Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Arisen #12

Carnage

Rate this book
Between love and savagery, only one can survive - and only one will prove stronger than death.

ALPHA TEAM LOOKS THE DEVIL IN THE EYE
After recovering Patient Zero, Alpha must escape Africa to end the ZA once and for all. But they can feel the hot breath of a reinforced and vengeful Spetsnaz team on their necks – and there can be no escaping the reckoning of an ultimate sniper showdown between Ali and Vasily, and an incomparably brutal iron-cage Texas deathmatch between Predator and Misha. For the first time, all the teams will come together and must fight as brothers, for any chance of making it back to Britain. And only one thing is certain – not everyone is walking away from this one…

ONE TROOP RALLIES AGAINST DECIMATION AND DEFEAT
After rescuing Aliyev, One Troop is pinned down in Red Square between a surging singularity and the merciless killers of Spetsnaz Alfa Group. They’re about to lose their second aircraft, they still don’t have the zombie-killing MZ, and the clock is ticking down on their pinhole of escape. Only the most vicious and desperate gambit can give them a chance of saving London, not to mention themselves – but Jameson refuses to fail…

THE CREW OF THE KENNEDY BATTLES BACK
With the bridge and most critical stations held by the world’s deadliest maritime commando force, and Dr. Park pinned down by a smash-mouth battle and last stand in the ship’s hospital, time is running out for the shellshocked and outgunned crew of the JFK to fight back. The ultimate heroism and sacrifice of everyone from storekeepers all the way up to Commander Drake himself will be required to fight their way back from the brink…

Defiance. Valor. Consecration.
CARNAGE


ARISEN
Hope Never Dies.

494 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2016

404 people are currently reading
282 people want to read

About the author

Michael Stephen Fuchs

57 books490 followers
MICHAEL STEPHEN FUCHS is author of the #1 bestselling epic ARISEN series of special-operations military ZA novels, which have repeatedly been Amazon #1 bestsellers in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, #1 in Dystopian Science Fiction, #1 in Military Science Fiction, #1 in War Fiction, and #1 in War & Military Action Fiction, as well as Amazon overall Top 100 bestsellers. The series as a whole has sold over 1.5 million copies. The audiobook editions, performed by R.C. Bray, have generated over $5 million in revenue. He is also author of the D-Boys series of high-tech special-operations military adventure novels, which include D-Boys , Counter-Assault , and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2026); as well as the existential cyberthrillers The Manuscript and Pandora’s Sisters , both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation). He lives in London and blogs at www.michaelfuchs.org/razorsedge. You can follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, or by e-mail.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
981 (63%)
4 stars
427 (27%)
3 stars
122 (7%)
2 stars
14 (<1%)
1 star
7 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
Profile Image for Angela Verdenius.
Author 66 books677 followers
April 27, 2017
Oh cripes, this was such an action-packed ride, not to mention emotional. I'm going "nooooooo!" and "Yeaaaaaah!". I had to get up early in the morning for work, but regardless of that 5:30am alarm threatening in the distance, I didn't stop reading until I'd finished...at 1am LOL. Literally could not put the book down. Now I'm waiting for book 13 to be written and released. Even signed up for the release alert so I don't miss it!
116 reviews3 followers
September 8, 2016
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO SAY ANYMORE!!! I JUST DONT

This is the best military fiction series ever written! Hands down. I am a fan of Clancy, Thor, Flynn, etc. And Michael Fuchs has outdone them all. If you have said no to this series because you catch yourself thinking "zombies, wtf?" Or "apocalypse, etc?" Then I tell you this....that was me before I picked up the first book in this series on a whim. I will then tell you this....had I died without reading this series and then somehow in heaven learned how utterly awesome it was I WOULD ASK GOD TO SEND ME BACK TO EARTH SO I COULD KICK MY OWN ASS!! Go now and read the first book, but, click the Buy now button for this book because I PROMISE YOU, you will come looking for it in about ten days when you have finished the all of the other books in the series. Yep, ten days later you will have read the rest of them! Well done again Mr. Fuchs, can't thank you enough for the ride you have taken us all on.
Profile Image for Brian Switzer.
Author 4 books9 followers
November 28, 2016
I can't be the only person who thinks this.

A really enjoyable stand-alone yarn or one part of a really good series. Either way, I have just one question- is that the longest airport runway you've ever heard of? The last quarter of the book took place in a plane speeding down, then back up, a runway. A huge flaw that kept bring me out of an otherwise perfectly enjoyable story.
Profile Image for Ralph Wark.
345 reviews13 followers
September 19, 2016
Just...doesn't.....stop.....

