Schlocky, gory, over-the-top fun. While there are cliches in this, they're not utilized in a bad way. The writing is entertaining and engaging, which is a common thing for Waggoner. I also appreciate the inclusion and rounded portrayal of minority characters, including a trans character.

Something is happening in the town of Echo Springs. The dead are coming back...

Randy Herrera was the first. Eddie has mourned the loss of his little brother for decades after he drowned in a terrible accident. And it's taken that long for Eddie to get over his fear of water. None of that matters when Randy comes back, though. Because he's taking Eddie with him this time!

All over town, people are faced with dead friends and relatives. No one knows why they're back but it's clear they're determined to increase their ranks, taking as many of Echo Springs' living as they can!

Tim Waggoner is something of a legend in the horror world. With umpteen short stories under his belt and almost as many books, he is definitely someone every horror fan should be reading! (Plus, he's a pretty nice dude!)

We Will Rise is a fun and creepy ghost story. Definitely different from anything else I've read in quite a while.

A town plagued by its dead—and they're not zombies! That alone makes this a stand out :)

If you're looking for a great chiller to read this summer, you should absolutely add We Will Rise to your TBR pile!

GHost madness as you've never experienced it before....unless you've read Tim Waggoner. He's an original and his horror is as wild and unbound as you will find! WE WILL RISE continues Waggoners' legacy of unique horror! 4 stars!!!!

I kind of seem to remember liking Waggoner’s work back in the day. But tastes change. Optimally, evolve. Mine did. Which reading his work now just…not acceptable.
Mind you, it is very much an acquired taste sort of thing and will likely work for some genre fans – it just depends on what you’re looking for, what you’re reading for.
If you like your scares deeply steeped in gore, guts, and viscera…then by all means.
If you prefer strong writing, sustained psychological suspense, a well-crafted atmosphere, cleverness, good compelling characters, etc…pass this by. Wish I did.
Waggoner goes with gore, in favor of all other elements. Severe, baby exploding sort of gore. Which, if you’re not really into it, just comes across as gross and vulgar.
And if you are really into it…well, that’s kind of alarming in its own right. But hey, you got company – just look a the other reviews of this.
Anyway…the basic plot here is that the dead are coming back to life and doing terrible things to the living. That’s it. That’s how the book was probably sold. Although you’d hope Flame Tree Press would have a more sophisticated taste.
Should one be able to describe a book simply? Well, maybe a book like this.
There’s a bunch of characters, each of them introduced as a separate storyline only to have them converge at the end. Waggoner’s character writing isn’t very good. (Neither is his writing in general, though he’s been at it for so long, he can probably churn out schlock like this in his sleep.) The stiltedness and triteness of the first chapters demonstrates this especially. Almost amateurish. And very, very basic. So basic that a racist bigoted and all-around prejudiced character is named Karen.
Anyway, he goes for quantity over quality, so you end up with too many characters of low to no engaging factors. And then…guts and gore.
Overall, disgusting. And a total waste of time. Thanks Netgalley.

I'm not a big fan of horror, or at least not as much as my husband. Some of them hit much too close to home, in the sense that it's not entirely improbable for such stories to actually happen in real life. This novel turned out to be one of those, and I give it five stars for the simple fact that it took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride, which is more than I can say for jump scares and VFX in horror films/shows. I was creeped out and genuinely horrified by a lot of the scenes - the baby, the teeth, the book, the eyes, and more - and eventually distressed by where the story was heading. By where HUMANITY was heading. 😨

I don't think I'll have the energy to read this all over again, which is rare for something I give five stars, but I won't be able to stop thinking and talking about it for sure! Maybe it's just me as a reader, but I found a lot of things to unpack and reflect on. Great job to Tim for managing all that!

Oh, and the ending - it won't be for everyone. I liked it, but it might already be too late for some, especially those who like their happily ever afters. This is just not that kind of book, but it's not hopeless either.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING: The Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list or even know to check if they downloaded properly, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

The dead are killing the living to make more dead. They come in all forms from spectral to evil apparitions. This book was eerie and chilling. It was a perfect book for October. I read this dark tale with all the lights on and then I was afraid to go to sleep. It's horror at it's very best. Read it.

This multi-layered narrative strong horror story from the mind of Waggoner is a sure fire winner that fires on all narratives and gives an interesting view on what would happen if the dead should be brought to our world.

