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)

Unlikable "hero", good story just over the top

I just didn't care for this one too terrible much. I love a good flawed, strong lead character aka hero/heroine BUT Danni is is not only unlikable but over the top. I didn't find her to be a tough badass but a boozing tyrant. I mean come on. The world has ended, no government to speak of, Danni is the only "law" in the land. As her convoy looks for a safe place to hole up (though Danni is merely looking for her sister) she threatens to arrest them for breaking into an abandoned gas station/convenience store to find supplies. That is the dumbest thing I think I've ever read. Then there's the sheriff herself. Danni. A wounded war hero battling post traumatic stress syndrome and her need to wash her dreams away with liquor. I don't think she's an alcoholic as much as self medicating - which makes it worse. If she truly was a hero, smart leader she'd keep a clear head. Nope get drunk and bully everyone. Couldn't get into the story because I just simply didn't like the main character! Tone her down some Tripp will you!

Good Zombie Story

If you could sum up Rise Again in three words, what would they be?

Scary, Thrilling, and unexpected

Any additional comments?

Pretty good zombie story. I like zombie stories that stick more to the George Romero version of zombies; you'll see what I'm talking about. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone.

I was getting annoyed with Danny and her need for law and order at a time when the world was becoming infested with zombies. If you are in a world plagued with man-eating zombies I don't think breaking into a store is going to get you jail time. She was the hero and I really enjoyed the cast. I didn't want to stop listening because I too was interested in whether or not she'd find Kelly.

There were some scary moments.

Mostly Meh

**SPOILER ALERT** It would be difficult to review this book without some spoilers.

The book starts slow, which is a nice change from the typical ZA story. The zombie events happens at a much slower pace, but it's almost too slow in parts and borders on too many mundane details not relevant to the story. Eventually, the zombies make an appearance, but not after several WTF moments in the story.

For example, there's a point where the general public has become aware of something awful happening and they begin to flee and panic. However, none of the main characters, including the protagonist, has any clue as to what it is. This happens despite the fact that everyone seems to be getting their info from phone calls and social media. No one who is clueless thinks to ask anyone for information.

Another example, the sheriff has no idea what's happening, but spontaneously decides to use her shotgun to stop the panicking people. Without having any knowledge of the larger looming crisis, the she considers shooting one of the runners in hopes it will stop the others. There are other points in the book like this that left me scratching my head, as they made no sense.

The sheriff has several convenient blackouts, where she awakens hours or days later. These seemed more like conveniences to the author, as they occurred at action points in the book and left me, again, scratching my head as to what just happened - or why the author chose this time to stop and skip ahead in the story. I found it annoying.

Much of the conversations and actions of characters are unrealistic. Remnants of civilization (buildings, roads, etc.) would deteriorate much faster than reasonable - dust would coat things in a matter of days or trees would grow in the middle of roads in a matter of a few months - all because there was no normal daly life; or the protagonist would have to relearn how to deal with people again, after being on her own for only a few days. All of these broke the suspension of disbelief for me.

I found the characters were rather flat and uninteresting and didn't especially care what happened to them. The main character was hard to like and I couldn't tell if that was on purpose or not.

This is the first time hearing this narrator, and she did a respectable job, overall. However, she didn't really bring the characters to life or put enough emphasis on the action or emotional parts of the story. All of the male voices didn't sound male, nor did they include the correct emotional context (tough angry males sounded like mildy-annoyed women).

Overall, the book was interesting enough to finish, but it's not one I'd recommend or listen to again, nor am I particularly interested in any sequels.

Decent zombie story, meh story overall

What did you like best about Rise Again? What did you like least?

This is another book that I will revisit my rating repeatedly. As far as zombie thrillers go, this one is really original while remaining believable. The main character isn't terribly likeable and makes some really selfish mistakes in the surrogate raising of her baby sister after the death of their parents.

The narration was bland and made the main character sound bland. I just had a hard time caring about her because I was too busy judging her. I have a hard time with people/characters who realize they have a weakness and don't try to grow. In this case, she makes some decisions that are selfish. I'm probably not being fair, because she's had a hard time keeping her life together, let alone watching out for someone else's.

Because of a couple unique story twists and potential for character growth, I'll read the next book in the series when it comes out. In fact, over time, I'm finding that the post apocalyptical world Tripp has framed out is really staying with me. Without really giving anything away, I will say that these zombies are much higher functioning than usually portrayed. I really like this concept because it's believable to me and hasn't been really explored all that much.

For this reason, I am planning to read the next book and hoping that Tripp's character development makes up for some of the character flaws and poor decision making is improved.

