Review of “Rising” by Elizabeth Marshall

“Rising” by Elizabeth Marshall begins with the life of Brody, a who is raised by a woman who is not his natural mother who had to give up her natural son to be raised by others.  As the boy grows up, he has an irrational intolerance for his family, and later his friends.  While demonstrating intelligence and aptitude to do anything he wants to do, he realizes most things he wants come easier to him than most around him.

When he becomes older, his irritation with his family and friends changes to absolute hatred leading him down a dark path of murder and treachery. He finds himself in a place in Scotland that exists outside of the time he once lived and meets many people that knew his natural mother, meets and faces the consequences with his natural father, and the son of the woman that raised him instead.  Brody remains incapable of opening his heart and changing his ways.  By the story’s end, the Brody finds that evil does come full circle, that horrific energy expelled may nourish something else altogether, creating another power.

“Rising” is a complex and clever ride, taking the reader not only into darkness, but also through time.   It is a skillful character study of how good becomes evil, how neutral remains neutral, and how good arises from it all.  Five stars!