The Rising

The End Time Saga #3

by Daniel Greene

You either build your world or you burn in someone else's.

With every fleeting moment, the whole world draws closer to being overcome by the deadliest virus known to man.

Steele's family home lies in burnt ruins on the shore of Lake Michigan. His group hunts for his missing mother in the apocalyptic wilderness filled with the dead. Instead he finds a group of refugees badly in need of his skills learned in the shadow war on terror, for they are persecuted at every step by the Chosen, a group of fanatics hell-bent on creating God's Kingdom in the rubble of society.

Dr. Joseph Jackowski finds himself in a dangerous battle against both the deadly virus and the clock inside the bowels of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. His team struggles as their own members fall victim to the virus in a race to discover a vaccine.

Colonel Kinnick rushes his paltry forces into the rocky passes of Colorado to hold the dead off long enough for a vaccine to be found. If he fails, the Vice President will burn the entire Western Seaboard into the blazing inferno of a nuclear holocaust.

Who will rise? The Living or the Dead?

Read the series that readers are calling, "An epic, fast-paced adventure, featuring a diverse cast of characters, non-stop action, and of course, zombies - this apocalyptic thriller is a sure victory..."

In the epic third installment of The End Time Saga, Daniel Greene brings the brutalized remainders of humanity even closer to the edge of defeat.

Genres: Dystopia, Horror, Zombies, Fiction, Audiobook, Post Apocalyptic

412 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2018

About the author

Daniel is the award-winning author of The End Time Saga and the historical fiction Northern Wolf Series. Whether it’s a saber charge in the American Civil War or a gun battle between two rival bands surviving a hellish landscape, he is known for his ability to embed every page with fast-paced action, thrilling suspense, and gritty realism.

He is an avid traveler and physical fitness enthusiast with a deep passion for history. The works of George R.R. Martin, Steven Pressfield, Bernard Cornwell, Robert Jordan, and George Romero, have inspired his work. Although he is a Midwesterner for life, he's lived in Virginia long enough to consider it home.

He is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association, the Historical Novel Society, and the Military Writers Society of America.

Contact him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DanielGreene...

Or his website: http://www.danielgreenebooks.com/

Reviews

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

Greene maintains the pace and delivers. He should be proud of this series. I think it’s amazing to make loveliness in a genre that is known for uhm ... existing in great quantities and having embarrassingly bad covers.

I’ve started more post-apocalyptic fiction than I’d like to admit in public and piled up these unfinished atrocities far too high in my mental closet of shame. I don’t like reading trash (yes yes that’s subjective... most of the time) and I really don’t like leaving a book unfinished. It’s like spitting in the face of someone who cooked for you. In these cases the chefs were lacking tastebuds. This leaves me feeling bad, let’s move on.

Saying all of those words means that I must truly enjoy this series. I was a little creeped out sometimes during the third book. Delightful. It was great to see organic character development. Nothing forced. I even like the female characters now. They blend nicely into the tapestry whereas before they seemed an awkward challenge to create. The plot had me wary since Greene easily could’ve let it slip into over-traveled territory, but he made a nice story that I didn’t predict. I’ll try a prediction though; I’ll complete the series and I’ll be happy.

[Debra Omiatek · Rating 5 out of 5]

End Time Book 3

The viral zombie apocalypse saga continues. Steele tries to find his mom and becomes the leader of a light house camp. The small group is threatened by the Pastor and his Chosen. The extremeism of the religious cult is an unbelievable danger to the small group and any other individuals trying to survive.
Dr Jackowski is struggling to understand the virus, now that Patient Zero is in the lab for study. He finds the military standard to obtain results is cruel and uncaring about the person. He finds possible love but loses it to infection. He and his other scientific colleagues are able to come up with a vaccine.
Colonel Kinnick settles in at the mountain bunker in CO until he finds out that the president is missing and the VP is planning to launch nukes on the large cities of the Western US to stop the undead. The Colonel comes up with a plan to hold the passes leading to CO and let the winter keep the undead from crossing the mountains. Unfortunately, Kinnick is set up to fail.
The series continues to describe the fall of civilization and the tenacious struggle of individuals to survive. The characters are full of life with flaws and struggles. The action is fast paced with depictions of heroism and cruelty. The book is a page turner and the reader is looking to see what happens next. I would highly recommend this book and series.

[Bob Platypire · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I was provided a copy of this book to be honestly reviewed*

MAN! This series is just amazing! There's no time to think, no time to put it down, no time to BREATHE! The action is fantastic and heart-pumping, and I really like the characters and their various personalities, the way they both mesh and collide. Fabulous writing over all, just awesome. I'd love to get audibles of these, though I'm not sure those exist (yet). Definitely a must read for those who love a good, rough apocalyptic tale.

