Rise Again: A Zombie Thriller

A MYSTERIOUS CONTAGION. MASS HYSTERIA. SUDDEN DEATH. And a warning that would come all too late . . . 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.

From Publishers Weekly

Zombie mayhem gets an interesting modern American makeover in this notable debut. In Forest Peak, a quiet town an hour outside of Los Angeles, the crowds at an Independence Day gathering suddenly go crazy, drop dead, and rise as flesh-eating corpses. As the zombies ravage the town, sheriff Danielle "Danny" Adelman, a veteran of the Iraq War, gathers together the few human survivors and they head north, looking for refuge. In San Francisco, Danny discovers signs of a military coverup for the disaster and indications that Hawkstone, a team of paramilitary independent contractors, is taking advantage of the social anarchy. Tripp balances kinetically choreographed scenes of zombie carnage with studies of well-drawn characters and enough political intrigue to give his tale more gravity and grounding than most zombie gorefests. (Nov.) (c) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Danny is a mentally and physically scarred Iraq War vet who returned to her small hometown in the San Bernadino Mountains and is now sheriff—just in time for screaming mobs to descend on her town carrying a zombie plague. Gathering up the few survivors (the ones who were neither turned to zombies nor eaten by the newly undead), Danny leads them to safety on an old Air Force base in the desert. But her leadership role among the survivors must be put on hold until she learns what happened to her little sister, Kelly, who ran away from home the night before the zombie plague arrived. Traveling in her vintage Mustang, Danny traverses a post-apocalyptic California, arriving finally in a besieged San Francisco, which is controlled by a ruthless group of military contractors. Tripp’s debut is a thrilling page-turner that will delight fans of zombie fiction and post-apocalyptic stories, including Charlie Huston’s Sleepless (2010) and Justin Cronin’s The Passage (2010). --Jessica Moyer

From the Back Cover

It began with isolated reports of mass hysteria. Screaming mobs. Sudden death. The plague spread around the world, slaughtering billions. For the survivors knee-deep in corpses, it didn't seem things could get worse. Until the dead stumbled to their feet. Mindless, shambling, they were repulsive -- but harmless. And then a warning came, too late... "The dead eat living flesh. Repeat: the dead eat living flesh." Forest Peak, California: an all-American town on the Fourth of July. Sheriff Danielle Adelman, troubled veteran of war, thinks she's got all the problems she can handle when her kid sister runs away from home. But when terrified, disease-carrying hordes from Los Angeles threaten to overwhelm her small mountain town, Danielle realizes she's going to handle the apocalypse, too. Determined to find her sister, Danielle must fight her way through a ruined world overrun by flesh-eating zombies, searching against all odds. The ragtag band that joins her in the struggle to survive--an animal doctor, a homeless alcoholic, a cable TV star, an outlaw biker--must rise to the ultimate challenge. Or the human race will fall, and die, and rise . . . again. Filled with stunning human drama--and shocking inhuman horror--Rise Again marks the powerful fiction debut of international designer Ben Tripp.

About the Author

BEN TRIPP is a storyteller in many media who has worked with major entertainment companies and motion picture studios for more than two decades. A prolific artist and writer, he is also one of the world's leading designers of public experiences, with a global portfolio of projects ranging from urban masterplans to theme parks and resorts. Rise Again is his first novel. Tripp lives with his wife Corinne (and their dogs) in California, where he is at work on his second novel.

Reviews

News