Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

The world is facing a horrible threat — a deadly virus. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Steele and his crew are looking for his missing mother in what has quickly turned into a desolate land. A group of fanatics known as the Chosen persecute refugees and these refugees will need Mark’s skills. In Colorado, a colonel makes a last desperate attempt to hold off the dead. Can the people be protected long enough for a vaccine to be discovered or are they going to fall prey to the virus?

Intense action, a gritty plot, and sensational characters await readers in The Rising, the third book in The End Time Saga by Daniel Greene, with a compelling dystopian setting. This is a striking tale with a complex plot structure and a setting that is both transporting and real. It begins in the heat of action, introducing the pastor and his fanatical followers who believe that God has put misery and hell in their world just to cull his flock and their victims. A race against time, a tiny group that believes they have the mission to control others, and a world falling apart are some of the elements of dystopia that you’ll find in The Rising.

The writing is impeccably good and it features descriptions that are both poignant and atmospheric. The narrative begins with a confrontation involving the pastor and his followers and moves at a very fast speed, a race between the different subplots, suspenseful and absolutely engaging. I wasn’t able to stop reading, thanks to characters like Steele, a man with a rich backstory from the period of the shadow wars, Dr. Joseph Jackowski, who is one of the great hopes against the virus, and many others. One of those books that leave the reader with the feeling of waking up from a nightmare. It’s so well done that it feels too real to be ignored.