This character driven story is well managed with a strong narrative that enables things to build slowly to their exploding finale. The characters are strong and three dimensional and you care about them which is sometimes lacking in a book of this ilk. Waggoner has shown that he can take a large cast and manage them excellently within the confines the story telling.

The narrative is strong and though this could have been a tangled mess in a less experienced writer, Waggonner evenly paces to ensure that this does not happening. Even in the explanation of why and how the events happen are plausible in this world. This is a real treat for horror and thriller readers because you never quite know where it will go and how it ends and it keeps you on your toes through each metered plot.

Overall, this is an excellent read and one that many will enjoy from the horror and thriller and ask questions of those that die, how restful are they really? I highly recommend this book for its originality, characters and a plot that is unstoppable and not able to be put down. A real page turner. Excellent.

A gripping beginning to a story that never slows down. Lots of great characters and vivid macabre imagery. The ending did fall a little flat though. Hopefully it's just a set up for a sequel. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately, there's little substance to particular book by Tim Waggoner. The body horror and gore overshadows the story. Horror stories should be uncomfortable, but this one becomes an assembly line of gross moments, that just numbs you and removes any entertainment value.
Sorry, this book was a miss. Which surprises me, because I have a good number of books by Tim Waggoner.
Oh well, looking forward to his next book.

I am still not really sure what the point of this book was and can't really say more about the plot or it would spoil what tiny plot it has.

So this book was just a bunch of body horror and gross gore and I really didn't care if any of the characters lived or died. It also had a few things I am just not a fan of in it and those are personal preferences but those were more like eye roll moments, but it was the fact that I just didn't feel like anything happened but gore that made me not that interested in this book.

Maybe I am just not as big of a horror fan as I once was but this was just a dud for me.

This book pulled me right in and kept me turning the pages. The creepy atmosphere and storyline kept me on the edge of my seat.

This was a book that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I’ve always wanted to find a book that could freak me out and reading this before bed, not going to lie - pretty freaky.

SPOILERS !!

I started off loving this book and what I thought it had in store. But 2/3 of the way in, I felt that it couldn’t be over fast enough. And the ending was kind of eh with the normal B horror movie cliche that they drive off into the sunset of the unknown and an apocalyptic world.

I absolutely love Shudder and have seen every horror movie, so you'd think that I'd definitely be the target audience for this. But I like a tiny bit of deeper meaning to go along with my horror. Maybe horror movies are just different in that you only sit through 2 hours max of gore in your face. But reading this every night for hours and hours got to be a bit depressing. It was just gore after gore after gore and never let up and I felt SO exhausted in a bad way.

I'm sorry! I wanted to like it!

The dead want payback and return to haunt their former loved ones

Tim Waggoner is undoubtedly one of the busiest authors in the horror business, writing well over twenty novels since appearing on the scene two decades ago. Those I have read include They Kill (2019), The Forever House (2020) and The Mouth of the Dark (2018) all of which have eye-catching plots but are relatively restrained in comparison to the supernatural madness featured in his latest offering We Will Rise. This was a particularly intense novel and I sped through the unrelenting 294 pages in no time whatsoever.

We Will Rise is presented in the same way as an anthology film with an ensemble cast of characters, who have their own unique narratives which are nicely developed particularly in the first half, which eventually converge together as crisis kicks in. Not everybody featured are good guys and I enjoyed the fact that it was not initially clear which side of the fence each of the protagonists sat on, with some turning into real evil and nasty pieces of work. If you like your violence bloody and creative there is much to savour here also (if this is not your cup of tea then you better avoid) including necrophilia, young children exploding like balloons, a woman ripping her own eyes out, and a dead baby ghost trying to force itself into the throat of its mother to renter the womb! It’s wild stuff and the characters truly go through the wringer.

The sheer level of visual creativeness of We Will Rise was outstanding and I did not think Waggoner would be able to pull it off for nearly 300-pages, but somehow he kept it going. There were several genuinely nasty creations, but my personal favourite was probably a giant tooth monster which also had tiny real people implanted into it. What made them more unpleasant was the fact that the entities had personal connections with those they were both hunting and haunting.

