Necropolis Rising [Kindle Edition]

Dave Jeffery (Author)

Book Description

It took thirty minutes for the city to die. But their hunger would last forever. The military has sealed the city. No one is getting in. No one is getting out. But a team of cyber-criminals have a job to do. A job that will see them receiving a huge payout if they succeed. Or a bullet if they don't. Once inside the city staying alive proves to be just as difficult as staying dead ...

The Amazon UK Horror #1 Bestseller!

"If the undead ever needed a shot of life, this is it!" Shock Horror Magazine.

Product Details

• File Size: 358 KB
• Print Length: 156 pages
• Publisher: Disturbed Earth; 1st edition (September 10, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0042P53RY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,818 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Zombie Read January 1, 2011

By Stuart Neild

Format:Kindle Edition

Nowadays zombie books, like zombie movies, are ten a penny, so something really special has to come along before it stands knee head to the rest of the crowd, never mind head and shoulders above. The good news is Necropolis Rising, does indeed stand head and shoulders above the rest of the zombie fare. It's like the zombie film you wish Romeo would make. Fingers crossed he, or someone else, one day will make a film of this one. Until then enjoy the class read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One hell of a zombie book August 11, 2011

By The_Undead_Review

Format:Paperback

The 19th floor of a Birmingham City Center high-rise explodes thanks to the bumbling stupidity of two ecoterrorists, raining down all manner of debris on unsuspecting citizens below, but it isn't the debris anyone should be worried about but something far, far deadlier.

I always knew eco-nuts would be responsible for the end of the world. Well, I guess technically you could say we zombies were responsible for the end of the world, but that's just picking straws, or is it splitting hairs, I always forget. Mind you I'm not really complaining, any help my kind can get in riding the planet of you meatsacks is a good thing so here's to you ecoterrorist, your misguided attempts to stop mankind's cruelty toward nature can only help me out in the end. Though, if any eco-nuts are still around after the end of the world and they happen meet up with us they're still going to have to give up the vegetarian lifestyle for the dead side, but hey, at least zombies pretty much leave Mother Nature alone.

Our story beings with two environmentalists hell-bent on punishing a doctor experimenting with animals for his scientific research but unknown to them the doctor's research turns out to be a virus capable of reanimating the dead, and his virus has escaped. The pair are taken by surprise upon reaching the 19th floor laboratory when their hated enemy turns out to have already succumbed to his own disease and attacks them both. This attack causes explosives, brought by the two for their terror tactics, to prematurely detonate (much like Gene Simmons) destroying the lab and releasing the deadly plague into the general population. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Kevin O'Connell and his team of highly trained "entrepreneurs" who are preparing to pull off a job that will net them millions. Unfortunately the military reacts fairly quick (for once) and blocks off the city, meaning O'Connell and his men are going to have to think fast to pull off this one. Meanwhile in the waters off of Birmingham, Major Edward Shipman is preparing a team of his own for a very special reason, a possible vaccine. It seems that the doctor who created the virus tested it on a man named Thom Everett and found him to be immune, meaning his blood could potentially save humanity. There's only one problem though. Thom happens to be in the very same building that's now missing its 19th floor and it's this building that Kevin O'Connell and his team have been ordered to infiltrate.

Dave Jeffery does quite a few things right for Necropolis Rising but there are two things he absolutely excels at, descriptive prowess and an amazing ability to pack one hell of a punch into very little. The story is only 134 pages long plus a 14 page short story that takes us back a few decades to the virus' first test, but still manages to contain a complex zombie tale that brings three storylines together and puts those involved through the ringer. Let's discuss his powers of description first since it blends seamlessly into how much Jeffery is able to put into his story.

He has a knack for being very descriptive with very few words, a necessity with a shorter novel. He just seems to know which words to use for full impact, giving him the ability to describe in haunting detail the ruined streets of Birmingham and the desolation of a once great city center or the shadowy fear team members feel as they stalk the streets looking for their quarry or my favorites, 2 chapters in the beginning that describe the deaths of a love struck professor and a zombie game junkie respectively, and both chapters could easily be stories themselves. There is one area that he seems to have a little bit more fun with though and that's the zombies. He really goes to town with the undead, putting the reader right there with the shambling dead overrunning Birmingham. I have to hand it to the author for his skill; it took some talent to put so much into such a short book.

If you're looking for a zombie novel that's a little different from the pack than Necropolis Rising is for you. The story will be continued in Necromancer: Necropolis Rising 2 but part one is wrapped up nicely and easily one of the better pieces of zombie literature this reviewer has read.

