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)

decent well written

Good though a bit windy at times where should have moved on and other times felt I wanted more detail but it kept me entertsined. I did not like the main characters trip to SF. just when she is likable she does something totally dumb. I get the argument for why this happens but be careful when trying to establish a generally stereotype character.

Really good!

I liked this story because the characters were real. It wasn't all happiness and some of the characters that seemed very significant didn't make it. So even though they died, they were given rich descriptions so you end up liking them just to lose them. That's a little more realistic to me.

A different kind of zombie story

I kept listening because it draws you in and you want to know what's next- however, the crude, vulgar language wasn't appreciated. The author can weave a great story without all that in my opinion. (Hence the lower rating)

awesome

I thought it was very well written and was performed with excellence I really liked it.

Boring at first but worth getting into

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I had a hard time getting into this. It took forever to get to the part where the zombies enter the story and that part was very boring. Once they did emerge it was worth the wait. I loved the evolution of the zombies in this book and for that alone am glad I read it. The last line in the book is the best.

"Acceptble zombie story by a promising author"

What did you love best about Rise Again?

It is a good story if you like zombie stories and do not expect anything particularly different from other zombie tales

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending is either an attempt to be artistically intriguing, or it is a poor attempt to hook readers into a sequel. The fact that it was for me to tell which of these options was likely suggests it wasn't a particularly skilled ending. Not necessarily disappointing, but nothing special.

Any additional comments?

The first half of the story proceeds at, well, a zombie's pace, but the story picks up and proceeds at a more engaging pace after that point. I thought the story was pretty good for the most part, but nothing special. There were a couple of twists, though nothing sufficient to distinguish this zombie story from most others. I thought that the relatively rare instance a strong female main character in a zombie story might add something special, yet except for a few brief references and one aspect of the story (dealing with rape and basic male chauvinistic behavior), that aspect of the novel never really went far. With few exceptions, the main character could have been male with very little difference--not necessarily a problem except that perhaps the author missed a chance to create a zombie narrative that was truly different. Still, a good story if you are fan of the genre.

Loved it

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

I always love audio better then print, its like someone telling you a great story or living it with them.

What did you like best about this story?

It picked up right away and I stayed interested, and I listen to all of the zombie type

What about Kirsten Potter’s performance did you like?

all of it

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

Maybe the cliffhanger caught me of guard and thats hard to do, I stopped the car and everything.

Any additional comments?

I was on a road trip to the next town over when I didnt realize I had hit the end and a cliffhanger no less. I actually pulled over, hoped there was internet in this rural area and checked there was a book 2, there was! I downloaded then so I could proceed, that rarely happens where I get caught at the end and unprepared. I plowed through that 16 hours without noticing.
I thought audible was going to strangle me cause I couldnt find a good zombie book and kept returning them. They were very nice and I found this one:)

Different take on the zombie thing

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

I only listen to audio because of my commute

What did you like best about this story?

It was a little different from all the other zombie stories, right from the beginning.

Badassery could have been the title of this book

What a fantastic adventure!
In a world where I would have been decimated on day one, Danny not only lived but was a natural leader of the pack. With her military and law enforcement knowledge, she collected survivers and faced the new world head-on.
My absolute favorite part was towards the end when Danny said that she felt impossibly alive. She was supposed to die but she didn't, so anything ahead of her was extra time. 'I'm invincible'!
Anyone who has lived though something that should have lead to their death, knows this feeling. We got bonus time. I don't know how many people with this bonus time goes back to living the same life but I know that I didn't. There's nothing like bonus time to change your perspective on life.
I'm not saying that I'm a Danny but I'm living my best life.
I saw a review that said Ben Tripp didn't know how to properly write a female character, that reviewer must have lived a sheltered life. I know many women who are very much like Danny. Some are, or have been, in the military and some are just survivers who would react to the apocalypse like Danny. Not all women are sugar and spice, most aren't.
Kirsten Potter narrated this extremely well. This is the first time I've listened to her narrate. She does a fantastic job with switching between characters, male and female. I especially enjoy that she sounds like Tig Notaro when she's speaking for Danny.
I'll definitely check into other books that she narrates.

Kind of different

I liked the things about this story that were different from the typical zombie junk. Anytime an author can take a subject that has been so overdone and make me see it from a different perspective, it's a good thing. A lot of things about the story were unexpected, like the main character, Dannie. It's a lengthy listen. It starts slow, even a bit dull at first. I had to double check to make sure I was reading the right story because it took a while to get to the zombie stuff, but once things got going, I thought the story was pretty good. The ending was interesting enough that I am actually looking forward to the sequel.