We Will Rise starts fast and quickly turns into a high-speed train wreck which is set over a noticeably short space of time in the small town of Echo Hill, Ohio. Eddie Herrera is having a shower and has a flashback to when his young brother drowns on a fishing trip with his father decades earlier. Whilst bathing he sees his brother’s ghost who pulls him into the water (whilst he is in the shower) and drowns him, telling him with great glee that his death is long overdue. Eddie’s wife returns home from work to find him curled up on the floor dead. And so, the hauntings begin.

After Eddie’s death sets the scene, the novel then moves into the afore mentioned anthology mode and introduces Mari, Faizan, Oliver, Karen, Jerome and Julie a chapter at a time. Obviously, each of the six characters has their own personal demons, problems and lives and the supernatural occurrence which is at the centre of the book impacts them all in unique ways. Having six distinct character with their own back stories was a smart way of keeping the story fresh and I enjoyed seeing how they interconnected together, some much quicker than others. Waggoner also spent time building interesting back stories, such as a transgender boy (Oliver) and a woman recovering from a miscarriage (Mari).

The core plot was an ingenious idea: all across the world people are being haunted by somebody from their past. The novel focusses entirely on Echo Hill and as readers we are not privy to the bigger picture except through random snatches of television and what starts as isolated incidents begins to spread and impact more people. I loved the way this supernatural ripple was portrayed through the destruction of this small town and how the internal demons varied. For example, Faizan is haunted by his dead father who saw him as a failure, whilst paramedic Julie is persecuted by all the people she failed to save, whether it was her fault or not. This was genuine, in-your-face, supernatural horror and if you enjoy no holds bar fiction which ramps up the action then this is a great read. Unrelenting action does not mean the novel lacks suspense or creepiness with the dead baby and sleazeball serial killer obsessed librarian hard to beat in those stakes. The fact that the entities liked to torment before killing added another unsettling dimension as the cross section of survivors were hunted by their very own demons who did not want to necessarily kill them straight of the bat.

The six characters are initially presented as interconnected short stories and the blending was first rate as they did their best to hold onto their sanity. Six perspectives were a nice number which helped portray the apocalypse through a wide lens. This was visceral stuff and a highly entertaining fast paced read which was a bleak exploration of the human psyche.

This story begins in Echo Hill, Ohio where the dead are beginning to appear and causing death and destruction to whoever happens to be in their way. People everywhere are glued to their cell phones and televisions not believing what they are witnessing. At first most people think the crazy videos are a hoax until the deathly apparitions continue appearing all over the world. Whatever these evil entities are they are all communicating that is finally time for the Big Event and only they know the secret to the world's devastation that they are happily enoying watching and causing but they are telling their victims "The Homecoming" is almost here and then all the people left alive will all belong to the dead when "The Homecoming" arrives in it's blazing horrifying finale.

The book sounds pretty intriguing, right? Well it was certainly horrifying and over-the-top with all the gruesome murders and I was intrigued who until forty percent into the story. First I must say Tim Waggoner can be wonderful horror writer and this book will be appreciated by the majority of hard-core horror fans but sadly this book wasn't for me. Action? So much bloody action and I mean Bloody action that wouldn't quit until the very end of the book but the point of the story was lost to me. I kept reading because I wanted to know why all these entities (not quite ghosts) appeared in the first place and what "The Homecoming" was all about and who or what was the leader in this supernatural invasion. Well, I read the entire book and finally found out "Nothing"! To me this was a definite cliffhanger which I can't stand if I don't know it's coming so I'm prepared for such a disappointed and let down feeling that I experienced.. I felt like I wasted a lot of my time on death in every disturbing, disgusting and deplorable form anyone can imagine! I'm sorry but I felt cheated and expected more quality substance to this horror book and I have absolutely no desire to read a book two if there is one.

Trigger Warnings: Every disturbing, disgusting and gruesome death one can think of. Rape, Abuse of a corpse, Physical, Sexual,Emotional abuse, Profanity, Torture, Blood &Gore, Blood &Gore and more Blood & Gore,

I want to thank the publisher " Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital copy and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this book a rating of 2 GRUESOME AND BLOODY 🌟🌟 STARS!!

An excellent horror read. People are coming back from the dead--I was hooked immediately. It's chaos. So many characters and so much going on. Violence. Terror. And oh so many questions. I zoomed through this, unable to put it down. I'll be looking for more from this author for sure.

As always I want to start by saying that I was given an ARC of this to review. My review is honest and left voluntarily.

