The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice – a Review

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Description:
New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice brilliantly conjures the shadowed terrors of the Louisiana bayou—where three friends confront a deadly, ancient evil rising to the surface—in this intense and atmospheric new supernatural thriller.

It’s been a decade since the Delongpre family vanished near Bayou Rabineaux, and still no one can explain the events of that dark and sweltering night. No one except Niquette Delongpre, the survivor who ran away from the mangled stretch of guardrail on Highway 22 where the impossible occurred…and kept on running. Who left behind her best friends, Ben and Anthem, to save them from her newfound capacity for destruction…and who alone knows the source of her very bizarre—and very deadly—abilities: an isolated strip of swampland called Elysium.

An accomplished surgeon, Niquette’s father dreamed of transforming the dense acreage surrounded by murky waters into a palatial compound befitting the name his beloved wife gave to it, Elysium: “the final resting place for the heroic and virtuous.” Then, ten years ago, construction workers dug into a long-hidden well, one that snaked down into the deep, black waters of the Louisiana swamp and stirred something that had been there for centuries—a microscopic parasite that perverts the mind and corrupts the body.

Niquette is living proof that things done can’t be undone. Nothing will put her family back together again. And nothing can save her. But as Niquette, Ben, and Anthem uncover the truth of a devastating parasite that has the potential to alter the future of humankind, Niquette grasps the most chilling truths of all: someone else has been infected too. And unlike her, this man is not content to live in the shadows. He is intent to use his newfound powers for one reason only: revenge.


Review:

I’m stumped.  It’s not too often I have almost zero idea how to begin a review.  Hardest part of all?  My thoughts are coming across as fragments, or adjectives, more accurately (I realize I’m guilty of it myself — irony isn’t lost on me).  The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice (*gasps*, it’s really, truly Anne’s son) was so…intriguing yet confusing…it’s hard to put into words what my final opinion of this book is.  Bear with me as I get the assembly line of my brain cranking…and construct said thoughts into proper, complete sentences.

Noah, Millie and Niquette (Nikki) Delongpre of South Louisiana vanished, leaving only scraps of their SUV as evidence of foul play.  A week later, Marshall Ferriot flings himself off a 31^st floor, resulting in a permanent, vegetative state.  Coincidentally, he’s the person of interest Nikki’s BFF, Ben suspects, but Marshall’s been whisked away to Atlanta and is, well, unable to speak.  In The Heavens Rise, we go “backwards” — gradually introduced to pivotal characters whose personalities and background give rise to motive and ultimately lead us to conclusive pieces of the puzzle.  I followed the serpentine path (lots of snake references within) of events and revelations, but the unraveling of twists had me begging the girls to “Ask Dad!”, and simultaneously yanking out my hair during WTH reactions.  Billed as a supernatural thriller, it incorporates much more.  I did not expect mind control and monsters to play out and those elements are a huge departure for me.

In an impromptu romantic fail, throwing Nikki and himself in the pool of her new home (known as Elysium), Marshall and Nikki were exposed to a parasite of unforeseeable destruction whose properties “were the color of skin, and they were everywhere, clustered together in beige clumps that looked like shredded human flesh.”  Nikki only noticed the “swamp sperm” (she tactfully labels, NOT) when she desperately tried to get away from Marshall’s sexual assault in the water.

He had taken her by both shoulders and slammed her head into the side of the pool. 

Total psycho, right?  This is a handsome, young boy from an obscenely wealthy family who gets girls “shitfaced” on Zima in order to have his way with them (perversely preying on the starved-for-attention “nerds” who were willing to allow him the use of implements and keep it secret).  Nikki’s rejection (even though Marshall was instrumental in her break-up with BF, Anthem) threw his obsession into overdrive:  a girl whose very name filled the remnants of his soul with sustaining rage.  Headaches, nausea, and other symptoms following the incident gain momentum and allow Nikki and Marshall the disturbing, not to mention intrusive, ability to absorb/control a person’s mind.

“It flows through you on a kind of conduit we can’t see.  The person completely loses all consciousness as a result…This is not possession.  You can’t see the world through their eyes.  The mind-control aspect…well, it’s just a by-product, you see.  A by-product of the fact that you can draw the person’s fundamental quantum material into your body by metabolizing part of it.”

Perhaps we can even add a bit of sci-fi to the book’s description?  I must say it bordered on the outlandish for me when the mind control theme was further explored.  While it may have explained the hows of it all, it couldn’t recapture my previous interest.  Perhaps it was the measured pace in which Mr. Rice addressed the parasitic effects that made me impatient?  This was unlike any other book I’d ever read; perhaps I was the only reader 226 pages in who needed more facts? 😀  A disjointed span of 8 years was also distracting when I had to re-read passages and/or look at the beginning of the chapter for clarification.  Nikki was the genesis behind Marshall’s fury, but her character wasn’t sufficiently fleshed-out.  We learn about the gaping hole her absence causes for her best friend and boyfriend, but…well, there’s just SO much more for you to discover.  I found it odd that Mr. Rice kept alluding to a “coupling” between Ben and Anthem; grief is brutal and can drive us to desperation, but I don’t know if Nikki would have approved?  Maybe we should ask Nikki?  WHAAAT?!  Invisible intervention like that of a guardian angel breathes new considerations.  I think we should tag the fantasy element to the list of themes touched upon in this book.        

Seamlessly interwoven is an homage to Katrina, but with a bold emphasis on its neglect and racism of the poorer classes.  A brave and personal opinion to say the least!  The setting, the graphic details, they were deftly written and clearly Mr. Rice’s forte.  His honesty and imagery were quite evocative, adding another layer of depth to his narrative.  I was disappointed in the end because there was such a “negative” shift that sits uneasy in my mind.  If we’re fortunate enough to have Mr. Rice visit TRC, I’d love to understand his reasoning.  I won’t forget this book any time soon!

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher