybe it's just me but I would love to read, see, or listen to an apocalyptic story that takes a different approach on how the survivors handle the situation. It's as if none of the authors out there can come up with anything original. No creativity, no imagination. It's just retelling the same story over and over. The only thing different is possibly the names of the characters. Oh we'll, maybe one day!

Good, Needs Sequel

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Grew to like the book as it progressed. Ending seemed rushed, the author could have fleshed it out a little more. More could have been written about San Francisco.

Would you be willing to try another book from Ben Tripp? Why or why not?

Yes, hope it is a sequel.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Kirsten Potter?

Maybe

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I don't see it working as a movie. Too broard a tapestry, movie would have to be 3 or 4 hours to really work.

Interesting zombie story

I liked the book overall, I thought the performance was good, and the story had a lot of new angles different from the standard zombie story. The characters are interesting, though sometimes annoying. The lead character did get on my nerves at times, she's a bit nasty to people.

Overall I thought it was a very well told story. I got the second of the series and I think the second is even better than the first.

Well Done

Very organized story with a varied selection of characters. The introduction and background of characters was instrumental in helping connect the different story plots.

It was okay, not the best or the worst

The story was good, a little long and drawn out. The characters were likable and well developed. I wish there had been less cursing.

Awesome Character developmen and action, okay plot

Zombie novels are a magnet for mediocre writers. There, I said it. If you don't agree, then this review probably doesn't have a lot to offer you. Still, I love the genre's potential, and this book comes the closest I've seen in a long while to realizing that potential. Rise Again spends a good while really developing Danny's character to the point that, despite the fact that she's a walking stereotype (although dark, drunk veterans with PTSD aren't usually played by women-- her only stand-out quality), I feel that I really understand and relate to her, so Tripp managed to not use her stereotype as a crutch. Good character development is insanely rare in this genre, so it was really refreshing and a very strong start to the book.

That being said, pretty much every other face you see in the book is as flat as a cutout from a magazine. Danny keeps it real and keeps you caring, but it seems like Tripp was lazy in designing his other characters so the rest have no depth. A few are sympathetic, but they're all just slightly more developed than cardboard cutouts (case in point: gay interior designer, empathetic and soft-hearted female veterinarian, a-hole lawyer).

The description, however, is magnificent throughout. Excellent prose, believable action and the avoidance of too many predictable plot developments (at least predictable by me) kept me interested to the point where I looked for housework to do just as an excuse to listen. There's a lot of gore, but it's not just a splatterhouse. Also, as a horror, it only really had one scary point for me, at the very beginning. The rest was sort of hum-drum zombie head-smashing.

So there's bad and there's good in it, but it's worth reading. I should make mention that another very refreshing thing about this book is that it's not just another thought experiment about how awesome and scary the idea of the zombie apocalypse is. The story is as it should be-- the zombies are the environment, not the main character.

The plot wasn't really that moving for me, however; Danny's character arc is decent but not earth-shattering, some people get saved from being eaten, world's still destroyed but they can start over. It's all a little canned. Rise Again does attempt to make a few statements about the nature of occupation forces like those we have in the middle east, but they're too heavy handed and that's not really what the book is about. The book is about Danny, someone who's gotten herself into a downward spiral that would probably end in death (we see the ghost of her future in Wolf, also a bit heavy handed), and the catastrophe gives her an opportunity to find the spark of purpose that might bring her some fulfillment and save her. In a word, the book is about redemption, but it's not strong enough to make you want to cry.

All in all, it was a great read. It wasn't The Road or World War Z (I know the two are in completely different leagues from one another, but I loved them both), but it was better than the rest that I've read. And I've read a LOT.

Immediately downloaded book two

Great for fans of this genre (as I am). Original. Great character development (who cares if the main character is unlikeable? It informs the plot). Great narrator. I immediately downloaded the second book, and was not disappointed with that one either.