We Will Rise has the staples of Waggoner’s story telling with a narrative that will appeal to anyone who loves horror greats such as The Walking Dead, Day of the Dead or Evil Dead Army of Darkness. Fair warning this contains a lot of gore but with a hint of dark humour to even things out.

Across the world the dead are reappearing, some as ghosts, some invisible, some as walking corpses. In Echo Hill, Ohio a group of survivors end up coming together to try and escape the vengeful dead and escape the town. But each is plagued by their own haunting and even if they make it will they still be sane?

The premises already had me interested but Waggoner’s storytelling and style manages to bring it to life (pun intend) in a way that makes this an addictive read. From the first few pages I was hooked. With a cross section of interesting characters each trying to survive the onslaught of a vengeful undead. It’s unnerving at times, unsettling and visceral. Everything you could want from a good horror book.

As always the characters are fleshed out, each with their own flaws and strengths. It might just be me but not all of them were likable either but I felt this made it all the more believable. I will definitely be re-reading this when it is spooky season arrives. A must read for horror fans who love guts and gore but more than that who love to explore the human psyche in times of unspeakable horror.

We Will Rise
Author: Tim Waggoner
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Release date: 19th July 2022

"Homecoming – the fun doesn’t end until you do!"

Eddie Herrera is a busy guy, working nights in his town of Echo Springs and getting home late enough to make breakfast, spend time with his wife Anna and see the kids off to school before falling in bed.
Afterwards, he takes his shower, disturbed by memories of his young brother who drowned.
But these are not memories.
It's the start of Homecoming ...and the dead are rising.

Each beginning chapter we see a different narrative POV, as an unusual 'ghost' or 'spirit' comes back to haunt the person in their lives. The bullying parent who comes to one college student, Faizan, tells him that they're coming and there will be more. Just as young Oliver, his mom Emily, Julie a paramedic, Mari and Karen also see family and friends return.
These are all quite dark, some grisly, but I have to admit I snorted at one scene with a couple of hapless rednecks who take stupid to a whole new level.
Despite the odd bits of humour, and some great characters we get to know quite well, the body count is high and the gore and blood level is even higher.
Think Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy's Revenge.
Strike that - think Prince of Darkness - it's apocalyptic level fatalities.
There are some seriously, visceral, freaky and absurd things happening in the town of Echo Springs as the inhabitants - worldwide as well - run round like headless chickens fighting animated pieces of metal, rivers of blood, exploding bodies and reality swerving out of control.
Amidst those fleeing for safety, are the ones who exist in the dark, and the current spread of death gives them a chance to thrive and enjoy the carnage.
For those few, like Jerome, it's an opportunity to cause suffering and revel in it.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the 'person' who speaks to him, is called Randall (think Randall Flag). As for Karen, well, the memes have nothing on her and it's fun to see her story arc.
Characters like Oliver Faizan and Julie show the best of humanity whilst Jerome and others like him show the worst.
With its religious iconography, self-proclaimed prophets, evil vs good, and infinite bloodshed, this felt as monumental as The Stand or The Mist.
With that comparison, I feel it would make a terrific film or TV show.
It has everything; violence, gore, a broad depth of characters, backstory, biblical level destruction and potential heroes as well as villains. Though I would give a bit of content warning here, in regards to the loss of children.
This may affect some readers, so proceed with caution.
Otherwise, bloody awesome!
I want myself a lovely, shiny Flame Tree Press hardback of this to keep on my shelves and one day get signed.
It's pretty much as bat-sh** crazy as it sounds and I think this is the most twisted and extreme thing I've ever read of Waggoner's.
And the ending is one that will stay with me a while; definitely food for thought.
I loved every second of it.

What if dead people in your life suddenly reappear? And they were mean and vengeful? And that is despite them being loving and good people when they were still living.

This is the premise of this novel and I find the interpretation of the author really interesting. And WARNING, there are loads of gore. And the extent of how these vengeful ghosts started killing people was really creative. And I liked how some characters, due to the circumstance, started standing up to their demons. Both literally and metaphorically.

My only misgiving was that the killings, despite their creativity, get tedious. That is especially if you’re already more than halfway through the book and there was still no explanation of the phenomenon.

I don’t read much horror but this book gives a new perspective on the ‘what if’ questions about dead people coming back. Which any ghost/horror fans will find to be a treat.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.