As a bonus, this weekend I’ve got an
excerpt from Life’s Defeat to share with you. It’s always
difficult for me to choose what slice of the story to share as an excerpt.
Especially when a book is as captivating and as fascinating as this one. How
much is too much? What is too revealing? What is just revealing enough? I don’t
want too give too much away after all, I just want to give you a glimpse of why
I’m so entranced.
My poor brain, people... LOL!!
In the end I settled on two pieces to
share. Hopefully neither is too little or too much, and hopefully together you’ll
see at least a brief sliver of what I see in this book and in the rest of the
series novels as well.
Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first time I went up against the
man with the cigar personally, it was by mistake.
I remember being young, the tender
age of sixteen and newly made a soldier. We had finished a mission, my comrades
and I, sabotaging an act of corruption so deep there was a good chance we had
saved many people within a village from a devious fate. Drug production and
prostitution were averted, women and children free to return home unharmed
while the men worked, feverish, in the mines of the hills.
For all that I lacked in experience,
I was disciplined and well-trained—I knew I had proven myself well. Still, I
was unprepared for the outright menacing act of the madman. As my team prepared
to leave, I turned, witnessing the criminal step from a secret door out of the
warehouse.
I called out for my teammates, but
the words fell on deaf ears as the blades of our helicopter created a small
windstorm in the dusty alleyway. Turning back, I stepped toward the man with
the cigar’s large black vehicle, seeing him pause before disappearing behind
the opened door.
He stared at me, the faintest of
smiles tugging at his lips as he removed his cigar. He threw it, smoldering, to
the ground, his pocked-face lightening as his eyes pierced into my soul. I
didn’t look away, my youth betraying a defiance I thought I needed to express
authority.
The gods know I was a fool then.
As he stepped into the oversized
SUV, I saw the vehicle dip with the weight of the robust criminal and his
accomplices. The doors closed, and still I stared. Then he was there, leaning
forward from the front passenger seat, his face again looking at me as his
smile became a grin. He gave an order and the vehicle lurched forward.
To this day I am not sure why I
didn’t act, why I didn’t run back to the helicopter and request help, why I
didn’t at least pull my gun when I first saw the man and shoot him in the
brain.
It could have saved so much pain, so
much heartache.
Instead, it took me a moment to
realize that the man had ordered my execution—the SUV was headed straight for
me at a breakneck speed. Two choices flew through my head then, to dive out of
the way or to try to take down the men. Stupidly, I chose the latter.
Time seemed to slow as the engine of
the black beast roared with its speed. I reached beside me, pulling my gun, and
with a flick of the safety began to shoot. The bullets ricocheted off the
windshield with appalling speed, their target shifting as I attempted to find a
sweet spot in the glass, any vulnerability at all.
There was none.
By the time I figured out the
vehicle was impenetrable, it was too close. Despite the speed with which I
turned and raced for my own team’s mode of escape, I wasn’t fast enough.
When the vehicle hit, there was a
massive shove, sounds of crunching as the front grill imprinted into my back. I
spun around as I fell to the ground. The vehicle bounced as I related a speed
bump, both sets of tires driving over my arm. I lay there on the ground, my
eyes closed as I reminded myself to breathe, the air coming in short gasps from
a pain within my lungs.
Bursts of immense irritation emerged
then, throbbing stabs of agony from my arm and leg, wetness spreading across my
head and limbs. I cried out, tears escaping my already swollen eyelids. I heard
the engine slow as the vehicle did, felt a tremor within the loose ground as it
skidded sideways to a stop. I shifted, my body protesting with pain as I fought
to sit up, my eyes opening to focus on the helicopter. They had noticed me, my
captain running in my direction now, yelling something I couldn’t catch.
Rolling over slowly, I forced myself
to my uninsured knee, hoisting myself up somehow onto a foot that was shaky at
best. I had no choice—I couldn’t stay in the street, and I feared the vehicle
would come back if I lay there long enough. My only choice was to get back to
the helicopter, no matter how.
I glanced at the SUV, my neck mobile
enough for slight movement, and caught the eye of the man with the cigar. His
face peered out the window with a look of contemplation. He nodded once as I
straightened my back, my spine blossoming in a pain I barely knew possible. The
window rolled up as the vehicle took off once more. This time, it drove away.
~ Life’s Defeat,
page 8-11, First Printing, 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~
As soldier of the cause, we fought
hand to hand, aimed our guns and pulled the triggers with immediate discretion,
and used our youth to deceive and betray those who we knew lived to the
detriment of others. They were criminals, all of them, slavers and drug
dealers, killers and narcotic producers. Their work was to put mankind into a
slump of despair and dependence.
Ours was to take them down.
And once in the school’s secretive
military faction for some time, what I learned StPatrick had told me tong ago
was a brotherhood, I learned a truth about myself. I was very good at what I
did. Too good.
It was both thrilling and
terrifying.
~ Life’s Defeat,
page 23, First Printing, 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope these little pieces of the story I’ve
shared, these early looks at the thoughts and actions of the main character, as
well as a small glimpse of the depravity of the “man with the cigar” to come,
has intrigued you. I hope it’s been enough to make you consider getting the
book and reading the first part of the story of The Life’s series.
Because truthfully - it is so worth it.
If you’ve missed my reviews of Life’s
Defeat you can see the original 2015 review here, and my new review of it here.
And if you’ve yet to enter to win one of
the three great prizes in this month’s FAOM Giveaway, do it now - a copy of Life’s
Defeat is just one of the amazing things you could claim on February
28th!
I hope you’ve been enjoying your weekend
and I leave you now to enjoy the rest of it!
Happy Reading... or whatever you may be up
to.
