Disaster brings
everybody together. A cloned corporate assassin; a boy genius and his new
robot; a tech-modified gangster with nothing to lose; a beautiful, damaged
woman and her unbalanced stalker—these folks couldn't be more different, but
somehow they must work together to save their own skin. Stranded in the
epicenter of a monumental earthquake in the dystopian slum, Junktown, there is
only one way to survive. These unlikely teammates must go...UP THE TOWER.
The author will be awarding a backlist ebook copy to a randomly drawn winner at every stop during the tour and a Grand Prize of a $25 Amazon GC will be awarded to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during this tour.
The author will be awarding a backlist ebook copy to a randomly drawn winner at every stop during the tour and a Grand Prize of a $25 Amazon GC will be awarded to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during this tour.
Excerpt
Before
anything else—before the riot, before the flood, before the gap and the deaths
and the fires and the pain—before all of that, Ana just wanted to get the hell
out of Junktown.
But
she was stuck there with Raj, and Raj had all the bodyguards, so she couldn't
very well leave on her own. Walk into Junktown without any protection? No,
thank you. She had a knife on her, but that was hardly enough. The knife fit
neatly in a small, luxury Cardion-brand sheath at her side.
The
rest of her outfit was direct out from a fashion magazine. She wore tight black
Cardion slacks, her patent leather Aushwere ankle boots sexy and stylish and
perfect for inner-city walking. Her dark blue blouse was Cardion again (there
had been a sale); already she had noticed the way Raj had been hugging his eyes
to how it cupped and clung to her body. He would have been looking a bit more,
perhaps, but she wore her favorite Kadaya Sarin-brand leather jacket, allowing
her a bit of modesty with the long sleeves and tight collar, despite the
thinness of the material. She was a woman dressed to impress, but also was no
whore—she had her man. He liked her dressed attractive, but not like some slut.
Ana knew what he wanted, because that was her entire life, as she saw it, from
now on.
They
were inside the ground floor of a tall building. Cleanbots rushed around them,
sweeping up dust, guided along by retrofitted eyebots that spied out areas of dust
and disrepair.
“Here's where we'll have the lobby,” said Raj,
opening his hands out wide to the open space.
Ana
had presence of mind to hold her tongue.
What
she wanted to say was, “Really, dear? Here in the first possible place that
someone could enter from the street? That's where you'll have the lobby? That's
so inventive. You're so smart.”
What
did she say was, “Oh! It will look beautiful, I'm sure.”
J.P. Lantern lives in the
Midwestern US, though his heart and probably some essential parts of his liver
and pancreas and whatnot live metaphorically in Texas. He writes speculative
science fiction short stories, novellas, and novels which he has deemed
"rugged," though he would also be fine with "roughhewn"
because that is a terrific and wonderfully apt word.
Full of adventure and
discovery, these stories examine complex people in situations fraught with
conflict as they search for truth in increasingly violent and complicated
worlds.
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7171112.J_P_Lantern
Blog/website:
http://jplantern.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JpLanternBooks
twitter: @jplantern
The excerpt's interesting
ReplyDeleteI agree about the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI like the excerpt. Sounds interesting
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt! Thanks for the giveaway! =)
ReplyDelete