Rise the Dark

By: Michael Koryta

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mark Novak's greatest mystery may be his own....

Rise the dark. These were the last words written in Lauren Novak's notebook before she was murdered in a strange Florida village. They've never meant anything to the police or to her husband, investigator Markus Novak. Now the man he believes killed her is out of prison and draws Markus to the place he's avoided for so long: the lonely road where his wife was shot to death beneath the cypress trees and Spanish moss in a town called Cassadaga.

In Red Lodge, Montana, a senseless act of vandalism shuts the lights off in the town where Sabrina Baldwin is still trying to adjust to a new home and mourning the loss of her brother, who was a high-voltage linesman just like her husband, Jay. As the spring's final snowstorm calls Jay deeper into the mountains, chasing the destruction on the electrical grid, Sabrina is abducted by Garland Webb, the man Markus Novak believes killed his wife. Drawing them all together is a messianic villain who understands that you can never outpace your past. You can only rise against the future.

©2016 Michael Koryta (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"A superb thriller literally humming and buzzing with power and tension, given depth and resonance by Koryta's fascination with pitting lone human emotion against a vast and forbidding landscape." (Lee Child)

"A frightening thriller about the holes in our infrastructure and the security protecting it. In this second Markus Novak novel, following 2015's Last Words, Koryta effectively combines a compelling premise, a villain who seems too smart to be stopped, and a revealing look at the hero's dysfunctional family." ( Booklist)

"This book arrived with high praise from several stars of the genre--"A master," says Stephen King; "Outstanding," adds Lee Child--and they're right. Rise the Dark is both first-rate entertainment and an unusually interesting thriller in terms of its characters, its plot and the ideas it explores, which include the electrical grid, Tesla's history, spiritualism, and the nation's possible vulnerability to a right-wing takeover." ( The Washington Post)

How should I rate this novel?

I've been a huge fan of Michael Koryta's suspense thriller novels since the first one. While Rise the Dark is an excellent story, there are issues that cause me to down rate the novel to three stars. The most important issue is the unnecessary introduction of and repeated use of the paranormal into this Book 2 of the Mark Novak series. I have complained in prior reviews about Koryta's unnecessary use of the paranormal in two of his earlier novels. It's use changes absolutely nothing about the story. My second issue is with the ending of the book: after the natural conclusion of the story he decided to include what should have been the beginning of the next book in the series. In doing this he is effectively making Mark Novak a serialized series. My final concern is that the key characters other than Mark Novak are not well developed. This is very unusual for Koryta.

I'm disappointed that Koryta doe not present his normal excellent work in Rise the Dark. He can do much better and he has done so in his prior 11 novels.

16 people found this helpful

Avg Suspense Novel

The narrator does an excellent job, but the novel overall is underwhelming. Some of the characters are interesting and well developed, while others aren’t. The plot is just mediocre as well. The plot concerns domestic terrorism from a whacked out group with a whacked out leader. Koryta is usually great, but this one has little real suspense. Additionally, most of the characters are not likable. Koryta also adds little supernatural elements to this novel. If you are a Koryta fan, read it. Otherwise, try something different.

Scary But Good

I listened to the first book and it slowly pulled me into the plot. This one is also a bit dark but very good story line and narrator is excellent.

Tedious---not worth a credit

This got fairly good reviews which makes me suspicious of how they are tallied. Advice: Look to other sources for reviews before buying.

The characters are so poorly developed--you don't know them, nor do you care about them. As long as some of the Stephen King books are--you feel his characters. When they end, you almost mourn the loss of them.

I've never read or listened to a Michael Koryta book, I'll try one more and if it's similar--that's it.. Another problem with this book is the Marcus character--the reader put's a tough, desperate tone on that sounds like Mike Conners who played Mannix in the 70's. Ugh.

The other characters are so stereotypically crazy or predictably virtuous you feel like you've read it all before--because you have. Move on.

Great second entry into Novak's story

The second book in the Mark Novak series does a great job of moving the storyline forward, and keeping you guessing as Michael Koryta does so well. Technically, you wouldn't need to have read the first book to read this one, as it only references the story from the firsy book a few times. Another slam dunk for Koryta!

Good story/ bad narration

I like Michael Kortya's novels. I think i would have liked this one better if I had read it myself. My biggest problem with this audio book was the narrator. I mean, seriously, laughable is the nicest way I can label this narration.