Rise Audiobook by Mira Grant (REVIEW)

Posted by on Jul 26, 2016 in Reviews | 22 comments

Review of: Rise Audiobook
Audiobook:
Mira Grant

Reviewed by:
Rating:
4.5
On July 26, 2016
Last modified:August 24, 2022

Summary:

Rise Audiobook

By: Mira Grant

Narrated by: Christine Lakin, John Glouchevich, Nicholas Guy Smith

Published by: Hachette Audio 06/21/16

Rise by Mira Grant

4.5 stars rating

The Newsflesh Trilogy Shorts

24 hrs and 46 mins

Genre: Zombies

Rise Audiobook Sample

Rise Audiobook

4.5 Hearts

This is a collection of stories that are set in the world of the Newsflesh series. Many of these stories have been previously released in some form, but Countdown is the only one that I was familiar with prior to starting this anthology. I really believe that this collection is a must read/listen to fans of the Newsflesh series. If you haven’t started the Newsflesh trilogy, there are some stories here that will have spoilers for the series. I would recommend reading/listening to the first three books before tackling this one. If you haven’t started this series, it is a really fun zombie series, with a mix of horror, suspense, humor and even some romance. For me, it was the mix of horror and humor that made this series so much fun, not to mention the wonderful characters.
Countdown
This story is about how The Rising comes about. Amanda Amberlee is cured of leukemia with the Amberlee Virus. Then there is Dr. Kellis, who is working on the cure for the common cold. However, it is still in the testing stage until some morons decide to release it upon the world so that everyone is cured, not just the people with money. When the two viruses come together, they create the Kellis Amberlee Virus, which causes the zombies.
Everglades
This story was very short and follows a girl named Debbie who was on a college campus during The Rising. She uses some survivalist knowledge she got from her grandfather to stay safe during the initial outbreak.
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
This story is one of my favorites in this anthology. It is about The Rising starting at ComicCon in San Diego. Can you imagine that? Trying to deal with a brand new outbreak of zombies, which you didn’t know were real, at ComicCon. There were some really great characters. The story is told from Mahir who is interviewing a survivor. The story breaks from the main storytelling to have Mahir and Lorelei Tuttle have discussions about the story she is telling Mahir, even though is told from several POVs.
How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea
This is another favorite. It takes place after the third book in the series. Mahir travels to Australia to see how things are done there. They have much more lax security there. He ponders that it is because the Australians have been dealing nature trying to kill them for years. Were zombies that much different?

There was one thing that no one considered, however: Australia was populated by Australians. When the rest of us were trying to adapt to a world that suddenly seemed bent on eradicating the human race, the Australians had been dealing with a hostile environment for centuries. They looked upon our zombie apocalypse, and they were not impressed.

 

The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell
This story is about a kindergarten teacher and her class as she tries to save them when there is an outbreak at her school. Now, this doesn’t take place during The Rising. I can’t remember how long after, but there was security in place to help prevent outbreaks. Kids were strapped to their desks and there was blood tests throughout the school. Also, the teachers wore protective gear when they went out for recess and even carried guns.
Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus
This was a great story about Dr. Shannon Abbey. We meet her in the second book. She is quite a lot of fun. She is a bit of a mad scientist. She runs an underground virology lab and does tests that the CDC can’t because of many bureaucratic reasons. I love Shannon Abbey. She is the right mix of crazy and smarts.
All The Pretty Little Horses (Brand New Story)
This is the story of how Shaun and Georgia’s parents become the legendary bloggers that they become just a few years after The Rising. It has been three years since Stacy and Michael Mason lost their son, Phillip, to The Rising. Specifically, a beloved neighbor’s dog turned (yes, all mammals over a certain weight of about 40 pounds, if I remember correctly, can be turned) and let’s just say Phillip was too young to turn. Stacy puts Phillip out of his misery and the courts rule that it wasn’t murder, but Stacy doesn’t see it that way. Michael starts to look for anything to get her out of bed and acting like a living human being again. They go to clear out areas that are deemed unsuitable and look for survivors in infested areas. They become the journalist of this new world.
Coming to You Live (Brand New Story)
This story takes place at the end of the series. It features all the characters we’ve come to love throughout the series. I’m not going to mention names for people who haven’t read the series yet. I don’t want you to know who lives and who dies, because there are a lot of deaths of beloved characters in this series. While I really enjoyed seeing all my favorite characters from this series, I don’t know that I really liked the story itself. I think it was better with how the series ended than what happened in this story. I guess it was great for the characters to all come together again, but for me personally, I would’ve prefered things left the way they were. So not horrible, but my least favorite story in this collection.