Bob says: 5 Platypires!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The is the best entry into the End Time Saga yet! The story is action packed and a lot of fun to read. Greene continues to write fast-paced and complex story lines surrounding an ever-evolving cast of characters. I never knew what was going to happen next which left me excited and engaged the entire time. This is a great book!

[Lisa Omstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rising is my favorite story of the End Time series as it really packs a punch. The characters and plot are complex and believable. Twists and turns make this a suspense junkie’s delight. Highly recommended! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Pamela Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rising All of this series kept me intrigued and kept my interest. I very much have enjoyed the books and always look forward

[Corinne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thrilling read in the series. Had me holding my breath.

[Zade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y' all, I don't know what to say about this series. The writing is so bad I've taken to keeping notes of all the ridiculous phrases and misused words. My teenagers check in regularly to see what new atrocities are on the list. There has even been an incident of iced coffee getting snorted out through a nose while reading the "wall of shame."

There's a ton of rah-rah US patriotism, which is par for the course in this genre, especially in the works from the late twentieth century, which era clearly influenced Greene a lot. And compared to the political crap we hear now, it's more amusing than scary.

The misogyny is so thick you could stand a stick in it, but I'm sure Greene thinks he's not chauvinistic at all. His men *protect* their irrational women after all and hardly ever complain when women *just don't understand* that it's a man's job to make the big decisions and a woman's job to submit. I think he must be weirdly attracted to unremittingly petty women -- or perhaps it's just a fantasy of having women compete for his favors like they do for his "hero."

He does not, at least, go down the Xian headship/quiverful rabbit hole. He appears to be a laissez-faire agnostic, which is an interesting contrast with his whole jingoism and patriarchy Happy Meal.

And yet... folks, I've read three of these books in less than a week. Yes, I've been annoyed almost constantly while reading them, but the narrative drive is mesmerizing. I'm actually considering *buying* the next volume because I can't get it from the library or free on Prime.

What is this witchcraft? Do I have to tear up my progressive feminist social justice (TM) membership card now? Can I get away with just taking extra long showers? Does my treachery show in my face? Will I be ostracized from the company of critical thinkers?

Seriously, though, apocalypse porn is often far more right-wing cringey than this series, not to mention much more poorly written. Greene knows the genre he's writing and he makes it work.

Now, if only he'd hire a freaking editor!

[Michael Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Spoilers! I've said this about "End Time" and "The Breaking" and now - again - for "The Rising". I've never been a major fan of the zombie apocalypse genre, but Daniel Greene nailed it! The books are enjoyable because of the character development - you can't wait to find out what happens next for Gwen, Steele, Kinnick and the rest. I wasn't sure what to expect out of this series - but it wasn't zombies and blood & guts. It was appreciation for each of the characters and their struggle & challenges trying to save the world from the threat of extinction. You get just enough military strategy & tactics - and the author does a great job of making you love the heroes and hate the villains in this series. What comes next????

[Jim Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Greene kills it…again! The Rising is the 3rd installment of The End Time series and has become, by far, my favorite. With this novel, Greene creates a story that keeps you guessing and shows just how twisted his mind must be! Throughout this book, just when I would think I had where the story was going figured out, Greene would throw in a curve ball and completely change where the characters are headed. Because the author is great at ending each character’s chapters on cliff-hangers, I found myself at the end of EVERY chapter looking ahead to see how soon I could get back to their story. Compound that across all the main characters and, like me, you won’t be able to put this one down.

What I really liked about The Rising were the “villains”. No real spoiler when I say there is of course one “Big Bad”, but there are others throughout the story that I found myself thinking of as bad guys. What really struck me was how the author gives them motivations or reasons for their actions that kind of make sense. That is what made them even scarier in that they are not simply bad for bad sake. They really believe they are doing what is best for humanity while being completely ruthless. It’s a fine line that Greene walks with precision. However, the true “Big Bad” of this book is one of the darkest villains I’ve ever read. This guy is seriously messed up and Greene must have one twisted mind to create him! But again, he thinks what he’s doing is best for humanity which makes him even more compelling and sinister. There are couple of his chapters that will seriously make you cringe.

One of the great things about The End Time series is that the author takes a story we all know pretty well (Zombies) and adds something new and fresh to the lore. The Rising is no exemption. This is the first time I’ve ever had someone explain exactly what the zombie virus is and why it turns people into undead hordes of flesh eating monsters. Daniel Greene walks another tightrope in moving the action forward, while explaining the science behind zombies. The amount of research that must have gone into this science/medical aspect of the novel must have been enormous. The author explains and breaks down this complex idea into such simple terms that, by the end, it sounds as if the zombie virus could ACTUALLY happen. I would’ve never expected that I would enjoy “the science of zombies” as much as I did. Again, no spoilers, but the “science cliff-hanger” part of this book alone is enough to have you lining up to pre-order Book 4.

