Evil Rises by Errol Barr describes the story of Satan's epic defeat, when God blessed the royal family of an ancient nation, and obliterated his evil ways. Now, Satan is looking for some payback and has found it in the guise of his new master plan: Evil. Rock stars. The pacing was quite rapid. In a few pages alone, we experience the death of Tiridates' wife and first encounter with Satan, and then just a few pages later there have been years and months of war and famine that have ravaged the lands and turned his people against him. Yet this king's fight is not the only battle in the book, in fact it's just the prologue. Every 50-100 pages or so, we jump to a new battle, a new fight with Satan for good and for evil. There were a lot of different characters and many small stories going on in the overall scheme of the book, which was cool. While there were many characters, I think I enjoyed the roles of Avery Johnson and Bentley in LA the best.

The writing was technically and grammatically well done. There was nary a mistake in the telling or description, for which I was very appreciative. The story flow itself, however, fell a little flat. I would have liked to see a clearer picture of the young evil rock geniuses, and of the settings where the different characters resided. It was like a blurry black and white photograph of people and events, and I would have preferred both HD and in color. Errol Barr has created something utterly unique in the horror genre. It has its tense moments, but overall the horror in Evil Rises is the idea that evil is around us at all times, and we might not know what form it takes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5Outstanding, well written, highly recommended!!!
ByLouie Alvarezon June 10, 2012
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
I've been reading Kindle eBooks for the last two years since I bought my iPad, since then having upgraded to the iPad 2. Books on the iPad Kindle app are a joy to read, day or night, and I've purchased and read upwards of a hundred eBooks in that time frame. My chosen genre is violent novels, I truly enjoy the bad guy having a chance to win, most books always end with the good guy winning but in the real world I don't feel that is very accurate. This first book of the Superstars Trilogy has captured that so well that I felt I had to write a review. After upwards of a hundred eBooks this is the very FIRST review I've ever written! Rise of Satan is that good and I wanted to be the first reviewer of this novel and put my opinion of this novel in writing that I personally highly recommend.

As I stated having read upwards of a 100 Kindle eBooks, plus hundreds of books over the past three+ decades I must honestly say that I was expecting little from his book as the author is an unknown, no track record and no history of other books, short stories, nothing, this obviously is his first novel.

BUT the well-designed, attention grabbing book cover caught my attention and I was most intrigued by the book description. After starting off with the prologue giving a base starting point of Satan's defeat by God and coming up with a master plan for revenge and destruction of mankind I was instantly caught up in the story. So much so I completed the 7992 location (not sure how that correlates to pages) eBook in only a couple of days. You know a book is good when you can't put it down at the expense of family, work, life, etc. :)

Many books I've read in the past have put Satan into somewhat of a human personality, a nice easy going kinda fella. Not so with Rise of Satan, the description of this evil entity is well thought out. Satan IMHO is a vicious brute, with no remorse, no morals, no value for life, despises God and mankind and his personality and character should capture that. Kudos to the author, he has done a magnificent job of painting a picture of the most vicious creature that Satan should be and the lengths he will go through to make its point. Well done indeed! Needless to say the havoc he wrecks upon his chosen victims is nothing short of brilliant.

Now after reading many great novels the best in my opinion are able to take characters from all walks of life, create their background to make a connection to the reader and give them their own life and personality that later in the novel they meet and interact well together. In Rise of Satan there are 7 couples spread across the world that each have a unique city, lifestyle, language, religion, etc. The author did such a magnificent job of painting the picture in my mind to make the connection, to recognize the area described and make that character flow perfectly with their element. Most impressive, I would say this word picture painting is on par with some of the well known, well established authors of today and that is what makes this author so impressive, it's his only book that I could locate. I see a future for this writer and a possible movie based on the Superstars Trilogy.

A highly recommended read, not for the faint of heart, maybe not even for the under aged, although I have my 13 year old reading it and she is thoroughly enjoying it as well. I've already gifted this novel to my wife and mom so I stand behind the recommendation as it is a very well written novel. Satan is painted as the monster he should be, the characters and their encounter with Satan are well thought out and the ending leaves the reader in anticipation for the next release of this trilogy.

My only complaint is that I have to wait for the next novel, bummer :(

5A diabolical novel of good vs evil
ByThe Curious Dameon November 5, 2012
Format: Paperback
Superstars by author Errol Barr is a novel about the Devil that spans the centuries. It begins in the early days of 400 A.D. where the Devil vanquishes a queen in order to convince the king to eliminate Christianity. When he refuses, it unleashes the Devil's wrath that continues forth into the future to modern day.

The author skillfully weaves together numerous subplots relating to Satan. The dastardly wrath of the Devil progresses as the story unfolds, holding the readers interest. It is very much a story about good vs. evil, of faith vs. doubt, of love vs. hate. Beautifully edited and invisibly written, it is easy to fall into the story because of the easy-to-read prose. Despite the numerous characters and complex plot, the story is easy to follow and one to enjoy.

