The Rising: Deliverance Kindle Edition

If you are a fan of The Rising, you might enjoy reading this short story. Deliverance is a prequel starring Pastor Martin, who isn't necessarily the most beloved of characters from The Rising crew, and two other characters, John and Rebecca. All three are barricaded inside a church while Ob and his minions rampage across the world possessing humans and animals alike creating "smart" zombies which can use their hosts brains like a book of information to utilize tools, weapons, and memories to defile and destroy humanity.Unfortunately, this is all touched upon a little and left in the background, which I feel is the bread and butter of The Rising series. However, this story isn't supposed to be about combating the undead.Without going too much into the plot, Deliverance focuses on Martin's thoughts, background, and the struggle with keeping his faith in God while facing the overwhelming adversity. Further complicating the situation are his fellow survivors who pull Martin in different directions testing his ability to remain faithful to who he is and his belief in God having a purpose for him.I don't think Deliverance should have been made into a separate novella. It should have been included in "The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World". It would have served as a wonderful conclusion to the collection of short stories revolving around The Rising and it would have served as an excellent callback to the novels. Unfortunately, as a stand alone this book suffers without the support the rest of The Rising's canon.Along with Deliverance, there are two short stories at the end of the novella. "The Resurrection and The Life" which follows Jesus confronting Ob who comes back from the dead as Lazarus. This was the most enjoyable story of the three.There was also "The Siqquism Who Stole Christmas" which felt more like a tease than an actual story. A few more pages and an actual conclusion would have gone a long way.Overall, unless you are a completionist, sadly, I don't recommend this book. Keene has much stronger material in his novels and other short story collections so unless you really really want more from the world of "The Rising", your time would be better spent reading "Earthworm Gods", "Urban Gothic", or "Dark Hallow".

I saw that this was a prequel to the main Rising series. I slways try to read series chronologically if possible. Great intro to t yt? E Risen setting. I can't wait to get to the rest.

If I had to pick my favorite author, it would be Brian Keene. His stories keep you on the edge of your seat and are so compelling; you will want to read them more than once. I've read every book he's ever published and don't plan on stopping.If you ever get the chance to meet him, do so, because he really appreciates his fans.

I love pretty much everything Brian Keene has written. This is a rather short piece, but the extras in it, and the fact that it's more "The Rising" material, make it oh so worth it!

Hello, this man is a great writer. The story is quite sad and not your typical virus or mad scientist zombie story that gets poured out of a 5 gallon bucket every 30 minutes nowadays. I believe that Mr. Keene has grown tired of zombies though. This tale seems tired to me. Thanks.

Loved the characters, but the story was weak and should have just been added to the Rising

Great book as always from Mr. Brian Keene. Enjoyed the back story of some more of the characters from the Rising universe. Being a native West Virginian, I also enjoyed the geographical aspect of the book, as the small towns and areas described were easily visualized in my head because I'd been to them all.

This book needs to me longer.... always good. From the first paragraph, I knew why I always love Brian Keene. He so easily gets you into his books with characters no matter how big or how small you find fascinating and real.