Review: "The Rift"... one of the best Demon/Zombie apocalyptic series I've read... 5 Stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2013
"The Rift: The Complete Series" is a compilation, four book edition by author Robert J. Duperre. This omnibus Kindle e-book was a 2177 Kb download (approx. 1169 printed pages) and sold for $6.99 at the time of writing this review.The four books in the series are...1.) "The Fall"2.) "Dead of Winter"3.) "Death Springs Eternal"4.) "The Summer Son"Please Note: the author provided me with a free copies of these individual books in exchange for an honest review.Spoilers (general theme)An archeological dig unearths an entombed, ancient horror, setting off a world-wild apocalyptic event. Demons and Zombies quickly overrun the lands as humanity is reduced to several small enclave of resistance.However, there is one hope, a couple of surviving individuals, who without their knowing it, hold the key to stopping this infestation from hell. They, along with their rag-tag bands of survivors, eventually meet up with some of the larger resistant groups, only to find that they're not sure who the real enemy is... the demons and undead or the racist vigilantly groups they've been forced to join.Thus begins a quest that traverses the Northeastern seaboard with the survival of the human race hanging in the balance.End SpoilersWARNING- This is an adult orientated novel... there are encounters and events that are violent and graphically described.Some thoughts on this four book Omnibus...The Pros:1.) writing of exceptional quality throughout the entire four book series, and in addition, told with story-telling skills that were absolutely second to none... from beginning to end.2.) there was very little downtime in these books... lots of tense situations and confrontations that made this book hard to put down.3.a) many characters (both good and bad) that can be seriously hurt or killed.3.b) with little or no tempering authoritative counterbalance, human depravity runs unchecked... adding a sense of brutal realism to this tale.4.) some scenes have horrific demons involved in violent events... graphically described. Not for the faint of heart!6.) this epic tale introduces the readers to several fabulous characters; main characters and some lesser individuals that continue to grow in depth of personality throughout the entire series.7.) the ending of this saga give some historical and ancient background information that helps explain the somewhat unusual prelude of book I... a beginning that had me baffled until the very end.8.) the author had the wisdom to end the series when he did. The survivors were out of gas, both literally and figuratively. (and so was I... lol.) It was the time to end it... and end it he did. Bravo!The Cons:The one and only negative was that the B & W caricature drawings that were found at the end on each chapter in the individual books were not a part of the omnibus. These illustrations, by artist Jesse David Young, added that little extra something that made each chapter even more alive and special.And finally, a personal observation. My favorite sub-story... from Book 3, "Death Springs Eternal", Chapter 5: "The Sad, Sad tale of Brandon Hawthrorne". A stunning and brilliantly written encounter.Impressions:A horror/adventure meant for adults... there are no soft spots in this series. As the author said in his notes...'happy endings are in short supply.' How true!I loved this epic tale for its complex story line, the variety and scope of characters brought forth (along with the ever increasing tension and fear they had to endure), the brutal depravities that were born of a human existence place under an end-of-days scenario. And all were all done with writing that had such a consistent quality to it... really, writing of the highest quality.Probably one of the best apocalyptic series I've read.As it is... 5 Stars.Ray Nicholsonraynicholsonsreviews@hotmail.com@ralannicholson