I Will Rise

There is a point in Calvillo's I WILL RISE when the main character learns his hand harnesses a power that will bring death, either death in twenty-four hours time or almost instantaneously, depending on the duration of the touch, and to add to that concept, he is told he must touch EVERYBODY and destroy all of humanity. This intriguing idea does not fully manifest itself early on. As a reader, I was not enthralled with the initial fifty pages--- I thought that the prose was too long and self-absorbed and concentrated too much on the foibles of humanity. In other words, I was ready to shout in an old lady's voice, "Where's the horror?" Well, the horror comes folks. The horror comes from every direction like a series of avalanches that thoroughly slam your ignorant carcass to the earth. Calvillo does something daring for weird fiction, as well as horror fiction, and he also manages to wrangle popular fiction in the process. My fascination for the characters' dilemmas grew by every turning page and all the prose that had once seemed too overwhelmed with free-thought shakes off the dust. In the last twenty pages the novel transforms into something vicious, dazzling, and infamous. This was an investment that paid one hundredfold. So much in fact, I'd like to reread the first fifty pages for more answers to all the strangled questions Calvillo leaves swinging from the gallows. I give this five dripping black tentacles up in the air. Sky high.

Calvillo has concocted something brilliant for his first novel. While purple prose, long descriptions, narrative tangents, and monologues slow down the pace, Calvillo's characters give the story an undeniable heartbeat. Charles, the protagonist, is the best kind of anti-hero: an ugly outcast, conflicted and insecure, who simultaneously wishes to destroy and fit into the society that has alienated him; he repulses as much as he engrosses, and he quickly becomes a strangely likable and sympathetic underdog. Eddie, a five-year-old genius who Charles unwittingly kidnaps, derives from the prodigy archetype, made original by his fears and perceptions and also by his effect on Charles, a softening effect that leads the protagonist to an epic internal conflict: destroy the world because of its ugliness and its hate, or save it because of its beauty and its love? Annabelle, Charles' love interest who first appears as a sexy redhead illusion, guides him on his tour of worldly destruction, an outcast like him, fat and blind and just as eager to exterminate the human race. Ironically, she becomes one of Charles' reasons to preserve humanity--but is he more willing to destroy the world in order to please her? Overall, an excellent debut novel with living, breathing characters who reflect the dreams and fears of us all.

Calvillo's book is excellent for the intellectual literary reader. It's captivating, ingenious, stimulating, and definitely a page turner. Calvillo is a young writer with veteran expertise in his writing skills. I recommend his book with five stars and two thumbs up!!

What a stunning debut. I Will Rise grabs you and doesn't let go. Charles Baxter, the dysfunctional protagonist of this trippy horror story, is one of those rare literary characters that worms his way under your skin. Highly recommended!

Written in the first-person, in present-tense, I Will Rise is fast-paced and insistent. Fans of apocalytic horror will more than likely enjoy the afflicted hero, and his strange place in the world.