Customer Reviews

Rise & Walk

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Gregory Solis has put together a fast paced entertaining zombie tale that is a little rough around the edges, which is to be expected with what I am guessing is his first novel. There are some spelling and gramar errors but nothing too major in that department. The dialogue, while solid, was a bit stilted in places.

Despite these minor flaws the author pulls off a pretty engaging tale of zombie chaos. We have 4 main characters in this book, two men and two women, who are up in the Northern California mountains one fall weekend when a meteor lands nearby. An entire class of Junior College Science students seek out and discover the meteor and things turn malevolent shortly there after.

Mr. Solis keeps the book moving at a quick pace and the 200+ pages blur by rather quickly. Jack and Tony, the two male leads, are paint ball warriors and part time survivalists (which I guess means they like all the trappings but are not over the top looney tunes with it). Veronica and Nikki work in a general store at the campgrounds the two men have come to for a paint ball competition. The horrifying situation thrusts these four together in an effort to survive and somehow escape the ever increasing volume of corpses that have gotten up and are running around trying to eat everyone.

Again, this is a rather quick read and was entertaining. It is my hope that the sequel, which is expected out later this year, allows the author the opportunity to continue to hone his writing skills, which are decent, but can be sharpened.

Overall, fast paced, entertaining, and worth the read.

Gregory Solis' Rise and Walk is the kind of zombie tale many fans of the genre think of writing day in and day out but never get a chance either through lack of talent or just lack of motivation. Gregory Solis got to write his and on the surface it's a very good first novel, albeit with some flaws that keeps it from being great. He has also written a very action-packed zombie story which steps on the gas from the prologue and doesn't let up until the very end.

The story is a very simple one which many zombie genre fans have played, imagined and replayed it over and over in their minds. Instead of beginning the zombie story during the aftermath of the devastation an outbreak will cause, Solis instead goes right for the beginning. Call it the Z-Hour of the zombie genre. He writes about how it all begins and how quickly the contagion and its reanimated victims quickly multiply at a geometric rate to engulf a small, Northern California community. Unlike George Romero's films which never fully explained the cause and origin of the zombie pandemic, Rise and Walk uses space debris from a meteor storm and the contents within as the cause of the zombification and the need of its victims to attack and devour the living.

Right from the get-go the action comes in fast and comes in furious. Solis doesn't skimp on the grue and bloodletting. He describes every zombie attack on a living human with gory detail. Some may flinch at the splatterpunk style of writing, but if one was a zombie fan then this style should suit them just fine. The chaos caused by the geometrically increasing and advancing horde of zombies was well-done and something fans of the genre would recognize. People make dumb mistakes as they try to figure out what in the world is going on. Some make the right decisions and live while others do not and become zombies themselves or are just complete devoured.

Where Solis got the action and atmosphere down perfect for a zombie story, the main characters and their development could've been done better. the main leads of Rise and Walk panic just like the rest of the humans, but they seem to recover from the shock of the situation rather too quickly. As the story progresses there's really no tension or fear that the four leads (two male and two female) would come to any serious harm. Only those in the periphery of the leads seem fair game for a gruesome end (kids are not given a free pass in this book). It is this major flaw which keeps me from giving the book a higher grade and rating. Though from reading the ending Solis' attempts to build more credible and well-rounded characters may improve.

In the end, despite the flaws in how the main characters are written I will say that Rise and Walk by Gregory Solis is one good first novel from a first-time writer. It shows the writer has a modicum of talent for storytelling and he sure tells a fast-paced and mean zombie story. Fans of the genre should enjoy this book and should be waiting once they're done reading it for the sequel that is already to come.

I read this book at the suggestion of a friend, was hooked after the first paragraph and nearly finished it in one sitting. For any horror fan it is a must-read. I think you will find it a solid story and very well written for a first-time author. Yes, it has its minor flaws, but it is more of a diamond in the rough. The author creates characters who are convincing, with feelings and motivations, and who mostly break out of what could have been stereotypical molds.

More importantly, there is an especially chilling aspect of Rise and Walk as several characters are briefly developed by the author simply to become zombie food. For anyone who is turned off by this, I would say you must not be a true fan of the horror genre [to the earlier reviewer who "didn't get it": you should have finished the book!!]. What could be more terrifying than being attacked by a monster with the face of a friend or a loved one? The author uses this as a successful tool to create something beyond a horde of monsters, but instead creatures we recognize and know were once individual people. This struck a particular chord with me and made Rise and Walk an even more exciting and wonderfully chilling tale. If it had any failing, it was that it ended too soon -- I'm really looking forward to the sequel!

I'm a huge fan of zombie movies (Romero's are the best), and this book delivered the goods. From the exciting (or frightening, depending on your point of view) zombie attacks to the main characters struggles and ingenuity, I was sucked in to the very end. And like the best Romero film, Dawn of the Dead, when the story ends, you actually want to know what's going to happen next to these characters, which for me, is a true sign of a good story teller. I look forward to the next book Mr. Solis writes.

