I'm proud to announce that Read the End First, a collection of 24 stories by 24 authors, set in 24 time zones and 24 apocalyptic events, which contains my story, Hammered and Nail, has made the Bram Stoker 2012 recommended reading list.
I don't know about you lot, but I'm taking that as pretty prestigious! The book has been read and blurbed by some big names, all of whom are blowing the proverbial trumpet about it. So it would only be right of me to advise you to purchase it, and to provide you with a link below where you can do just that. I swear sometimes my generosity knows no bounds.
Here is what some of said big names are saying about it:
"Read The End First is wonderful collection of devious and inventive tales about the end of the world. The apocalypse has never before been this much fun!" - NY Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry, author of DEAD OF NIGHT and ASSASIN'S CODE.
"Read The End First is a chilling and utterly unique take -- or rather, 24 different takes -- on the end of the world as we know it. These stories present a fractured prism of apocalypse served up every way imaginable. Open it anywhere and be afraid." - Joe Schreiber, author of STAR WARS: DEATH TROOPERS and CHASING THE DEAD.But enough about that, you can find all these compliments and more on the link above and in the book itself. For now, I'm going to provide a teensie little excerpt of Hammered and Nail just to wet your whistles...
“Civilians
are urged to stay indoors. The disease is aggressively contagious and
can be passed via saliva, skin contact, even through the air. The
government is trying to contain the infection, but unconfirmed
reports from foreign media indicate that this has reached pandemic
proportions. Some fear it is too late, that this is The End.”
The
newsreader stopped mid-stride and glanced to her right. At a signal
from someone behind the scenes, her head whipped back to the camera.
She opened her mouth to continue, but nothing came out. Her terrified
eyes stared out into the waiting world. The studio lights picked out
a shiny tear that rolled down her cheek.
The
camera panned in a rapid one-eighty to show one of the crew members
on the floor, his back arched so sharply that only his feet and his
head touched the ground.
Some
of the onlookers in the shop gasped and turned to the arms of those
beside them for comfort.
Lars
left the building. There was pandemonium on the streets. People ran,
people fell, others hunched over fallen comrades. Lars wanted to
scream at them to get indoors like the TV had said.
His
injured foot throbbed and weighed heavy on the end of his leg like a
guilty secret. As he turned a corner he was hit with a mental image
of kissing Kari on the night he had hurt his foot, and the reporter's
statement came back to him like a malevolent spirit that refused to
let him be. The disease is aggressively contagious and can be passed
via saliva, skin contact, even through the air.
The
footpaths were littered with people. It was like a scene from some
bloodless battlefield. He stepped around them and hurried on. Not far
now. His brain had shut down, refusing to allow any thought filter in
and be churned around. But when he glanced down a side alley and saw
a scrawny cat feasting on the fingers of one arched infected, his
stomach churned and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. This
time it was Kari's words that came back to him. I could see. Feel.
And hear everything.
He
let out a roar and the foul animal scarpered...
You know where to go if you want more...
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