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Rise Of Ancients
All engravings on the sarcophagus are warnings.
Enclosed within is immortal destruction. Enclosed within is Hades, the god of death.
Matt Ontoradugh: Standing in the ashes of his previous life, recent divorcee Matt Ontoradugh thought he had hit rock bottom. Having stumbled onto a gruesome crime scene with his coworker Kevin Straus, he never knew just how wrong he could be. Suspiciously knowledgeable, his coworker hands him a shovel and digs them both deeper into an undead nightmare and the secrets of Matt's past.
Hades: Entombed by his own brothers and sisters for a crime he didn't commit, Hades is forced into a paralytic prison with nothing more than his own thoughts to keep him company. Two millennia have passed since their betrayal. Unintentionally freed from his disguised confinement into a bustling modern world, he sets out once again to enact a ritual to bring back his slain love, and to take revenge on the ones who he had once called family.
The sins of the gods have fallen upon humanity's shoulders. While the ravenous dead spread like a wildfire through the city of Chicago, patient eyes conspire from the shadows.
Enclosed within is immortal destruction. Enclosed within is Hades, the god of death.
Matt Ontoradugh: Standing in the ashes of his previous life, recent divorcee Matt Ontoradugh thought he had hit rock bottom. Having stumbled onto a gruesome crime scene with his coworker Kevin Straus, he never knew just how wrong he could be. Suspiciously knowledgeable, his coworker hands him a shovel and digs them both deeper into an undead nightmare and the secrets of Matt's past.
Hades: Entombed by his own brothers and sisters for a crime he didn't commit, Hades is forced into a paralytic prison with nothing more than his own thoughts to keep him company. Two millennia have passed since their betrayal. Unintentionally freed from his disguised confinement into a bustling modern world, he sets out once again to enact a ritual to bring back his slain love, and to take revenge on the ones who he had once called family.
The sins of the gods have fallen upon humanity's shoulders. While the ravenous dead spread like a wildfire through the city of Chicago, patient eyes conspire from the shadows.
312 pages, Paperback
Published December 6, 2022
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2023
I read this a couple months ago and life got crazy as you can all tell by the fact that I haven’t written a single review or been posting even somewhat regularly on my socials as of late.
I get asked all the time for zombie recommendations and this one will be my go to rec for that question. It got a little confusing at times for me, but I think that’s just because of life and nothing at all to do with the author or the storyline. It’s not your typical “zombie” story and you know I don’t like giving away really anything when I reviewing, but if you’re a fan of horror, the undead and classic god/goddess lore, check this one out!
I get asked all the time for zombie recommendations and this one will be my go to rec for that question. It got a little confusing at times for me, but I think that’s just because of life and nothing at all to do with the author or the storyline. It’s not your typical “zombie” story and you know I don’t like giving away really anything when I reviewing, but if you’re a fan of horror, the undead and classic god/goddess lore, check this one out!
April 3, 2023
Rise of Ancients opens as American archeologists examine a newly received sarcophagus found near Cairo. It’s a curious specimen. Within the stone enclosure is a metal box that looks as if it might be made of 20th century stainless steel. The package comes with fascinating inscriptions in Egyptian, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. And among them, a warning:: Enclosed within is immortal destruction. Enclosed within is Hades, the god of death.
As every horror fan knows, warnings like these will never be heeded. And to the delight of genre fans, author Allen Rebot has no mercy for Melissa and Jeremy, the first of Hades’ victims. After the first action scene, it’s clear that Rise of Ancients is in fact a fresh take on the zombie genre with some truly inspired story elements throughout.
Rebot’s hero figure is Matt Ontoradugh, whose dream life recently ended in divorce. What could possibly be worse than working for his ex-wife’s new lover? Try stumbling into the apocalypse. Shortly after Matt sees the horror Hades has wrought, he vomits, and then delivers a truly great line to sidekick Kevin: “We just saw a body that was messed up beyond belief, and you want to go back to the office to grab what?”
