Review: Suspenseful Apocalypse Tale, Heavy on Horror and Bravery
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2013
"Rise of Chaos" is an apocalyptic horror novel with a good dose of suspense, violence, and excitement. A new drug is formulated in Florida by "underground chemists" looking to create a substance that results in the high of marijuana but is not illegal. They succeed in creating a legal drug that mimics the effects of marijuana, but the high is killer--literally. The side effects of the drugs involve a painful death and then reanimation of the user into a mindless, flesh-craving creature that the characters of the novel call a "feeder."The feeders quickly destroy most of Florida's population, leaving only pockets of desperate survivors. Mason, the hero of the novel, is traveling through Cocoa Beach when he runs into Pualani, a beautiful Hawaiian girl; she connects him with her friends, who are hiding out in a townhouse and plotting their next move. After meeting up with a few more survivors and engaging in some fast-paced battle scenes against the feeders, the group decides it must get to Camp Freedom--a group of militaristic survivors off the coast of Florida. From there, the group's bond is sealed; no one will be left behind, and they form an unusual family.The action in "Rise of Chaos" does not stop, and should be very appealing to fans of war novels and horror novels. From a group of pirates who kidnaps women to the League of Islam that has infiltrated and started to conquer the United States, the author maintains the pace and sense of imminent danger throughout the book, which is divided into five "episodes." Mason is a strong and capable hero, and Pualani, equally strong, is a feisty foil as his love interest.  The supporting cast of characters also adds variety and interest to the plot.The author has also deftly created his apocalyptic atmosphere--small and horrific details like bits of blood and brain floating on the tide, or a minefield of buried feeders, evokes not only a feeling of fear and anxiety, but a Florida that you can almost see and smell, full of palpable terror and decay. The villains are heartless and determined to destroy America, and there's no ultimate promise in the book that they won't--other than the determination and optimism of the survivors, who can believe in the future and hope for something better even amidst carnage.While this book was a satisfying read, there were parts that left me wanting more--for instance, I would have cared more about the characters had they been more fully developed, with more backstory about their lives before the disaster struck (with the exclusion of Kalen and Cap'n Tony; their backstory was horrific and certainly made me care about them). I also think the novel would have been more chilling if there had been more description of how certain landmarks of Miami and Florida had been destroyed or desecrated by the feeders. All in all, though, "Rise of Chaos" is an entertaining entry into the zombie-apocalypse genre; it would be a good pick for fans of the movie "28 Days" or the television or graphic novel series "The Walking Dead."