Publication Date: 10/15/2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Imprint: Gallery Books
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Pages: 336
ISBN-10: 1476716080
ISBN-13: 978-1476716084
(Received for an honest review from Gallery Books)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound
Christopher Rice on the WEB: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Excerpt from The Heavens Rise, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.
Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice brilliantly conjures the shadowed terrors of the Louisiana bayou—where three friends confront a deadly, ancient evil rising to the surface—in this intense and atmospheric new supernatural thriller.
It’s been a decade since the Delongpre family vanished near Bayou Rabineaux, and still no one can explain the events of that dark and sweltering night. No one except Niquette Delongpre, the survivor who ran away from the mangled stretch of guardrail on Highway 22 where the impossible occurred…and kept on running. Who left behind her best friends, Ben and Anthem, to save them from her newfound capacity for destruction…and who alone knows the source of her very bizarre—and very deadly—abilities: an isolated strip of swampland called Elysium.
An accomplished surgeon, Niquette’s father dreamed of transforming the dense acreage surrounded by murky waters into a palatial compound befitting the name his beloved wife gave to it, Elysium: “the final resting place for the heroic and virtuous.” Then, ten years ago, construction workers dug into a long-hidden well, one that snaked down into the deep, black waters of the Louisiana swamp and stirred something that had been there for centuries—a microscopic parasite that perverts the mind and corrupts the body.
Niquette is living proof that things done can’t be undone. Nothing will put her family back together again. And nothing can save her. But as Niquette, Ben, and Anthem uncover the truth of a devastating parasite that has the potential to alter the future of humankind, Niquette grasps the most chilling truths of all: someone else has been infected too. And unlike her, this man is not content to live in the shadows. He is intent to use his newfound powers for one reason only: revenge.
Thoughts:
Christopher Rice son of author, Anne Rice and poet, Stan Rice, brings readers a haunting tale from the Louisiana Bayou. This chilling tale set in the Big Easy will have readers leaving the light on when they go to bed. It has that creepy, crawly kind of feeling that makes you wonder about the things that go bump in the night. Four young friends find the meaning of what it truly means to be human in this thrilling novel that will have readers on the edge of their proverbial seats. With strong characters, intelligent writing and more atmosphere than you can shake a stick at, this is not a book fans of the horror genre will want to miss.
I kind of had a feeling that a book written by Anne Rice's son would strike fear into any heart and I was right. This one starts out making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. When a long abandoned old well is discovered on the Delongpre property, Niquette and her friends think exploring it could be fun, but when Niquette and Marshall are submerged in the water they aren't expecting traumatic results. A parasite has been sleeping in the deep dark of the Louisiana swamp and now it has been awakened. How's that for a great hook? Rice draws the reader in with the first line of the book... "I'm not sure how long it was down there..." And he never lets go.
Christopher Rice has really outdone himself with this novel. It will certainly give readers the creeps but it also touches on some pretty heavy topics including, race and class distinction as well as, what it means to be human. Two young people, both affected by the same evil, who deal with it in two totally different ways. I loved that whole angle about this book. Something has happened to you... how are you going to react to it. It is really a coming of age novel in a lot of ways. Niquette and Marshall both had a choice, what they did may have been very different but their motivations... not so much.
I loved all of the characters in this book. From Niquette and her friends Ben and Anthem, to Marshall, the reader will quickly begin to feel like they are looking into the heads of these characters. Seeing their actions and feeling what they felt. I loved the way Rice writes about teenagers with the idea that they can change the world for good or evil. That happens to be something I believe. It's not what you're given, but what you do with it. And that's an underlying theme of this book. Rice lets the reader into the mind of a psychotic as well, and let me tell you, it's a scary place and readers will definitely feel that fear and that pure evil.
Rice couldn't have picked a better setting for this one. New Orleans and Louisiana just conjure of those feelings of magic and mayhem. With it's history of voodoo and the black arts, it was the perfect place to make this novel come alive. I felt like Rice took the setting and developed it in such a way that readers will want to know more about the bayou and it's inhabitants. The tales that make you cringe and mighte even make you afraid of the dark.
This one made my skin crawl at times and that doesn't happen too often. It was written in such an intelligent way. Marshall is absolutely terrifying at times and Niquette is not exactly docile herself. I was challenged not to read this one all in one sitting. It was just that good. Creepy as heck, but gooood! Fans of horror and thrillers will love this one!
The Heavens Rise is available TODAY from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
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Giveaway Details:
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