Throughout, Matt’s humanity – and priceless reactions to the madness of an ancient God unleashed upon the modern world – gives the book its warmth. The heft of Matt’s well-crafted story arc alone would be enough for most readers. But passages written from Hades’ point of view are what differentiates it from the majority of zombie fiction, especially when Rebot blends action with levity. In one of the book’s best laugh-out-loud moments, a man at a train station mistakes Hades’ reanimated corpse for a beggar and drops money into his lap.
In all, Rise of Ancients is an entertaining and imaginative thriller, not to mention an impressive debut. We look forward to the next installment.
As every horror fan knows, warnings like these will never be heeded. And to the delight of genre fans, author Allen Rebot has no mercy for Melissa and Jeremy, the first of Hades’ victims. After the first action scene, it’s clear that Rise of Ancients is in fact a fresh take on the zombie genre with some truly inspired story elements throughout.
Rebot’s hero figure is Matt Ontoradugh, whose dream life recently ended in divorce. What could possibly be worse than working for his ex-wife’s new lover? Try stumbling into the apocalypse. Shortly after Matt sees the horror Hades has wrought, he vomits, and then delivers a truly great line to sidekick Kevin: “We just saw a body that was messed up beyond belief, and you want to go back to the office to grab what?”
Throughout, Matt’s humanity – and priceless reactions to the madness of an ancient God unleashed upon the modern world – gives the book its warmth. The heft of Matt’s well-crafted story arc alone would be enough for most readers. But passages written from Hades’ point of view are what differentiates it from the majority of zombie fiction, especially when Rebot blends action with levity. In one of the book’s best laugh-out-loud moments, a man at a train station mistakes Hades’ reanimated corpse for a beggar and drops money into his lap.
In all, Rise of Ancients is an entertaining and imaginative thriller, not to mention an impressive debut. We look forward to the next installment.
February 26, 2023
I was given this book by a friend and told that Hades has returned to our world. After reading the synopsis on the back I was expecting your average urban paranormal; Hades and possibly other Greek Gods running around our world, trying to adjust to modern times and still being their wacky selves.
That is NOT AT ALL what this book is. Instead, it is the first part of a story where Hades is accidently released from his prison after several millennia and he is out for revenge against everyone. This is a Hades I have never encountered; brutal, relentless, remorseless.
And while that is going on we have Mike, who seems like your average down-and-out guy. His wife left him, causing a massive downwards spiral. Mike now struggles in a crappy job and a touch of alcoholism. That is until the one coworker he has any kind of a friend-like relationship pulls him into a crime scene that reveals the start of the end of the world. Because if all this wasn't enough, part of Hades revenge is creating zombie-like minions who do nothing but spread his influence through death and destruction. And these zombies are vicious, ravaging monstrosities, that hunt in packs and stop at nothing. Mike is trying his best to survive the new reality. but as the weeks go by little things don't quite make sense. Not only are the people around Mike not who he thought they were, Mike may not be who, or what, he thinks he is. And that is as much as I will say without giving anything away.
That is NOT AT ALL what this book is. Instead, it is the first part of a story where Hades is accidently released from his prison after several millennia and he is out for revenge against everyone. This is a Hades I have never encountered; brutal, relentless, remorseless.
And while that is going on we have Mike, who seems like your average down-and-out guy. His wife left him, causing a massive downwards spiral. Mike now struggles in a crappy job and a touch of alcoholism. That is until the one coworker he has any kind of a friend-like relationship pulls him into a crime scene that reveals the start of the end of the world. Because if all this wasn't enough, part of Hades revenge is creating zombie-like minions who do nothing but spread his influence through death and destruction. And these zombies are vicious, ravaging monstrosities, that hunt in packs and stop at nothing. Mike is trying his best to survive the new reality. but as the weeks go by little things don't quite make sense. Not only are the people around Mike not who he thought they were, Mike may not be who, or what, he thinks he is. And that is as much as I will say without giving anything away.
March 12, 2025
Not my kind of book, too much gore.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews