Customer Reviews

Project Phoenix: Dead Rising

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

...I really enjoy the zombie genre. I have a huge collection of both zombie movies, fiction and games, many of which are very good. This book is not. The following are my opinions, but I stand by them.

Project phoenix Dead Rising tm is in my opinion not only the worst book I have ever read, but I suspect the worst book ever written. The sad thing is that I was looking forward to reading it. I shelled out my $...plus shipping and waited for it to arrive, happy that zombies were getting more attention. Eagerly I opened the cover (The design of which is very nice.) The dedication page citied all the right sources, so far so good. Then I read the introduction, things began to fall apart at that point. As soon as the author's voice entered the story I became worried. Then the prologue, which for no reason what-so-ever switches from the all knowing narration to first person. This trick might have worked if the author had anything interesting to say but sadly that was not the case. In fact here is when I really began to notice what a train wreck this "novel" really was.
There appears to have been no editing besides a quick run through with a spell checker. All the words are spelled correctly, but they are in the wrong place. The comical result being that at times the main character ends up sounding Jamaican. With phrases like "him arm" rather than "his arm". But that's only the beginning... When I encountered sentences like "They were each one the dead rumored in legend that found a new meal to nibble upon with Gibson." What?!
Perhaps English is Mr. Patterson's second language, perhaps he is "special" I don't know, but I do know that I shelled out about $...dollars for this!
It gets better, or worse depending on your point of view. By the first chapter the author begins to include quotes, which is fine except he quotes himself! Complete with the dates that he said these profound things. One can only imagine the hubris involved with quoting oneself, particularly when he says nothing that hasn't been said before and better by other people. Take for example this winner "God is forgiving of sin. Does the devil wage this as well?" I can guess what this is supposed to mean, but it's just bad language. The kicker is that the date given is 07/09/94-03/19/99...it took him about five years to polish that specimen of an insight.

The book is full of forgettable, clichéd characters, a plot that makes no sense and writing that is honestly at a junior high level. The author has no problem using the same word over and over again in a sentence ( Thesauruses are not that expensive.) And yes I get it! You are naming characters after people involved with the zombie genre! But fear not because at the end of the book he thoughtfully explains what he meant to all you dimwits out there reading it. Actually he explains pretty much everything and goes on to pat himself on the back for being original. (Which he is not)

I cringed expectantly when he introduced a character named Dante'. I knew it was just a matter of time before he would start a fire to be called "Dante's inferno" I was not disappointed. (Well, yes I was...but the author did it none the less.)

I prayed there would not being a sex scene...page 209 made sure my nightmares became a reality. The passage was trite, insulting and predictable. Like a pubescent boy's fantasy of what sex might be like.
A very telling moment is when the author begins a diatribe about how jocks (pretty boy types) don't know how to treat or appreciate a woman. The just use them and throw them away. It comes off sounding like a personal beef by someone who has been rejected a few too many times.

The entire time I was reading this monstrous book I couldn't help picturing the comic book guy from the simpsons having written it. ) In my opinion, the final nail (in this book's proverbial coffin) of this being nothing more than glorified "fan boy" fiction came at the afterward when the author talked of this being a trilogy and describing it as a "star wars of the dead".

By any stretch of the imagination this is an awful book. Do yourself a favor and don't buy it. Spend your money on anything else. Rent a good zombie movie, take your sweetheart out on a date, because the real horror of this tome is that it's out there, disguised as literature and waiting for you to waste your hard earned money on it.

If you want to be scared think of this, the author has promised (threatened) that there may be two more to follow it. Well fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I am done with anything this author has to say.

Now since I did pay for this book I have found a great use for it. I have many friends who are writers, when they come over we open it to a random page and read aloud. It never fails to get a laugh. So in the long run I suppose I did get my money's worth, but I would advise you not to take the risk. I could go on and on but I won't.

This is a bad book by someone who has no artistic grasp of language. They say an infinite amount of monkeys given an infinite amount of time could write a Shakespeare play. If that is true my guess is that this took a couple a monkeys and a long weekend.

If you need instant proof of how bad the writting is, check out the author's own 5 star review of his work right here on this page. He can't even get the title of his review right. It should read "Raising the Dead" or perhaps "The Rising Dead" But not as he wrote "Rising the Dead".

There were several other well written reviews so I will keep this brief.
First of all if you read nothing else in this review...stay away from this book!

I have never read such a weak and unprofessionally written story. Spell check cannot stand in for an editor. The plot is weak and the characters are paper thin. The story is hard to follow becuase the sentance structure is so bad.
So you know, I love zombie movies/books and based on experience I have pretty low expectations. There are so many well written zombie novels out there this one can be missed.

Instead try some of the following (not in any order): "The Rising" by Keene (not great but not terrible), "Reign of the Dead" by Len Barnhart (not bad, the story is a little weak), and finally "The Dead" by Mark Rogers (One of the best zombie books out there).
Before You say I am being overly harsh, I paid $20 for this piece of garbage. By reading this book I EARNED the right to be critical.

