I WILL RISE, by Michael Louis Calvillo ****
Reviewed May 28, 2007
Charles Baxter is a complete and total loser. Bitter and sexless, his forty-seventh job is as a line cook at an upscale seafood restaurant. A slave to his seizure-inducing hand, he believes himself to be the second son of God. He steals cheese, spices, and shoes, but is too nervous to steal anything really big—like a piece of fish.
After finding The Dangers of Food Poisoning to be a useless book, he attempts to poison some prawns with Ajax cleaner. Unfortunately for his plans, the Ajax turns bright blue when it touches the wet seafood, ruining his plans. When the palm of his hand (no kidding!) eats a dog, he’s gunned down by Officer Lumpy. His death brings him close to Annabelle, a death-happy devil woman who sports T-shirts with such endearing phrases as ‘FUCK YOU’, ‘The Dead Hate the Living’, and ‘Got Dead?’
After his death, Annabelle informs him that the world is in crisis—it’s dreaming, and the people it’s dreaming about are taking over. The world needs Charles to rid it of its human problem.
When Charles first reawakens, he steals a car and spends a lot of time thinking about how great he is—how powerful, how he is fate, he is destiny, and the world is chasing death. He steals a car, unknowingly absconds with a psychic five-year-old, and sets off to destroy the world.
The first thing that struck me about I WILL RISE was melodramatic purple prose. As the book wore on, though, the writing cleared up, and Charles Baxter developed a compelling voice to accompany the driving plot and his love of a fat blind woman who visits him in his dreams. Calvillo has done an excellent job of creating a twisted, sick character with whom his readers can sympathize.
Charles alternately feels that his killing touch is a blessing or a curse. As the book moves along and humanity’s chances start to look pretty sour, Charles finds himself wondering—are people really all that bad? His character grows and develops along with the plot, and he finds himself questioning his love for Annabelle, the nature of humanity, and his own motives.
I WILL RISE is a stellar piece of writing that focuses mass amounts of energy on one character’s dramatic coming-to-terms with himself and his species. I enjoyed reading it, and I expect great things from the author. Michael Louis Calvillo is going to be one of the next big authors, and this book is going to take him there.
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