The Rising Horde was originally a large novel that was divided up into two volumes, 1 and 2. I have already done the review for The Rising Horde Volume 1 so it makes sense for me to do the review for Volume 2.
Volume 2 continues the story of Lieutenant Colonel Cordell McDaniels and Sergeant Major Dave Gartrell as they and a handful of US Army Rangers, Air Force Combat Controllers and other Tier 1 special operators from both the Army and Navy defend a complex outside of Odessa Texas from an army of stenches. Stench is the term that is used for the zombies in these books and its quite fitting.
Joint Task Force SPARTA or JTF SPARTA or just plain SPARTA is tasked with the security and safety of InTerGen, the company that is currently making the vaccine for the zombie outbreak. While the vaccine won’t help you if you get swarmed by a horde it will help you if you get bit. The key here is bit not chewed or gnawed upon or partially devoured.
Not only is McDaniels tasked with ensuring the safety of the personnel behind the walls of SPARTA but also the safety of the researchers, civilians and his own son who is now inside the perimeter. Facing literally millions of stenches outside the wall and approaching from all parts of the nation, JTF SPARTA must find ways to keep the infected army from breaching their walls and eating and destroying all that reside inside.
Using a page from medieval warfare, trenches, moats, drawbridges and defense in depth all come into play in this final chapter of the Rising Horde. That really puts the phrase, ‘Let’s get medieval on their ass’ mean something.
The Rising Horde Volume 2 is incredibly action packed when the final showdown between the defenders of SPARTA and the stench army begins. The suspenseful buildup that leads to this showdown is very well plotted and described. McDaniels is an officer with limited resources at his disposal and has to adapt on the fly to the ever changing zed menace that include some of the ‘super-zeds’ among their number.
Stephen Knight’s The Rising Dead Volume 2 is an excellent finale to the series. His characters and situations are very realistic and gripping. The suspense is slowly built up although you the reader know that its going to happen and when it does happen its still exhilarating. Unlike ‘traditional’ zombie stories, Knight tosses in a twist by inserting ‘super-zeds’, zombies that still have some operational memory. If you’ve read all the books up to this point then you know that the first glimpse of this was in The Gathering Dead. Having a zombie with limited operational memory no matter how limited is something that would give anyone nightmares. Imagine a zombie army where some of them are able to use tools, remember what a house key is for, can operate machines like a car or a firearm and retain enough faculties to use items like grenades and artillery. Add in a few million more whose primary focus is eating you and you have an edge of the seat thrill ride through the 7th layer of hell.
If you’re looking for a good read and want to step away from the more normal books in the genre, give Stephen Knight’s series a look.
Available on Amazon.