This is th twelfth book of the Arisen series, I've read them all, including two books of side stories. I read books eleven and twelve quickly (the last in three days) so I'm kinda reviewing both here. So obviously, they are a can't put them down aspect, are immensely entertaining, and by now you are heavily invested in the characters, who are well written. I like the way Fuchs walks the line b





Between combat and personal life, the people are warriors but human, they have families, problems, and a strong bond between them. They go on missions, wing it heavily, and get creative. They are a microcosm of America and Great Britain, Predator, the Man mountain, Ali the sniper, Noise the Sikh commando, all who have a single goal; to come up with a cure for the Hergeisa virus.

The virus, like many, cause a zombie apocalypse, nothing new there. But as mutant strain of rabies, a Neuro virus, and one other (kind went blank) created as a bioweapon by Al Shabab, makes more sense than most. Fuchs juggles three disparate stories, two rescue missions and an assault by Spesnatz (Russian spec ops) on the last remaining carrier. He brings the three threads together beautifully, no mean feat, they happen in Somalia and Moscow.

There are two yet to be written novels to come, and I'll gleefully consume them when they appear. So yeah, highly recommended, and twelve books n it's way to complicated a story to summarize.

Try it, you'll like it.
Profile Image for Mark Corcoran.
37 reviews
June 22, 2017
Extended conflict between Allied and Russian commandos as they battle for control of patient zero during a time in the zombie apocalypse when the zombies for some reason are far less dangerous and prevalent. If not for my significant investment in many of the characters, it's possible that this would be the last book of this series I read. I'm hoping that the the next installment returns to a greater level of realism, turns down the hero worship of the operators, and covers more ground.
Profile Image for Shannon Seafish Lucy.
510 reviews3 followers
May 28, 2025
OK...I have not even bothered to write a review for this series since it is over a decade old and my 4 or 5 star ratings reflect that I have enjoyed the series very much.
This book, however well written it was, just absolutely jumped the shark for me. No one to warn about spoilers really, so it all came down to that far too extensive take off from the airport. Hell, even the fighting that got Alpha group to the airport was just too much.
But - if anyone cares to look at my timeline of reading - they will see that I knocked out like 16 books in 7 days. And that's because the writing, pacing, characters and storyline were compelling and very enjoyable. If one book could be kicked off the island, or out of the series as it were, it would definitely be this one.
Profile Image for Alex.
34 reviews
November 4, 2016
This series was unputdownable IMHO, I've read all 12 plus 2 prequels (which is where I'd recommend new readers to start)....

....However... Fuchs is a high-octane action fanatic: it's practically non-stop, which can be a problem. The breathing spaces are few and far between and the constant ratcheting up of the Michael Bay-esque explosive set-pieces becomes, well, unbelievable (I know, zombie book, but still)...

I think the battle on the carrier against the zombie singularity (including *spoiler* a nuke) may have been the apex. To try to top that, elite cut-out cardboard Spetsnaz baddies are introduced, even larger explosions (if possible) and more incredible escapes for (most of) our heroes.

The last section really just jumped the shark IMHO, involving all the ridiculous attributes of the A-Team, the Expendables, Blue Thunder, Red Dawn, the Green Berets and the Purple Rose of Cairo (maybe not the last one)! Hell every cliched TV show & movie you can imagine was referenced, ironically or not.

That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable and I will definitely read the last two, just to see how Fuchs can possibly top all that.

PS I've also read the series "Eden Plague" which, in a rather novel twist, the virus is actual good for humans, though through their own stupidity ends up not so good, with a body count as bad as 'Arisen''s! Why I bring this up is because the cast of 'Eden' usually end up infected and therefore can recover from horrendous injuries. Furthermore, with nanotech and cybernetics added later, they are a fairly capable lot (let's face it, humans are weak and pathetic without additional support). My whole gripe with 'Arisen' is that these ultra tough 'top-tier operators' (which is mentioned on every single page) are just humans - ones that rely on limited food and medication, yet still perform superhuman acts of endurance and survival! Yes, yes SEALs, SAS, elite blah blah - it only goes so far.

Nevertheless, like I said, entertaining for all that :-)

Profile Image for Sotos.
15 reviews
November 18, 2016
It used to be a nice series, but it went too far.
12 books and moving on. It is simply not possible to keep it interesting.
Repetitive, boring and with highly unrealistic (even considering the overall concept of the series) situations.
I had difficulty finishing this book.
Profile Image for Randy Harmelink.
934 reviews258 followers
March 4, 2018
Some of these action scenes are starting to bore me. They make me think of a fake wrestling match. And it seemed like the last third of this book covered a time period which wouldn't have been longer than 5, maybe 10, minutes.
Profile Image for Nannika.
256 reviews17 followers
August 1, 2017
Well....I decided to rate books 9, 10, 11 and 12 after I read all in one go. One right after the other. After a disappointing Book 8, I must say these 4 redeemed the tale. Seems like the authors got a bit lost in the tale and forgot the mission objective, but then refocused. This tale possessed such a human element to it. The atrocity and selfishness of humans in light of collective struggle. Amazing. That one should be more afraid of the living is so sad. I think we lost more chanracters in this tale to unnecessary death and destruction based on the wiles of humans than to the actual zombies. If I were a Russian though....I would feel real shame. They really painted Russians as blood thirsty, maniacal spawn from hell hell-bent on the movement of Mother Russia toward greatness at the peril of the rest of civilization...I guess even in an apocalypse, sharing is NOT caring. You can only hope these things will not come to pass right??

