Synopses & Reviews
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
“Christopher Rice is a magician. This brilliant, subtly destabilizing novel inhales wickedness and corruption and exhales delight and enchantment. Rice executes his turns, reversals, and surprises with the pace and timing of a master.
The Heavens Rise would not let me stop reading it--that's how compelling it is.”
Review
“Christopher Rice has crafted a rich and haunting world in
The Heavens Rise. This story of a tormented family and the events that have led to their destruction and onward into the future is tense, tight, disturbing and made very real by a very talented author who obviously knows his way around the Big Easy. An excellent read!”
Review
"Christopher Rice never disappoints with his vivid people and places and masterful prose. He will hold you captive under his spell as his images and emotions become your own."
Review
"A masterful coming-of-age novel...Rice's characters are complex and real, his dialogue pitch-perfect, and his writing intelligent and strong. He builds suspense beautifully...amid enduring philosophical questions about what it means to be human."
Review
"Christopher Rice has written an amazing horror novel with more twists and turns than a mountain road. You'll think you know your destination . . . but you'll be wrong."
Review
"Creepy, chilling, and almost impossible to put down...a page-turner."
Review
"With rich, multi-layered characters merging into the lush backdrop of pre- and post-Katrina, south Louisiana, Rice had my attention from the start...every twist and unexpected revelation fell into place smoothly and kept me engaged...looking forward to the next amazing story."
Review
“Deep within the swamps outside New Orleans, Niquette Delongpre and her family unearth a well that brings secrets to the surface – secrets that should have stayed buried in the soils of the Mississippi river. The author – son of Anne Rice – has written a creepy, intriguing and dangerously addictive supernatural novel.”
Review
"The Heavens Rise is an entertaining and chilling story published just in time for Halloween."
Review
"This is Rice’s best book to date, with evocative language, recurring themes and rich storytelling that will raise the hairs on the back of the neck. It rivals the best of Stephen King at times and sets a standard for psychological horror."
Review
“THE HEAVENS RISE is an eerie tale of the supernatural set against the backdrop of the swamps of New Orleans. Christopher Rice does a marvelous job at incorporating the imagery of New Orleans into the tale... [He] expertly weaves together the past and the present as the tale alternates back and forth between the timeframes, giving us the full history of the four main characters and how they ended up as they are today… it is the strength of the character building and the richness of the imagery that makes THE HEAVENS RISE so chilling...I can't recommend THE HEAVENS RISE enough!”
Review
Rice draws upon his New Orleans roots to create at Louisiana that may seem familiar but is a bit more terrifying, bringing about a perfect blend of spooky and memorable...the depth of character, chilling atmosphere and moral dilemma are all marks of a superb story."
Review
“Tense, gripping, gory at times, "The Heavens Rise" is every bit the novel one would expect from, well, someone like his mom.”
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice returns to New Orleans in this supernatural novel featuring a group of teenagers who find themselves with mysterious and dangerous powers.My name is Niquette Delongpre and on the night before my mother's forty-seventh birthday, my entire family vanished without a trace.
About the Author
Christopher Rice is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. The son of author Anne Rice and the late poet Stan Rice, he was raised in New Orleans. He now resides in Los Angeles, where he is a cohost of the Internet radio program The Dinner Party Show with Christopher Rice & Eric Shaw Quinn.