The_Undead_Review

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathing some life into matters undead June 12, 2011

By M. Cantrell

Format:Kindle Edition

ZOMBIE novels are ten a penny these days, often as not putting the lie into the claimed demand for originality by mainstream publishers, but every so often one of the undead slaughter-fests rears its head to moan a discordant note that puts it outside the dismal pack.

Necropolis Rising, by Dave Jeffrey, is just such a title. The book grabs hold like a zombie and won't let go until you've finished it off. For all that, however, the plot goes far beyond the now standard fare of a small band of survivors seeking to stay alive and find a place of safety in the midst of a dead, zombie-infested civilisation.

Instead, the undead set the stage for an action-packed ride into mayhem, filled with intrigue and betrayal, where the characters have definite objectives beyond the immediacy of staying alive. The end is far from nigh; though it is always there, a lurking shadow of doom, waiting for one terrible mistake.

For Birmingham, the undead apocalypse has arrived, bringing its days as Britain's second city to a terrifying end, but for the authorities the race is on to ensure that the Apocalypse fails to spread beyond its cordon sanitaire.

Nobody gets in; nobody gets out, but two covert teams are heading into the city nonetheless. Their respective missions are worlds apart, though no less shady in their purpose, but the fates of both teams will be become intertwined if any of them is make it out of the city alive.

O'Connell is a former Royal Marine, drummed out on a dishonourable discharge, who has forged a lucrative career in crime. Hired by an international cartel of organised crime, he's tasked with a very specific cyber-crime: to make the police's national DNA database a tool of the criminals rather than the police.

Success demands a covert raid to hack the computer direct, but there's a problem - the mainframe is located in Birmingham. It's an added complication to a job for which failure is not an option. Like it or not, he and his team have no choice but to sneak through the military cordon and face the undead.

Shipman on the other hand still serves Queen and Country, but in a darker, more morally dubious capacity, as a covert, special forces operative, used to missions that venture far beyond the pale. The Major's team has a specific objective in mind: a survivor of the plague who holds the key to a cure and more - if he can be extracted alive.

Both O'Connell and Shipman are in a race against time, and to cap it all, there's a traitor in their midst who wants the prize for private gain, but as they head towards their objectives, and their desperate need to survive overlaps, they find themselves working together to secure survival.

Behind the scenes, powerful forces are engaged in an internecine web of intrigue to profit and control a bio-weapon of fearsome potential, but their best laid plans depend on the two men leading their teams into the heart of Armageddon, where no plan can stay the course, and only wits and courage can see any of them through.

Jeffrey has written a novel that takes the standard zombie tropes and puts them to refreshing work in the service of the intrigue and deception that reveals itself as the story progresses. Quite how this combines to make for a refreshing addition to the zombie arena would conspire to create too many spoilers here; the surest way to reveal the originality at work is to dive into this action-packed thriller.

The author has revealed that zombie stories still have some life left yet.

More About the Author

Dave Jeffery is perhaps best known for his zombie novel Necropolis Rising which has gone on to be a UK #1 Bestseller. His Young Adult work includes the critically acclaimed Beatrice Beecham Series, BBC: Headroom endorsed Finding Jericho and the 2012 Edge Hill Prize Long-listed Campfire Chillers short story collection.

Dave has contributed to several anthologies from a variety of publishers including Dark Continents Publishing, Inc., Wild Wolf Publishing, Imprint Phoenix, Hersham Horror Books, Wicked East Press and Hidden Thoughts Press. His work has featured alongside many zombie impresarios including John Russo (Night of the Living Dead), Tony Burgess (Pontypool) and Joe McKinney (Flesh Eaters). His short story Daddy Dearest features in the award-winning Holiday of the Dead anthology (This is Horror Awards, Best Anthology, 2012.


He is currently writing the sequel to Necropolis Rising and co-writing Crabs: Apocalypse! the official seventh book in the pulp franchise "Night of the Crabs" created by horror icon Guy N Smith.

Dave is a member of the British Fantasy Society. His website can be found at:

www.davejeffery.webs.com


Necropolis Rising Reviews

"If the undead ever needed a shot of life, this is it!" Shock Horror Magazine.

"One hell of a zombie book!" Horror Web.com

"Colossally enjoyable!" Alasdair Stuart, British Fantasy Society Journal

"An awesome read!" Scott Nicholson, #1 Bestselling author of The Red Church.