I feel like this series has gone from one main character to the big 3. In each story they each become more complex and interesting. Book 1 set up who these people were. Book 2 broke them down and they emerged from the figurative fire, remolded into who they would be. This book now has them taking their places as leaders in the new world. However, whereas book 2 is almost a phoenix story for these characters, book 3 feels like the “soul” book. We get repeated looks into the minds and hearts of these characters that flush them out far better than your typical action story. We see what the burden of command in a post-apocalyptic world does to someone and how, even though these people seem tough and decisive, they are real people with doubt and worry. They don’t always do what you’ve come to expect from fictionalized heroes and sometimes you may not even agree with their methods. To me that makes for a far more interesting read.

[RJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steele slowly recovers after being shot in the head, presumed dead. Steele must get his scrambled brains together to rescue his friends who have been taken prisoner by a band of moonshiners. Not all would survive that encounter. On another front, Joseph has been successful at recovering Patient Zero and is now at Cheyenne Mountain working with other doctors to come up with an antidote. Their research discovers something that contradicts everything they had known in science. Steele is now on his own, his team dead. He and his remaining friends find themselves at Little Sable Point in Michigan, inhabited by a band of survivors and the remnants of the Red Stripe motorcycle club. It is here they come up against a religious zealot called Pastor with a large contingent of his followers. Their chance of survival against this mob is quite thin. Back at Cheyenne Mountain, Colonel Kinnick proposes a daring plan to hold the Rock Mountain passes against the horde coming from the west. This proposal is contrary to the Vice President’s plan of nuking the entire west coast so that the remaining military can concentrate on the horde from the east. Colonel Kinnick’s plan is a desperate action at best. With all these seemingly insurmountable predicaments at hand, how will the hordes of infected be stopped and the remnants of the United States be saved? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to The Rising.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I went into this series, I was sure I would never last to the third book. But, I have to say that this series has been a pleasant surprise. The Rising is the third book in the End Time series. It will not work well as a stand alone since it assumes you have read the first two books. This picks up pretty much right after the events of book two.

Being the third book, it's hard to talk plot without spoiling the first two books. But this time around, Steele and his crew face even more danger in the form of an evangelical cult. Joseph is fighting to make a vaccine and Colonel Kinnick is put into a battle that is set up to fail miserably. There is so much packed into this installment. When I finished listening to the audiobook, I felt like I had watched an entire season of "End Time, the TV series". Of course, the book ends on a major cliffhanger, so I will have to read book number four.

I think what has attracted me to this series is the way it looks at the real danger humans would face in an apocalypse. It turns out that our fellow humans pose more of a danger than any monster out there. It's also interesting to see which humans rise to the challenge and become heroes and which ones end up turning out to be villains. I highly recommend this one. The books keep getting better and better.

[Brady Bunnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good goo-ga-ly moo-ga-lly!!! Been waiting on this one!! I was turned onto these books by a friend in a time when there was a dry spell of good stories that I haven’t already read. This story of Steele and his crew has continually surprised me, each book raising the stakes, increasing in tempo and delivering a fun, thrilling ride. The characters and story have been following in this crescendo that is up at the start and only grows from there really forcing you to turn the page to find out what happens next. Greene, is really hitting his stride and you can really tell in his “voice” that he is just getting started which is awesome because that means more of this! Like the previous 2 books he tells the story in a Martin-esque format which each character tells their side of the story from their viewpoint. this, to me is the most interesting part of the writing style and my favorite to read. It offers you insight into each characters own thoughts as well as what they are thinking about other characters. Once again, Greene nails it with this third installment. He is really gaining a great reputation as new author and its cool to have seen him grow into one of my most anticipated authors to release a new book.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of Tom Clancy and Robin Cook will love this book and series. I'm so impressed with the amount of research that must have been done to compose this story. I have some friends who are members of some of our alphabet intelligence agencies. When reading Clancy's novels they would often say, "Somebody's been talking to this guy," This is clearly the case here. The level of military detail, methods, protocols, mindset, and disciplines are vividly realistic. And the medical information is so realistic I'm almost convinced I understand how Zombies, actually the living dead, function.
I hate cliff-hanger endings to books and, fortunately, that's not the case here. The book is filled with cliff hangers but, they're all resolved in subsequent chapters. This author has the guts to be realistic and many characters actually go over the cliffs.
I don't know when this series is going to end, but I'm fortunate to have discovered this series when there were already four books published and the fifth coming out in 2019, If you're just discovering this series you should start with the first book. If you don't, and you read this book first, you're going to go and start with book one anyway...it's that good.