If you're a Georger Romero fan, do yourself a favor and get this book!!!

Before I get into what I didn't like about this book, I just want to say it was very entertaining. I love zombie fiction, and I recommend this book to anyone else who does.

The story is a good one, being an avid camper I liked the 'camping' aspect of it. It was told well, was fast moving, the descriptions of the zombies and all the action were well done.

That being said, there were a lot of simple, correctable flaws, that hopefully won't be repeated in any future work.

First, and this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine....there is only one 'o' in the word 'losing'. But 'losing' is spelled 'loosing' at least half a dozen times in this book. I'm no spelling Nazi, and I've probably spelled a few words wrong in this review, but if you're putting out a book for the public to read, a word as simple as 'losing' should not be spelled wrong, numerous times.

Second, I liked the whole 'meteor caused the zombies' angle, but it's explanation was way too rushed. It was pretty much..."Hey, there's a meteor! Let's check it out. AHHHHH. Now we're zombies!" A minor flaw, but it would've been nice if it wasn't so rushed.

And finally, Solis far too often fell into the trap of introducing a character, and then having him killed moments later. This happens throughout the book. Again, a minor flaw, but a flaw still.

That being said, I did enjoy the book a lot, and am looking forward to the continuation of the story.

Kenny

Now I'm a sucker for a zombie book and just like always i have yet to be disappointed. The story is based at a campground in the mountains. A group of students came across a meteor instead of letting the rock cool naturally, one genius student pours cold water on the rock causing it to crack, leaking a green mist that causes chemical burns, seizures and within minutes death. But the students will not stay dead..I shouldn't have to explain what happens next.
After all hell breaks lose and campers die and rise one by one, two young women that work at the camp ground and two young thrill seeking men join up to find the way up and out of the mountains and back to town. Not only do they have the zombies to fight off, they also have to protect themselves from human enemies as well. When and IF the group gets to town, they might not get what they were looking for.
This seems to be the first of 2 books, and I'm looking forward to reading more. On a shiver scale of 1- 10 i give Rise and Walk 7 sculls. Not bad.

This was my first zombie novel but I am a long time horror fan. I thought the story moved at a good pace and the characters were easy to identify with and a plot that is easy to see happening with very little if any suspention of disbelief. I was sorry to come to the end of the book. I can't wait to read more from Gregory Solis.

With Rise and Walk, Gregory Solis puts us in the middle of a Meteor induced Zombie outbreak at a lake camp. There is a paint ball competition, pretty girls, a bad guy, and 4 heroes that can ACTUALLY THINK! The action is non-stop, and the ENDING LEAVES ME HOPING FOR A PART 2!

The Character development is quick and precise, you either love them or hate them, and he provides enough background that you actually CARE about many of them. The Zombies are quick, but not thinkers. He takes you from the first death-to-zombies to the heroic destruction of that group at the end of the story.

I LOVED this book! (Can you tell?)

A group of geology students on a field trip get way more than they bargained for when a meteor slams down near their camp. Leave it to a few dumb jocks to do something genius to the meteor and unleash a whole world of putrid, rotten, pus-filled hell upon a an unsuspecting small backwoods campground where locals are having fun fishing, paintballing and camping.

Gregory Solis' zombie novel is a masterful tale that any true zombiephile can sink their teeth into. And even if you aren't a die-hard zombie freak, my money is on that even if you have a slight penchant for all things horrific, gory and exceptionally well written then Rise and Walk is a novel that you mustn't pass up.

As one would expect Rise and Walk tells the story of a zombie plague, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that there are survivors who are desperately trying to remain survivors. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but Solis exceeds expectations with outstanding character development which extends much further than just the main characters. Even those in the novel whose sole purpose is to become zombie chow are well developed.

I made light of the minor character development to the author and he simply stated, "The horror is that each of these decayed assailants was once a person, someone's friend, mother or object of unrequited love. I think sometimes us zombie fans forget how truly frightening these monsters are. Movies recently have tried to ratchet up the fear by making the creatures faster, and that works for film. It is only in novels that we have the time to introduce someone to the inner thoughts and hopes of a person and then strip away that humanity, leaving only primitive urges to consume..." Truer words were never spoken and the author's knack for creating detailed characters only added that much more to the overall story.

Author Solis definitely has a knack for bringing the dead to life. Very detailed and descriptive writing so graphic you can almost smell the flesh rotting. I felt dirty, I could picture each and every setting, I pictured each and every character and graphically imagined each and every horrible mutilation as it happened.

To sum it all up, let's just say that I read Rise and Walk in a single day! Never in my life have I ever finished a book in a single day, granted it was only 222 pages or so, but I picked it up expecting to read a few chapters and I never put it down. I wasn't much different from one of the victims in the book in that I was totally consumed by Rise and Walk. Highly recommended!

This was an entertaining story that was very Exciting. It was full of action and gore. Many stories have trouble killing characters, but not this one. Seemed pretty realistic and original. The premise was believable with a meteorite being the catalyst. Really enjoyed the story. Although it could have used some editing.