The Fall (The Rift Book I) [Kindle Edition]

Robert J. Duperre (Author), Jesse David Young (Illustrator)

Book Description

An ancient evil, trapped in the ruins of a lost Mayan temple for centuries, has been unleashed. It takes the form of a deadly virus that causes violent insanity in the living and the recently departed to rise and walk. The blight spreads around the globe, throwing the world into chaos and war.

Regular people are hurled into an existence outside their control, left to deal with a terror they aren't prepared to handle. Life becomes a nightmare, and that nightmare is spreading.

THE RIFT is comprised of four books:
The Fall
Dead of Winter (Available Now)
Death Springs Eternal (Available Now)
The Summer Son (Available Now)

Also, the entire series has been condensed into a single volume, THE RIFT: THE COMPLETE SERIES, presented without illustrations, to allow for an affordable read

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Transcends the genre." -- Indie Fantasy Review

"A cast of characters that shows humanity at its best and worst...Just a bunch of real people stuck in an INSANE world trying to figure out what comes next...This is an amazing first book in a series." -- Bewitched Bookworms

"One hell of a high-octane thrill ride." -- Hellnotes.com

"Duperre's new take on zombies and the undead is both refreshing and terrifying.  The Fall is a masterful work of horror." -- From The Shadows

"Robert J. Duperre is able to grab your attention instantly and keep you turning page after page. I could not put this book down!" -- Juniper Grove

"This book has a sweeping feel to it reminiscent of Dean Koontz's The Taking and Stephen King's The Stand." -- Mercedes Yardley, asst editor, Shock Totem Magazine

From the Author

Feel free to look at Dead of Winter: The Rift Book II, available now on Amazon.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 1546 KB
• Print Length: 278 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1450579973
• Publisher: TRO Publishing; First Edition edition (April 21, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003OQUNEA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,390 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely terrifying! January 30, 2011

By E. J. Stevens

Format:Paperback

Move over old-school zombies, there's a new evil in town.

The Fall is the first book in the epic horror series The Rift. Duperre whisks the readers to an archaeological dig in Central America, but this is not your typical Indiana Jones adventure. Things go terribly, irrevocably wrong and an ancient undead evil is unleashed on the world. I should warn you that if you have any insect phobias you will be scratching away before the first chapter is over. That scene *still* gives me nightmares...and that was only the beginning. The author then pulls the reader into the lives of regular people experiencing the heart-pounding terror of discovering the undead that now plague the living. The creatures of The Fall are fast, deadly, and leave a path of gore and fear wherever they go. Duperre's new take on zombies and the undead is both refreshing and terrifying. The Fall is a masterful work of horror that will have you sleeping with the light on for many nights to come.

I highly recommend The Fall (The Rift, book 1) to readers of urban fantasy, speculative fiction, paranormal suspense, apocalyptic, dystopian, and zombie fiction and especially to fans of horror. The Fall may appeal to fans of Richard Matheson, China Mieville and Steven King.

Sensitive reader warning: contains violence, gore, and terrifying illustrations.

Source: Provided by the author or publisher for honest review.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Give It A Shot! July 6, 2010

By Cloud

Format:Kindle Edition

The Fall by Robert J. Duperre is the first book in a series about a mysterious medical condition that sweeps the globe after a researcher stumbles onto some hidden ruins deep in the Yucatan Peninsula. The story has the structure of those hit Hollywood blockbusters like Independence Day or Outbreak. It never takes its foot off the gas pedal, getting in close with no shyness about the grisly, horrific details.

Joshua Benoit and Kyra Holcomb are true products of a gritty, mundane small town, wasting their lives away the best way they can. The characters in The Fall are often struggling to hold onto their self-respect while they fend off selfish inclinations. When the world falls apart, they have little room to drop. Forced into terrible situations beyond their control, they search for safety, reason, and a shred of dignity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it. I'm curious to know where the story leads, and I've got plenty of my own hunches. Don't miss out on the no-holds-barred creativity found throughout The Fall.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcends the genre September 3, 2011

By D. P. Prior

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Fall: An Undead Apocalypse.

Zombie apocalypse is not my usual genre, but I agreed to look at this book and was happy to receive a copy from the author.

I had mixed feelings when I began The Fall. I found the opening chapters difficult to engage with and tried to work out why. There was good writing and heaps of atmosphere, but something wasn't working for me. After much deliberation, I realized it was the language. Not all the language, just bits here and there where the writing stretched and strained for a simile too far, a word too verbose, or a point of view thought that was redundant. Nothing that couldn't be improved with a little more parsimony, and so I read on.

Glad I did.

Whilst there is a very vivid and well-drawn backdrop of contagion, with a hint of something ancient, sinister, and hinting at a very long conflict, Duperre focuses our attention squarely on the characters. These are fully-fleshed out people, the kind of flawed but altogether human beings we might number among our friends and acquaintances. There are no saints and sinners here - merely people doing the best they can with a poor lot; individuals struggling in the big, corporate, indifferent world. The only relationships that matter are the little ones, the close ties: family and friends, colleagues. Those in a particular locality/sphere of influence.

Keeping the focus here is one of the strengths of The Fall. We see what the principle characters see, feel with them, and get swept along on their respective journeys. It was always strongest for me when we were with the compelling Kyra, or with Joshua Benoit. The closeness of these friendships (which are never laboured - the dialogue between them is often playfully disrespectful and authentic) increases reader identification and makes one really care about their plight.

Bad things are happening around the world, and from time to time the characters are in the thick of it, but it's the way these people deal with their immediate concerns that forms the bedrock of this tale.

The overall feeling of The Fall, for me, was closer to the golden age of Doctor Who than Resident Evil or Night of the Living Dead. By golden age, I mean Jon Pertwee as the Doctor when Earth was always being invaded. There were some great contagion stories, and often "higher/evil" beings speaking mind-to-mind with lead baddies and orchestrating the attack. The Fall is clearly more horrific than Who, but it's breadth of ideas and focus on a small group of characters reminded me of those great old stories. There was also a hint of The Pyramids of Mars in the opening chapter.

I guess this is why I kept reading, and why I was drawn into the tale. I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence or contrived suspense, and you don't get either of those here. The horror is always contextual in The Fall and the suspense is an effect of very tight point of view - something Duperre never deviates from throughout the main body of the story.

This is a tale of epic proportions - the sense of place and geography reminded me of the original Planet of the Apes movie. Sometimes books and films just hop between set pieces with no real sense of time and place. Not so here. It's a world to immerse yourself in, even if it's not always a pleasant ride.

This is a very good book, beautifully illustrated (I like that the illustrations come after each chapter and serve as a visual reminder of what's just happened).

More About the Author

Robert Duperre is a truly normal man. Really, he is. He lives in Connecticut and frequents his dungeon, where the weird images in his head eventually make it down the pathways through his arms, out of his fingers, and into the keyboard. The hours of isolation can sometimes play games with his sanity, but that's okay, because as many people say, he wasn't very sane in the first place. At least that's according to the artist Jessica Torrant, his beautiful and alluring wife.

Robert writes a combination of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and is the author of five novels as well as contributor/editor of 2 short story collections.

THE RIFT SERIES (Zombie/Horror/Fantasy)

The Fall
Dead of Winter
Death Springs Eternal
The Summer Son

STANDALONE NOVEL

Silas (Contemporary Fantasy/Science Fiction)

ANTHOLOGIES (Edited & Contributed)
The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales
The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair

COMING IN THE FUTURE:
Dawn of Swords (First book of "The Breaking World," fantasy series written with David Dalglish)
The Gate 3: 13 Creature Features