Title: The After War
Genre: Dystopian, Post-apocalyptic
BLURB:
Brain Rhodes and his
cousin, Steven, are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the
first time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth.
On the other side of
the North American continent, young Simon Kalispell is leaving the safety and
seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine
companion, Winston.
For individual reasons,
these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of
survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a corrupt few.
Simon Kalispell and
Brian Rhodes are not yet aware, but the strength that resides inside them will
soon be tested, and destiny will call for their fates to be forever
intertwined.
Excerpt
Brian lowered his gun. “It’s okay, Steve. He’s dead.” He
looked around. “There’s no one here.”
Steven lowered his rifle, wiping his palms on his thighs and
brushing the sweat from his eyes.
“I said he’s dead, Steve—”
“I reckon he’s dead, Brian. I see he’s dead.”
“Come on now. We’re right at town.”
They sidestepped the corpse until it was well behind them.
If the body was someone they had once known, it was now impossible to determine
who that person might have been.
“That won’t be the last of them,” Brian said. “You better
get your head on straight.”
Steven opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again.
They stepped onto the road as the first house emerged from
the woods. They walked past it, taking careful notice of the blank windows—as
black as the eye sockets of the corpse—and scanned for any sign of movement,
like the fluttering of drapes, or the partially covered face of a person
peering out from the darkness with a shotgun clenched tight in their hands.
Anything.
But there was no movement.
“Think anyone’s left?” Steven said, with a crack in his
voice.
Brian shrugged. “I know as much as you do.”
The yards around the homes, and Pearl Street itself, were
spotted with litter and debris of every kind blowing in the gentle breeze.
Overgrown tree roots buckled sections of the sidewalk and emerged from cracks
in the pavement. They passed the police station bordering the center of town.
The cruisers were vacant in the parking lot, and the building was cold and silent.
Brandon Zenner
is an American fiction writer and an Amazon best selling author. His short
fiction has been published in both print and online publications, the first
being submitted when he was 19 years old. THE EXPERIMENT OF DREAMS, his debut
eBook thriller, has reached Amazon's best seller list many times. His second
novel, WHISKEY DEVILS, was released in early 2016. THE AFTER WAR, a dystopian
thriller, is available now as a pre-order, at 80% off the final sale price. You
can follow the author on his Amazon page, or through his email list on his
website. All email subscribers will receive his futuristic short story, HELIX
ILLUMINATED, for free as a thank you. His genres of choice are thrillers, crime, dystopian, and science fiction.
Facebook | Author Website | Twitter | Amazon
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting. I'll be in and out through the day, I look forward to talking to you all. I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone may have.
-Brandon Zenner
Where did you get your inspiration for this novel?
DeleteThat's hard to say. The first idea came to me about twenty years ago, when I was going for a hike through a nearby park. Over the years the storyline took form, and the rest filled in as I wrote it out.
DeleteI'm really hoping to be able to read this eventually. Thank you for inviting me to post this event!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
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