Great book hoping for sequel

What did you love best about Rise Again?

I enjoyed the evolution of the zombies - original and spooky.

What did you like best about this story?

Great character development. Everything you want out of a zombie novel including original and unexpected angles that create unique elements of fear and suspense.

What about Kirsten Potter’s performance did you like?

Her performance was great. She didn't try to oversell it and the voices were believable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Most zombie novels have predictable endings but this novel has a great ending and left me hoping for a sequel!

Nice to see a lady hero

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book very much. I like the fact that the hero of the book is a woman. It is a nice departure. I also enjoyed the combat veteran angle for the sheriff and how it shaped her actions and reactions to the dead rising.

SHE TOOK A SPATULA AND SCRAPPED HIS FACE OFF THE

GRILL.
THE SHADOW OF THE NIGHT RETREATED FROM THE STREET, CURLING UP UNDER THE TREES.
Ben Tripp can write. He is no rookie stumbling through the zombie genre, thinking it is an easy sell. His use of the English language helps to make this literature. Academics should have nothing to complain about, while the common blue collar worker will not be overwhelmed with overly flowery language. The story is basic Zombie and any Zombie lover should have no problem with this addition to the genre.

THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS ANOTHER DAY, ONLY ANOTHER DAY SURVIVED
Anyone looking for strong female characters will love this book. Danny has RED HAIR, LITTLE TITS and AN ASS YOU CAN CUT STEAK OFF OF. She is the main character and the sheriff. She is also a Veteran. She is respected and their is no big deal made over her being a female. She is very tough and a leader. There are a couple of other lead females. This book could serve as an example of how to handle female leads in a book. There is no sex or even flirting. I also was impressed with the fact that they used more than one vehicle, even had a convoy. This has been a complaint of mine of similar books. In an apocalypse, vehicles are going to be easy to get, but in all other books they always act as if they are scarce.

DANNY WAS GOING TO DIE (for the thousandth time)
I could not give the book five stars for a few glaring problems. The first being that Ben overused they main character is about to die, only to be rescued at the very last minute. I lost count of how many times the main character was about to bite the bullet and then she was rescued by Wolf or some other character. Several times she was about to oft herself. The book dragged a little in the middle. I would have liked to have seen more imagination with the Zombies. There is a different angle, involving a zombie coma state and a hint at some evolution in the zombies, but most of that comes pretty late in the book and seems more of a set up for book 2.

HIS BLOOD TURNED TO SNOW
Kristen Potter is a top tier narrator and I look forward to hearing more from her.

FAIR, WAS AN IMAGINARY IDEA, THAT HAD NO BASIS IN REALITY.
If book 2 goes on sale, I will buy it, but I am not going to go out of my way to get it.

This book is really good

This was a *really* good book and with a listening time of 16hrs, it is well worth your credit. The story was epic with a great narrator telling a tale of zombies right from the start, even before the infection and Tripp has his own take on how the zombie infection starts and spreads.

The narration is very good and easily fell into the background so I could focus on the tale she was telling. Different voices, male, female, all handled excellently. Interesting coincidence that there is a town in the book of the same name as the narrator.

As other reviewers have noted the big weakness in this story is that the main character isn't especially likeable. You end up taking the sides of the people arguing with her. Danni is slow to catch on that she is dealing with zombies and yeah, the whole "No looting" bit. Leaves me wondering what she has been eating all this time?

She also abandons her charges and goes off on a wild goose chase for her sister which is really stupid without specific information. Her sister could be in the abandoned building next to her, how would she know?

She is also sexless. The book has a lesbian and gay in it, but although there was a line or two in there that made clear Danni is hetero, she otherwise has no romantic interests and thinks like a dude with no testosterone. Its like the author doesn't know how to portray girls.

She does redeem herself in the end but as flawed heroes go, I couldn't find much to like about her, therefore the 4 stars for story.

The end was creepy and even though I don't like that mutation direction for zombies, I'd want to buy the next book that is due summer 2013; Rise Again: Below Zero.

I had to purchase 2nd book ASAP!!

Where does Rise Again rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Great book audio was good. Narrator did an excellent job performing.

What did you like best about this story?

All the twist and turns the author took you on.

Have you listened to any of Kirsten Potter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I do not think so.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I would laugh out loud at parts in the story. But boy did I get some tears at the end but then......well you will have to get the book don't want to give anything away!

Any additional comments?

This to me was an excellent book. I would recommend this book to anyone, I was totally drawn into the story. Which is why I have purchased the second book :)

What a great epic tale.

Narration was really good. Story kept me hooked. The ending was a unsettling surprise. I really enjoyed this audio book.