In any event, I felt like the story fell off the rails in Books 6-8...somewhere there. Can't remember which, but they came back on track within the last 4 books. Quite a tale, spanning approx 2-3 years of my reading life, because I can't remember when I started the first tale. I remember it gripped me for sure given the descriptive detail etc. Definitely a fresh take on the perspective. Versus all other books and even the Walking dead written from the perspective of survivors not knowing what was going on and just struggling to survive another day, no real world purpose in the grand scheme of things. But I am satisfied with the end. Did not leave me hanging. If I had known from before the tale spanned 12 books though doubt I would have read the first one. Longest series I ever read in my life. I never even read so many Nancy Drew books in my life yet. Lol
Profile Image for David Dalton.
3,060 reviews
December 16, 2020
I’m back. I was there at the beginning of this great sci-fi/action/military/zombie series. When I first read “Fortress Britain”, I remarked that it seemed to have been written just for me. All those elements I listed above were in it. A fast acting zombie/military thriller. Things just got better and better as the series moved on. One of favorites among them all was the first prequel novel: Genesis.

But as time moved on, I guess I got a little bored? I love action thrillers, but it began to get difficult to tell the difference between each book. Seemed to take forever for the Africa story to finish out. It just seemed to me to be one LONG continuous story. After a while, even the zombies were taking second stage behind the Spetsnaz Special Forces. I began to slow down my reading of Arisen. As evident by the fact that I just NOW read Book #12: Carnage.

Did I love the book? Heck yes, still very good. It felt good to be back with so many familiar characters. But my appetite is definitely not as huge for zombie thrillers as it was before. I will move on to other books before I tackle Book 13: The Siege. Then it might even be a longer while BEFORE I take on Book 14: Endgame (700+ pages?). Still a fan, just not a rabid one anymore (but I could do with another D-Boys thriller). Things just went on a bit too long for me. But 5-stars baby for sheer action!
Profile Image for Bryan .
566 reviews
July 24, 2024
I know I am in the minority of reviewers here but I really did not enjoy this book or the one that came before it. This is supposed to be a ZA series and instead has turned into a perpetual fight between the Americans and Brits against the Russians and Somalis with the MacGuffin being patient zero. This entire book contained nothing from the zombie verse other than the pursuit of patient zero. I continuously rolled my eyes throughout this and the previous book and I kept thinking to myself, this is exactly the kind of crap that made walking dead become a bad show and get it canceled. If you want to read a good patient zero book read "Patient Zero" by John Mayberry. I pre-purchased this entire series after the first few books were really good and I'm kicking myself as that was a waste of money. I will continue on in hopes that the series can rebound and become good again, which Walking Dead was never able to do, so I doubt this one can either.
548 reviews1 follower
February 8, 2025
The Indomitable Fighting Spirit ** NO SPOILERS **

Book 12 and they did it again! Mind-blowingly brutal. This book is essentially nonstop high octane combat on several fronts. They really should have listened to Homer!

At times it was difficult to read, not because there are any faults but because it is difficult to concentrate whilst there’s so much adrenaline involved. I’ve read all of the books in this series so far and I don’t think I rated any of them less than 5 stars. That’s talent right there. Objectively I knew that not all of the characters were going to survive all the way through to the end but wow this was seriously harsh. Everyone was written true to themselves, much kudos to authors. Now it’s time for Book 13, Get Some.
Profile Image for Cynthia Terrones .
193 reviews10 followers
May 7, 2017
A DEFINITE MUST READ AND MY FAVORITE SO FAR!!!!!!

My most favorite book in the whole "ARISEN" Series. A non-stop page turner from the first page to the last, this book doesn't let you down. Michael Stephen Fuchs just keeps surpassing the stratosphere with this series and I hope he keeps it going. This book has it all, bad guys and good guys with the walking dead thrown in and it isn't until the end that you see who comes out on top. With lots of tears in between from me, all I can say is that this is a definite must read. I am so ready for the next book in this awesome series "ARISEN, The Siege". Please Michael keep the book's coming!!!!!
715 reviews2 followers
February 22, 2018
This was one massive adrenaline fueled gun toting rampage mostly set in the back of a cargo plane with a takeoff that lasted about 4 hours in realtime but we were meant to suspend disbelief and believe it only took 5 minutes. A lot of the characters die in this book which must mean we're coming to the end of the series.
A lot of this book is ridiculous but its also damn exciting, I wish there were more zombies and less Russians (as do the operators i expect) however it kept me up late finding out how the Cadaver team would get out of their latest impossible situation and I'm still looking forward to the next book and hopefully a great ending to the series.
Profile Image for Joyce Robbins.
57 reviews
December 1, 2018
I kept forgetting to breathe

