Ignatius Reviews | cruxchfaithformation

The Rising, by Robert Ovies

Read more about or purchase The Rising from Ignatius Press by following the link here.

After hearing the promotional description on my local Catholic radio station, my first thought was that this would be a sort of “what if” response to the many miracles of healing of Jesus, especially the raising of Lazarus. One needn’t wonder why Jesus often implored those He cured and others not to say anything about these signs. These suspicions appeared to be confirmed with the introduction of C.J. (whose inversion of J.C. a character notes in the story) as well as the subject of his first resuscitation labeled by the media as “Lazarus Lady”. It would, however, be an injustice to label this as yet another “modern parable” or allegory. The characters are too three-dimensional to reduce them to nothing more than symbols.

We are introduced to most of the main characters right at the beginning, Ovies jumps across space to give a brief glimpse of the mysterious A.W. Cross and his dying son. What is so effective in these character introductions and what I enjoyed most about the writing is the descriptions he gives of many of the characters. Not the physical descriptions though useful they were (I thought to myself many times while reading that if a movie was made there will be plenty of material to use for detailing and appearance), but more the reflection that Ovies gives for each description, creating the sense that he, and we, not only see each character, but know them before we’ve been formally introduced. A rightful exception to this rule is the enigmatic Joseph Walker, purposely guarded, unexposed father of our protagonist C.J. (perhaps another Christ allusion?).

As the expected questioning, hysteria and chaos ensues upon further revelation and confirmation of C.J.’s ability, the action picks up and the true natures of many taken-for-granted characters are revealed. What I enjoy about suspense stories such as these is that the author leaves bread crumbs at the end of each chapter big enough to satisfy your craving the last chapter left you, but small enough to keep you following the trail. While I don’t pride myself in being able to predict endings (though I see it as having little value in truly enjoying a good story), I found myself saying, “I know this will be important, but where, how, when and why?” It is of moderate length that reads quickly and is certainly entertaining. Its greatest strength is the development of its characters (I didn’t even mention C.J.’s mother, Lynn, or his pastor, Fr. Mark). Its weakness would have to be its level of suspense, which I don’t find incredibly important, even for a suspense story. If there is moderate suspense, which is present here, and the other, most important aspects are solid (characters, plot continuity, believability with supernatural elements, etc.), then it is still a good story that happens to be suspenseful, which I would consider this. A higher endorsement than it appears I believe. It is worth a purchase, a read and solid afternoon’s discussion with a friend or two, and if nothing more is said about it than that, it’s worth the approximately $10 it’ll cost.

Original publication year: 2014

Pages: approx. 308