5Were the Seven Children Blessed? or Cursed?
Byopalfireon November 22, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
Good e-book, I had a problem, finding, the Kindle book, when you click on the link it takes you to the paper copy, also the Name is
different on the e-book(Kindle). To use Music, to spread evil, is a new concept, but when you think about it some Christians have been saying this for years. "The Devil's music, dance, ect... The Children seem to have been Blessed with musical talent, this book opens the readers eyes to the fact, that the talent was a curse instead of a Blessing.
I couldn't put this book down, it was so interesting, I like reading about the peoples history, it makes the book longer, but I loved it.
I downloaded this e-book from Story Cartel to read and leave an honest review. Satan, Lucifer, ect... was filled with hate for all mankind, that didn't serve him. This is a great first book, I plan to read more of this Trilogy.
Opalfire

4An Interesting Tale of Good v. Evil
ByDyingAnubis "Literature Lover"on November 18, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for my honest review. My review contains no spoilers.

This is a classic tale of good v. evil spanning most of modern history. Starting in 400 CE and moving into the present, this book is not what one would consider a "light read."

There are multiple plots and subplots, connected only by the thread of the demonic. There are a lot of characters, including the star of the book, Satan, that needs to be followed and understood.

The prose was eloquent and the book moved at a good pace. Take a chance and grab a copy!

Epicly unique; a modern take on the struggles between God fearing men and Satanic temptation.
BySon August 19, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition
Sex. In the opening line we're presented with a sex scene gone wrong.

Tiridates (aged 68!) is having sex with his wife when the Devil appears and demands that Tiridates work for him to end the spread of Christianity in Armenia. As a show of force he kills Queen Bitus and threatens Tiridates' seven sons.

In a fit of defiance Tiridates goes the other way becoming a St Patrick like evangelist for the Christian movement and laying the groundwork for the events that follow.

Civil war in Armenia is spectacularly concluded in 'Prologue, part 2' with Satan being denied his conquest and forced to revert to a less obvious plan.

Fast forward from 400 AD to the present and Satan's work is seen in a variety of locations from Maracaibo to Ireland and even Hollywood we see a blend of ethnicities and socioeconomic groups that give the story a very metropolitan feel. This is done through a number of, at first, unconnected threads; a paranormal strangulation in Venezuela, a 'girl next door' style romance at the Fenway that spans a generation in a chapter (giving a rich back-story to James and Nancy) and a demonic rape resulting in a pregnancy that cannot be terminated on pain of death.

These disparate subplots are tied together by Satanic involvement. The Prince of Darkness has moved from an all out war brute force approach as seen in the prologue to subtle coercion and subjugation of the human race. This in an intricately plotted novel. If an analogy to existing stories could be made then it would be the horsemen of the apocalypse reincarnate. At the heart of this novel is the tension between selfish desire and faith and the spectrum of responses that this engenders in the human condition. Priests and parishioners, Oxford grads and the great unwashed, Barr gives a firsthand view of characters from all walks of life. Described as an epic struggle, Rise of Satan is definitely epic in nature. At 436 estimated pages it is certainly a tome-like fantasy, and this is only a third of the overall storyline.

One nice touch in the quality of this book is the use of dividers between chapter which comes in the form of a beautiful Gothic image of a gargoyle and wrought iron which separates each scene neatly. For a novel of this magnitude the formatting is excellent and the linguistic style is consistent throughout

There are quite a lot of characters to keep track of. With 47 chapters (plus a 2 part prologue) this is to be expected. The end of this novel definitely leaves much ground left to cover which is no mean feat given how much has already been packed in. I'm looking forward to seeing how this is resolved particularly the mortal peril in which one character finds herself in the closing chapter. As a single volume this story does leave loose threads to be picked in the rest of the trilogy but the subplots stand on their own without issue. I do wonder whether the story could have benefitted from a little more trimming as, at this rate, the whole trilogy won't be far off the 2000 pages mark. Any concerns however are stylistic in nature and that always invites an element of subjectivity. The craft behind this is solid, and I highly recommend trying out the free sample to see if this is your cup of tea.

The question this stories begs is can the world be redeemed or will fire and brimstone consume us all as eternal damnation unfolds?

This has the potential to become a real classic in it's niche and is a unique examination of what it means to be human and whether spirituality has a place in a modern world. I look forward to checking out the next two instalments to see how Barr wraps this one up.

5A Page Turner
Bysjledge2on November 1, 2013
Format: Paperback
I received a free copy of the book to read and review. I couldn't put it down. It's well-written. It's has characters you'll love and some you'll hate. The plot is great and well-done. I look forward to reading the next book. I would highly recommend it to others.

4Book review
ByBlairon July 19, 2013
Format: Paperback
I would highly recommend this book as it was a real page turner with some exciting characters and a few surprise twists. There are characters that you will love and some you will hate. I'm really looking forward to the next book.

November 8, 2013
By Brian M.
Format:Kindle Edition
This book is filled with great twists and turns. It's a wild thrill ride, equal parts terrifying and horrifying. The story involves Satan rises through the use of his children gaining twisted power and exacting the devils plan. For horror fans and those just looking for a fast paced read with well defined characters and crisp prose, this book is for you.
Note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.