There isn't a line on any page of this series that isn't filled with every conceivable emotion known to man. Enemies become allies, possible becomes improbable, imminent success turns into crushing failure. And still what is never changing is the grit and determination of the ragtag forces sent to do the impossible: Find Patient Zero and bring him back.
Well written, excellent construction and flow of the various storylines, this would make for one Hell of a tv series.
Profile Image for Brandon.
556 reviews36 followers
October 30, 2019
Man, this one was like listening to to a group of friends constantly get their asses kicked over the span of about 8 hours. It definitely had me getting into the story and even yelling at the speakers in the car, hoping the team would pull another miracle out of their dark sides and stop coming so close to getting themselves killed.

Book 12 was an intense battle between Alpha and the MARSOC guys against the upper-handed Spetznaz teams. It got really crazy there by the end. Sure, maybe a little unrealistic; but, I don't care. It was entertaining and suspenseful enough to overrule that.
223 reviews1 follower
January 26, 2023
This was a difficult book for me to read - although that was 100% me. I had to stop halfway through for a few weeks given the way the plot appeared to progress, but I came back and continued and was not disappointed in the end.

I can appreciate why the author had difficulty with books 11 and 12 now. There were a lot a moving pieced in these two books and the plot and action sequences would have been difficult to chart out without hitting any submerged reefs. I found the afterword on this one particularly helpful for me given my mid-point reading difficulties.
25 reviews
September 3, 2017
Captivating!

It's hard to put the book down once I get started, but I have to because life goes on. Then, when I've finished reading the whole book I can't wait to read the next one. I'm sorry the series has to end. The characters actually become real and like family. I could go on reading it forever.
570 reviews3 followers
July 1, 2019
Definitely a 5 star read

While I have been critical of all of the military details in the other books because, for me it interrupted the story line, this book was awesome and I didn't feel as if I got bogged down in the military details. This story had great flow and plenty of hard core action. A great read!
Profile Image for Elisa Liana Mendoza.
17 reviews
December 27, 2019
Overkill but Better

Using movie lines is ok but I would much rather read something original and find out who the author really is. Many movie dialogue and very over used in this one, same issue with grammatical mistakes...but, by far much better! Brought me to tears twice! They better do these characters justice in whatever live-action feature and format they're planning!
17 reviews2 followers
December 9, 2017
Rock the Runway!

Fantastic book! Edge of your seat action! You get to be up front and personal with each combatant! This was one hell of a mission but, thankfully it's not over yet! Read this series! You won't be disappointed! Michael you rocked the runway on this one!
20 reviews4 followers
April 23, 2018
An amazing series but I have to admit I am hoping for a conclusion. It has been a tremendous journey along the way. Can I say I hate Foxtrots? I campaigned for my daughters first baby to be named "Pred" alas I lost but I think it being a girl had some impact?
15 reviews
June 20, 2019
Brilliant

I have loved all the books so far. The characters are immense! So likeable, intense and witty. The writting really puts you inside the book like you are there with the guys and gals.
Fabulous job!
129 reviews1 follower
May 22, 2021
Yayyy!!

Finally made it out of Africa, and I feel fine! I can breathe now since the plane got off the ground. Glad Misha is no more, glad Nina is toast, Vasily got bull-eyed, and most of all Ali found her purpose.
489 reviews7 followers
June 6, 2021
Action Thriller Excellence

The emphasis has shifted from battling the infected to battling for the cure. Russian fanatics impede the efforts to find a cure. There is action on multiple fronts in this well written thriller.
Profile Image for Bill Quinn.
57 reviews
July 13, 2021
How much more can I take?

Awesome.Outstanding.Kickazz.Just when you think you should know what may happen next.Fuchs rips it all out from under you I gotta take a break before the next book.
Profile Image for Linda.
299 reviews1 follower
July 20, 2021
The Russians Vs. The Zombies

Where the thrill was once seeing the Special Forces overcome hourdes of Zombies, this book built on that with fierce Russian Spetnaz (I'm sure I didn't spell that right!). On to the next one!!
Profile Image for Shayne Lee Charlesworth.
63 reviews
June 2, 2017
Amazimg

Holy shit! I read nonstop trying to know what came next. Exciting, dramatic, emotional and nonstop awesome kick ass. Loved it
11 reviews
June 21, 2017
Great writer and great story

Enjoyed this fast paced story. Sometimes I had to put it down and walk away. Very tense story. Very scary battles everytime!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.