Bitten by Books
Jack Mason and Tony Sanchez are at a local campground one weekend for a paintball competition. At the same time a local college professor has his summer geology class higher in the mountains to examine rock formations. The class gets lucky when a meteor falls and the teacher has them collect it for study. It ends up cracking open and the exposed gas kills some of the students, but they do not stay dead for long. So begins a horrifying weekend for everyone who wanted a nice getaway.Gregory Solis does a great job on this zombie story. The main characters Jack and Tony are as close as brothers and you can relate to how quickly they are to be there for each other and how they are generally decent men by how they want to protect the people around them. They team up with Nikki and Veronica, two girls who work in the general store in the campground. Solis hints at some romance brewing between these four, although that is in the background while trying to survive.
The reader is introduced to a bevy of characters who happen to be camping in the area or in the paintball competition. He pulls no punches when it comes to introducing the zombies. Man, woman, or child are not exempt if they get in the way. The story starts with a bang and continues with no slacking in the violence.
I am giving Rise and Walk four tombstones because Solis does not hold back with his zombies. The story is meant to be horror and that is what it is. The romance I mentioned in no way detracts from the story since it is not the main focus. He makes his zombies totally believable by having them go after everyone they encounter. The scenes were vivid and I could totally believe this weekend could happen in my local campground.
Solis’s writing is smooth and I enjoyed the banter between Jack, Tony and the girls. He states in his biography page that Rise and Walk is the first book in a planned three-book series called Riseverse, but I could find no further information on when book two will be available. I will be anxiously awaiting that book myself, and I highly recommend this one to all Zombie fans — it will not disappoint!
Book Stats:
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758271484
ISBN-13: 978-0758271488
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