THE RISING

The Rising: Jon Land/ Heather Graham

What would you do if you found out that your entire life was a lie and that what you are as a human is about to be questioned and challenged? Football hero and star quarterback Alex Chin is playing at top-notch form when an accident during one of his games sends him to the hospital. Nothing from this point on would ever be the same as the doctor taking his tests realizes much to his impending death that something rings untrue about the CAT Scan he took. Taking it again reveals the same thing an unusual shadow that cannot be identified but just what it is will astound readers later on as the plot becomes more complex and we learn more about Alex, his history and his parents and why things about his life and how he came to live with An and Li Chin. Samantha Dixon is his tutor and is helping him prepare to graduate high school while taking on a internship at NASA hoping to foster this as a springboard for her career. When the football accidents sends Alex to the hospital and Samantha becomes concerned when he does not appear for tutoring what happens next links and binds them together in this science fiction/ mystery thriller by two award winning and outstanding authors.

Samantha works with a Dr. Thomas Donati in the NASA lab but when she sees something alarming he discounts it because he has an agenda of his own. But, things are about to drastically change for not only her but others too as Dr. Payne the doctor caring for Alex is killed and when Alex realizes this with Samantha’s help he leaves the hospital and from that point on they are on the run. When Samantha finally does tell Donati about the anomaly she found she describes a tsunami and an earthquake high on the Ricker  scale caused by immeasurable heat originating at the Earth’s core, pushed upward as the authors relate by the pressure to vent. But, a man at the football game that she did not recognize and then told her to leave and disappear but why stole her IPAD with all of the information?

As the authors continue with their description of Donati’s duties and responsibilities one being watchdog calling for a Janus alert.

Next we are about to meet Alex when he finds Dr. Payne dead and face down on the floor of his office and then receives a message from his mother to RUN and don’t look back but where and why? Sam and Alex area bout to meet the Ash Man who will explain why someone is after him but first should he call the police and wait until you find out when they do appear at his own house and what he learns and finds there will shock readers to the core. When he finally hears his mother’s final words and what appeared to me policemen show up what actually happens is frightening as the figures that appear claim that ALEX BELONGS TO THEM. Just what are they and why do they claim he is not one of us but one of them. Alex and Samantha do not wait for the answers instead he takes action. Realizing and learning later that they were just drones delivering a messages and the Ash Man would explain it even more claiming he must come with him but first we hear An Li tell him to run, leave her there and not look back until he is out of their reach. But, can he and Samantha survive?

 In every science fiction or thriller there is someone who wants to destroy the main character and in this case it is Langston Marsh and another man named Raithman claiming they are going to war as we meet the Guardian called Raiff whose been watching Alex and who is supposed to take care of him and prevent him from harm. Enter Laboratory Z where it all started but first Alex says goodbye to his parents but not before his mother presents him with a special statue and a flash drive hidden in it. As you hear her final words and read them along with Alex you will learn just how he came into our world through a special wormhole and who gave him to An Chin and the story behind how she adopted him but not in a conventional way. Raiff is a guardian, Alex’s guardian and Trackers who call him Zarim are hunting him. His job was to find Dancer or Alex and bring him to the world where he belongs but the dangers multiply, the situations that both Alex and Samantha encounter will prove whether they have the muster to outfox and hide from those that want him dead or those that want to return him to his other world.

Enter the Memory Room and as Raithman defines the history behind the Project Blue Book to the Colonel as he explains and why we are at war and if he is not for the cause he is the wrong man for the job.

Alex and Samantha find themselves needing a way to get some money, new clothes and a place to sleep while finding someone to get a ride from who proves to be an odd professor that just might have some clues to what they need to know and where Laboratory Z is. When both Alex and Samantha find their way there after losing sight of Raiff what they learn when they arrive and finally realize what the experiments were the significance of the wormholes and that there are many aliens, cyborgs and more coming through and it’s only just beginning. A dead doctor, two dead patients, a missing kid and another on the run, as Raiff and Lieutenant Grimes are about to hear the truth as Alex is the only hope for the world to hang on and for our world to survive. But, will they find him in time? Read Chapter 49 and hear the voice An Chin, his mother who will explain Laboratory Z and the menial staff that existed there, her role and how they did not speak out in her presence yet how Alex came to her and why. Alex suffered from memory loss and headaches and the shadow deep inside his brain would foretell his future but will it remain there or will it destroy him and exactly what is it that was implanted and why? Was this what they wanted to destroy him for? As you read Chapter 52 titled the Confession and you hear the rest of the story about his arrival here, how his parents managed to adopted him in a unique manner and the reports of fatalities from Laboratory Z. As Raiff finds Dancer but why? Dr. Chu was the man who made sure that Alex was healthy and a gift, a miracle given to them when she could not have any children. The scary part is what the doctor reveals from his blood tests and the abnormalities that he found that most parents would shudder and shake if the results were the same for their child yet Alex somehow beat all odds. She explains his manner of speech and the indecipherable language he created and the jibberish he spoke at night but at night they would hear him mumbling in his native language of the world where he came from.

Each chapter heading helps to foretell what the reader is about to experience along with the characters as we meet the Drone things in chapter 62 and we watch as Alex, Samantha and Raiff fight them off. Alex finally gets to know Raiff, his job as Guardian and his role in saving his life plus dealing with the drones who are like soldiers ready for war. As we hear the voices of Donati and the link to Laboratory Z and why all the paperwork was destroyed and no copies remained in the original report. As the report that is delivered and talked about by Donati talks about wormholes as he speaks to people who are officially not there just numbers and places in different directions. Wormholes the authors relates are a postulated method, within the general “theory of relativity, of moving form one point in space to another without crossing the space between.” As the author elaborate and describe this on pages 246-248.

 Enter the Bishop Ranch, see the bracelet that Alex took from his father’s wrist and learn how killed his parents and why. As we get to know the Professor who explains the ability to create a wormhole and how it changes the very nature of the journey as Alex learns who caused the fire and the explosion that originated in the particle accelerator. Someone from the other side ! Thinking about his mother’s words tucked inside the statue, Meng PO for safekeeping providing proof in the form of Dr. Chu’s lab results which are hidden in his pocket. Claiming Alex is human yet not completely human and looking at Raiff he realizes he is from another planet and is human because as is revealed because,

“ your people seeded Earth millions of years ago to create another version of the human race,” but why? But, the startling part is why Ash Man and Shadow killed his parents angering him when told they were not his parents and the result you just won’t believe. As all the forces come together and Donati reveals more to Alex and Samantha he learns the reason why he was brought to earth but since this is a confidential area I won’t reveal it to readers because it might place Alex in more danger.

An ending quite violent, quite terrifying as Alex and Samantha fight for their lives against as you hear the ash man’s voice and his final words telling Alex just who and what he is but will he survive? Some will die others might live but who will be the final survivor and will his life ever be normal again. Does he have the means to defeat them that might remain unsolved? Were his parents dead or alive? Was this a veil or mist to hide him from the truth to get him to return to wherever they wanted him to be? This is Alex’s story and the rising world just might be committed to destroy everything but will they? Only authors Jon Land and Heather Graham know what’s next for Alex, Samantha and any remaining wormholes when they decide to pen the sequel. What happens when you learn that you are not the person you thought you were? What happens when the harsh truth and realities face you head on? Read the Rising and enter the pages of this novel at your own risk and beware of THE RISING!

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ Magazine