Review by THE HOLEY ONE

[Jennifer Hoskin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to get my hands on the third installment after waiting a year and I was shocked with how much I loved it from start to finish (in one non-blinking day)! The Rising is an excellent study in character development and surprised me several times with the suspenseful storyline. The characters are faced with incredibly difficult choices and Greene continues to illustrate the human struggle that we might not have been able to imagine if it weren't for his ability to anticipate and describe the reality of this otherwise surreal situation and make it believably horrifying. I was upset that it was over (my eyes were not) and I can't wait for Book Four!!

[Christy Ricker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Greene hits it out of the park again with this sequel. I loved the addition of new characters all the while keeping the reader in tune with main ones. It’s great when I get a hold of a book that I can’t put down and this didn’t disappoint, especially with the new bad guy. Right from the first page the story draws you in. The military aspect of the novel made it all that more believable with hard choices that have to be made. Makes you think a lot about what if? Felt like I was on a roller coaster, can’t wait until the next one comes out!

[Robin Miura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a good read!

Really am enjoying this series wanting the good guys to live and the bad ones (and zombies) to die. This one again I am only giving four stars because of the annoying girlfriend. Makes me mad to have the girlfriend be stereotyped, mad at her boyfriend when he has no clue because she didn’t tell him something...why game playing in the zombie apocalypse? What’s wrong with having a real strong woman instead of game playing silliness? It is offensive to me as a woman. Some editing errors but very few.

[Pam Shelton-Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good third book in a top-notch zombie series. I would have given five stars, but there are some writing errors (plurals instead of prepositions and some name change issues) and Gwen is just a terrible character. She has always had a lousy attitude and now has the excuse of some pregnancy hormones. Her foolish choices got a brave young man killed. I find myself skimming her parts of the story, mostly in the hope that she has finally been eliminated. I do hope this is not the end of the series as there are a couple of very big cliffhangers.

[Andrea Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank goodness

Had book 3 continued with a certain story line, I would have stopped reading. I LOVE this author and I love this series, but I just couldn't have enjoyed that. I'm sorry if I'm not helping you. I just don't want to give spoilers. Considering the ending of book 3, I'm going to give book 4 a chance when it comes out.

[Henry Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heavy hitter in the genre!!

I have absolutely loved the first 3 installments of this series. It is exciting, action-packed w/ very well thought out characters that all contribute to making them relatable & real. Keep up with the great stories & I will make sure my go-bag is fully stocked, my rifle is dialed in & my M9 is never too far out of reach!!!

[Katie Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait for the next one!

Absolutely love this series and I'm gutted that I have to wait for the next one. All three books have been fast-paced and action-packed. Never a dull moment. The characters are so three dimensional and I'm attached to them all. Really hoping that this series is a long one!

[Harry Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action really picked up in this book. There were 3 different story arcs going on at the same time.
Unrelated but related, I finished this book today and switched to reading the news, monkeypox found in Massachusetts today! They say not to worry, I say not good! Monkeypox is how the zombie virus spreads in this book... everyone get you bug out bags ready!

[Kilgallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this series does not really add anything new to the zombie genre, it is none the less a fun read. This, the third book in the series, was fast paced and the story line does jump between a number of groups as they attempt to survive the apocalypse. The narrator of the audio books, Keith Szarabajka, is excellent!

[Jayne Edmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only series I’ve read where the head guy is a wuss. He needs a backbone or something. He was supposed to be an highly trained special operator and all he wants to do is die cause he thinks his girlfriend is dead. REALLY. Most of the other characters are believable which is why I read the trilogy and enjoyed it.

[PHYL · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author focuses on three groups that would exist during a zombie apocalypse. Scientists studying the virus, to find a cure or vaccine. Military trying to kill or contain the infected. Humans struggling to survive. Well Done

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rising

Great book! Can't wait until the next sequel. Great characters and storyline. I would recommend this series to anybody that enjoys zombies, heroes and a adventurous journey.

[Vicki Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ya know

I enjoyed the books as a whole. That being said I don’t enjoy reading a series of books that have no conclusion. Life is random enough. I read to shut it out. I went a beginning, middle and end. I didn’t get a conclusion. I’m calling a book foul.

[juliette dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware the righteous

Action,adventure and zombies. Loved this book and I enjoyed from start to finish.
Be afraid of the dead but be more afraid of the living.
I look forward to more.

[Tom Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary.

The possibility of a pandemic grows stronger and stronger with every international flight. Who can say what the next killer virus will be capable. I sincerely hope it will not be the one in this series.

[William Stultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary series.




I waited to review the first two books until I finished Book #3. They held me spellbound to the very end. I just started Book #4 and can't wait to see how the story continues.