First let me just say that I appreciate all of the reviews submitted, both good and bad. These help to show me my mistakes and where to improve. Project Phoenix WAS in fact started around high school and my maturity level may have not been up there with the likes of Stephen King or others. I shouldn't attack some of the bad reviewers, because we all need them even if they seem to go out of their way to bash something that doesn't fit into their view of the world. Being mean-spirited and actually personally attacking the author is wrong. You have the right to your opinion and disgust, but keep it in focus and point out the flaws in the product, the book, not a human being. With the faceless nature of the Internet, it seems many individuals seem fit to say things they may not say in person without thinking of the consquences. Being libel to a person is damaging to that individual's reputation. For that, their opinion becomes meaningless because they can't concentrate on the nature of the book, but instead on the nature of the person they haven't even met.

I can waste my time here and go on, but I think you get the point. You love it or you don't. I can't change your mind. I can tell you that hopefully in the near future, I will have this book and others edited by a college level English Professor and have the book republished. I apologize that it is in the state it is and is embarassing to say the least. Certain things will be removed such as the personal quotes, which is really stupid, I realize that now. I will try to bring them up to more professional standards and hope you will give me a second chance. I would like to make things right for those who were disappointed, but I wouldn't have the resources to do so.

Project Phoenix was my second novel and it does show. Once again, I'm sorry.

-D. Patterson 03/23/05

This is perhaps one of the worst books I've ever read. From bad phrasing to over the top descriptions it was tedious. I couldn't even finish it, I made it to chapter four and gave up. Mr. Patterson, good luck in the future. You're gonna need it.

I love zombie stories don't get me wrong. I read alot of fanfic and truly do understand a work of love as opposed to writing to make a living. HOWEVER; this book would turn a zombie's stomach. It is that awful. I'm embarrassed for him. I actually read some of the paragraphs out loud to my husband to see if it is actually as BAD as it looks to me as I read it. It almost seems like a bad joke but it isn't. DON'T SPEND MONEY ON THIS BOOK. You'll be disappointed and god forbid we give any encouragement to this man. AND who the hell told him that the author picture on the back was cool? Jeez. Could you look anymore like an idiot? AND is that a nudie calendar behind him? I bet he lives in his mom's basement. This is just sad.

...and I quote the author. On one hand, I give full credit to anyone who has the gumption to sit down and write a novel. On the other hand, with spell check and grammar check on most word processing programs, there's just no excuse for the multitide of errors found in this book. On the OTHER hand, I've had a great time opening up to random pages and reading things like 'he coped a feel of a corpse.' However, I've been unable to read the book through because the errors are just too distracting. I hope that the author channels some of his energy into editing next time around.

This is not the worst book I've ever read, mainly because I don't really want to acknowledge that I've read it. I've never encountered such a waste of paper, ink, and time. The story itself is horribly derivative without a single claim to originality. No zombie book can claim to be completely original if its inspired by George Romero's work, but the author steals so many specific details from films and computer games that one wonders how working on this book satisfied any form of creative impulse for him. The first zombies are from a remote island (Just like Fulci's "Zombie"). An accident releases the zombies (just like "Resident Evil"). The Zombies need to eat human brains to ease the pain of death, and the ending involves the government dropping a nuclear weapon to stop the zombies (lifted directly from "Return of the Living Dead). The characters are all perverts or twisted in some way, which instead of adding spice only makes you roll your eyes since it happens again and again. This book itself is a visual assault since most of the characters spend their time in the book SHOUTING. YOU KNOW THEY'RE SHOUTING BECAUSE WHEN THEY DO THE AUTHOR WRITES WHOLE PARAGPRAHS IN CAPS!

The worst and most embarrassing part about this book is the spelling and grammar. There are so many errors and so many typos that one is forced to wonder if even the author read his own work. The grammar and typos are so extreme that the book verges on public humiliation. On more than one occasion he writes the word `we' instead of `he', forgets verbs, forgets his subject verb agreement, and consistantly uses the word Revered instead of Reverend (which actually might have been a play on words, but the sarcasm is lost in the midst of the thousands of other mistakes which accompany it). Actually, my favorite part of the book is the ending when the U.S. Government decides to drop an 'Adam Bomb', not an Atom Bomb on the zombies.

A real disaster of a book. If you want zombie literature, read Bernhart's "Reign of the Dead", or better yet Craig and Spector's "Still Dead".

The first thing you need to understand is that this is an IBOOK -self published. It shows!

While the IDEA is sound, it goes downhill fast. The writing is a mishmash of ideas borrowed from Romero films, Return Of The Living Dead, and oddly, the bible. The story is woven together in a reasonable way...more or less...and the author doesn't skimp on the gore or perversion (Touching on necrophilia and pedophilia in places) but gore alone doesn't save this one.

I wouldn't buy this one mainly because of the godawful spelling problems and syntax errors. - They make it a painfull read. Still if you must have anything zombie this could add to a collection if only for completion. Otherwise, avoid!

This book failed to scare me. The only thing scary about it was the price tag.I think the author should re think his selling price. Nice cover art though.

To expensive,boring,poorly written. Not what i expected form a man who compares himself to King.