Thursday 19 July 2012

The Rising by Will Hill


The Rising (Department 19, #2)Series: Department 19, Book Two
Publisher: HarperCollins Children'sBooks
Format: ARC
Published: 29th March 2012
Number of Pages: 704
Book: For Review*
Genre: Action-Adventure, Paranormal, Urban-Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Mystery, YA
Recommended Age: 13+
Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking References
Author's Blog: Will Hill

91 Days Till Zero Hour:
That’s 91 Days To Run
91 Days To Hide

Or 91 Days to Pray For Department 19 to save you…

After the terrifying attack on Lindisfarne, Jamie, Larissa and Kate are recovering at Department 19 headquarters, waiting for news of Dracula’s stolen ashes.
They won’t be waiting for long.
Vampire forces are gathering.
Old enemies are getting too close.
And Dracula… is rising.


                                                                   Review:
Run, hide, pray, fight.  Whatever you do, you must know: Dracula has risen and Department 19 have just nine days to track him down and kill him, before he grows too strong and wreaks his revenge upon the world...
It's been seventeen weeks since Lindisfarne and Jamie, Larissa and Kate are settling into life at Department 19.  Jamie's made a name for himself, having killed one of the oldest vampires alive.  Not, of course, that has made the other agents any fonder of him. 
But something is stirring.  Vampires are gathering, preparing. 
Dracula is rising. 
It's 91 days until Zero Hour. 
Who knows what will happen... 
I adored Department 19, so much so that once I'd finished if I simply had to read The Rising!  And, boy, did it not let me down!  Action-packed, adrenaline-fuelled and utterly addictive, I read the 700-something paged book in a blur, hooked to every single word, as the days until Zero Hour counted down.  And oh my God, this was so, so much more awesome than the first book!  I simply cannot wait until the next one in the series!
I loved all of the characters to pieces: Will Hill remains the master of making in-it-for-one-chapter characters that jump off the page.  And his main characters are just so loveable it’s untrue.  Jamie is just the perfect hero: sweet, brave, strong, brainy and so, so real.  He may have been a kickbutt boy agent, but he was also just that: a boy, only seventeen.  While he struggled with his emotions at times and occasionally lost his temper, I adored the sweet, loving boy beneath the tough exterior.  The fact he isn’t perfect and makes mistakes just made me love him all the more: in fact, I have a serious book-boy-crush on him.  As for Larissa: she is so awesome!  Admittedly, super vamp powers and teen hormones weren’t such a great mix, but she was so caring and loving; I just loved the vampire girl to pieces.  Kate was brilliant: strong, determined, level-headed and so kind to everyone – especially the new vampires.  I loved seeing how she’s grown.  And Matt, who you may remember from Book One as the boy who was attacked, woke up in the Loop and faked amnesia, was such an awesome character.  He was super clever, like genius clever, as well as sweet, determined, enthusiastic and just darn adorable!  Valentine Rusmanov just has to be mentioned, ‘cause his dark sense of humour just killed me.  Plus, not an “immortal psychopath” like his brother Alexandru, so huge improvement there!  I liked him – I’m not sure if I was meant to, but I did. 
Will Hill isn’t just amazing at characters, though.  His writing, plot-designing and world-building is just as incredible.  His writing is action-packed, addictive and full of flashbacks, letting us see into all the character’s minds, both in the present and the past.  When describing science-based scenes, lots of writers talk down to us, treating us like we can’t understand.  Will Hill did not: we were told in a simple way, but he didn’t talk down to us, not even once.  That particularly struck me about the writing.  As for the action: just whoa.  From the very first page to the very last, The Rising was action-packed, addictive, a non-stop adrenaline rush that lasted 703 pages.  Bloody, violent and amazingly kickbutt, I found the action addictive, which obviously made the twisty, mysterious plot even more stunning and amazing.  And this plot, quite literally, left me speechless.  Multiple times.  I’ve never found a plot as marvellously twisty and unpredictable as this: love it!  The mythology is stunning: utterly new but traditional.  I love that we now know more about Dracula’s origins, but some parts are still left a total mystery.  I wanna join Department 19 so I can know everything.  It’s a serious plan.  ‘Cause I love this world.  As in: "Please, please, PLEASE let me be a Department 19 agent!!" kinda love.  I love the science, the department, the people, the weapons.  My bags are packed.  I’m moving in as soon as possible.  Seriously.
With action, romance, suspense and bundles of awesomeness, The Rising just blew me away.  I loved every single moment, unable to put the book down.  Sure, this is a horror-action book, but it has such strong family and friendship themes, ones that are really sweet and believable and just make me smile.  And the way Will Hill links all the different stories together, twisting and twining them is just amazing, beautiful, perfect and just so utterly unique.  This is, without a doubt, one of my favourite series ever!  Will Hill, I shall be anxiously awaiting your next book - I know it will be amazing!
James Bond with cooler weapons, kickbutt teens and vampires!  Forget 007 and give me Department 19 any day!

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5





Read this book if you liked:
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare


Challenges It's Taking Part In:

Happy Reading
Megan
* This book was received from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review

1 comment:

Nina @ Death, Books, and Tea said...

Great review! I love this series so much...all that action and gore and epicness...Can't wait to see what happens in the other two books and Will's standalone thing.Great to see you enjoyed it too!