Rise Audiobook Narration

4 Hearts

These were all new-to-me narrators. I have no idea why they haven’t picked narrators for this series and stuck with them. I think there has been at least one narrator change for each book, which is frustrating as a listener. That being said, I thought all three of these narrators did a great job. All the narrators in this series, in all the books, have done an amazing job. I would just like to see consistency across the series. If given the choice, I would still go back and listen to these books over reading them. One, because I prefer to listen. Two, I think each of the different narrators have done a great job.

Author: Mira Grant

Mira Grant was born and raised in Northern California, where she has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In college, she was voted Most Likely to Summon Something Horrible in the Cornfield, and was a founding member of the Horror Movie Sleep-Away Survival Camp, where her record for time survived in the “Swamp Cannibals” scenario remains unchallenged.

Currently, Mira lives in a crumbling farmhouse with an assortment of cats, horror movies, comics, and books about horrible diseases. When not writing, she splits her time between travel, auditing college virology courses, and watching more horror movies than is strictly good for you. Favorite vacation spots include Seattle, London, and a large haunted corn maze just outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

In her guise as mild-mannered urban fantasy author Seanan McGuire, Mira was the recipient of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. You can find her works as both Mira and Seanan at her main bibliography page. Seanan’s website is the best place to find information on where both she and Mira will be appearing.

Both Feed and Deadline have been nominated for Hugo Awards, as has “Countdown,” the first novella in the Newsflesh universe.

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Narrator: Christine Lakin

Narrator: Christine Lakin

You probably know me best as “Al” the tomboy from “Step By Step”… (yep, that was me in that backwards hat) or maybe from movies that re-run all the time like “Valentines Day” or “You Again” or “Georgia Rule” (I play the Mormon girl Lindsay Lohan nearly runs over with a truck- good times). I’m Melissa Joan Hart’s slutty friend Jackie on “Melissa & Joey” (typecast again!) or maybe you’re up early and see me guest Co-Host on VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz” with Nick Lachey. If you like reality TV, I host “Party Down South” reunions on CMT and sometimes you can hear me as Joyce Kinney on “Family Guy” or Sumo’s Mom on “Clarence” (Catroon Network) or some random people on “Trip Tank” (Comedy Central). If you’re a gamer, you play me as Jane in The Walking Dead game. If you commute a lot, listen to me in various audiobooks like “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown”. In my spare time, I like to dance and sometimes I get hired to choreograph for shows like “The Goldbergs” and “True Blood”. Theater is always my first love, which is why I created and produce a rad live show called “Worst Ever” (look for our TV version soon!) Whatever the case, I’m glad we found each other. Whew. Thanks for the support!

Audible Audiobooks

Narrator: John Glouchevich

Audible Audiobooks

Narrator: Nicholas Guy Smith

Narrator: Nicholas Guy Smith

Nicholas Guy Smith is known for his work on Star Trek (2009), Thor: The Dark World(2013) and 300: Rise of an Empire (2014).

Audible Audiobooks

I like to thank Hachette Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.


Reviewed by:

ML Simmons Reviewer

  • 4.5
    editor rating
Melanie Simmons
I’m Melanie and I live in Ohio. I have two horses and a dog. I’m an animal lover, avid book reader and audiobook listener. I like to live vicariously through fictional characters. I enjoy reading and listening to mostly fictional books in the paranormal genre, including Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. My favorite paranormal creatures are shifters, doesn’t matter the flavor.