Matt, Raine went to California
because her parents thought it was safe. It’s not. You’ve got to get her out as
soon as possible. She could die, Matt.
When
19-year-old Matt Carney gets a cryptic message from his father telling him to
go to California and save his girlfriend, Raine, he doesn't hesitate—he grabs
his AK-47, revs up his blue pickup, and gets ready to make the 2,300-mile
roadtrip.
But
cross-country travel in 2021 isn't easy—or, sometimes, even possible. The U.S.
has become a near-military state: 17,000 checkpoints severely restrict
interstate movement, Predator drones target innocent civilians without cause,
and explosions rock cities daily. Matt and his stepbrother, Benjy, face deadly
attacks from a corrupt government, ruthless local law enforcement, and
bloodthirsty terrorist groups as they embark on their trek. They're about to
find out that their trip is much more than a private journey, and their success
could change the face of the country—forever.
Can
Matt and Benjy outrun the drone missiles raining down on their heads? Can they
avoid assassination by government officials hell-bent on taking over what
little is left of the country? Can they outsmart the deadly schemes set in
motion against them?
Break
the rules.
Save
the girl.
He
only gets one chance before she's gone forever.
REVIEW
This was a very interesting read, with plenty of action and
mayhem. I enjoyed the main plotline with Matt on a mission to save Raine, however,
there were quite a few subplots, with the introduction of many other
characters, and I sometimes felt like there was too much going on. It became a
bit distracting. Another thing that got my head spinning, were all the different
types of drones etc. I don’t read a lot of Sci-fi so I felt a bit lost whenever
they were mentioned because I just couldn’t picture them.
These few minor details meant I wasn’t able to fully immerse
myself in the futuristic world created by Brooke, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t
like this book. As I mentioned earlier, it was full of action and really
interesting. The many plot twists and turns were intriguing and kept me
entertained. There were even a few surprise curveballs thrown in for good
measure.
My heart went out to Matt, he was in the middle of all the
chaos, trying his best to keep his head above water. He had such a good heart,
which was evident when he chose to leave his undeserving family some food.
Although, I got the feeling it was more for Benjy than the rest of them. And
then there was Raine. She didn’t make much of an appearance in the book, until
the very end, but she was Matt’s main focus and I felt so bad for him when she
wanted nothing to do with him. Again, ever the good guy, Matt still risked
everything for her despite her rejection of him. I did see a bit of hope for
them at the very end, though. I just hope they find some normal in all the
craziness.
Readers of intelligently plotted and written Sci-fi reads
will be thrilled with this book.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frederick
Lee Brooke launched the Annie
Ogden Mystery Series in 2011 with Doing Max Vinyl and
following with Zombie Candy in
2012, a book that is neither about zombies nor sweets. The third mystery in the
series, Collateral Damage, appeared in 2013.
Saving Raine, the first book in Fred’s
entirely new series, The Drone Wars, appeared
in December, 2013.
A resident of Switzerland, Fred has worked as a teacher, language school manager and school owner. He has three boys and two cats and recently had to learn how to operate both washing machine and dryer. He makes frequent trips back to his native Chicago.
When not writing or doing the washing, Fred can be found walking along the banks of the Rhine River, sitting in a local cafe, or visiting all the local pubs in search of his lost umbrella.
A resident of Switzerland, Fred has worked as a teacher, language school manager and school owner. He has three boys and two cats and recently had to learn how to operate both washing machine and dryer. He makes frequent trips back to his native Chicago.
When not writing or doing the washing, Fred can be found walking along the banks of the Rhine River, sitting in a local cafe, or visiting all the local pubs in search of his lost umbrella.
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Zombie Candy eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is 
Please enjoy this guest post by Frederick Lee Brooke, author of the genre-bending mystery Zombie Candy. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book. 
I was on the train yesterday returning from Rome back to Basel, where I live, and I mentioned Monte Chianti to my seatmate. We were on the Red Arrow, the Italian bullet train, which cruises at 180 mph and covers the distance from Rome to Milan in just under three hours. Rossana is a banker who was travelling to Milan on business; in her hand was a paperback mystery in English. That's how we started talking. She sort of nodded and looked to the heavens and tried out the name: "Monte Chianti, hmmm. Nice." 
I like Italy so much I decided that the action in Zombie Candy, my latest mystery, should move to a fictional town in Tuscany called Monte Chianti in the second half. The action starts in Chicago, and moves to Tuscany. But this trip wasn't really research for Zombie Candy; for me, more of a victory lap. Plus Dad wanted to see Rome once in his life, so off we went on the train. On the way to Rome we spent three days in Como, in Northern Italy. We did not see Giorgio (that's what the locals call George Clooney) but we did see some beautiful lake vistas. In the picture below we are coming down the side of the mountain in a cog railway. Sure hope the brakes hold on this thing! 
I learned Italian at a language school. I also married an Italian speaker, but don't ever try and learn a language from the person you're married to. You have enough to argue about without her correcting your grammar. My wife's English is better than my Italian anyway, but she likes it when I make the effort. 
While in Rome Dad and I visited the Trevi Fountain. If you throw in a coin, legend has it that you'll come back to Rome one day. I threw in a pocketful, just to be sure. Then we hit the Colosseum. The ancient brick dividing walls in the floor of the amphitheater kept the animals penned in before they were sent in to the ring to fight. How can this thing still be standing, after two thousand years? 
This is what was left of our rental car after ... no wait, just kidding! This mess was parked right outside our hotel, not far from the Vatican. The hotel desk clerk told us a moped caught on fire next to the unfortunate Mercedes. I didn't believe him -- do you? 
We took an all-day excursion to the island of Capri, off Naples. This involved a long, cramped bus ride and a transfer to a ferryboat, but let me tell you, the views were worth it. Just look at the color of the Mediterranean, from halfway up the mountain. 
And here is a picture looking up at the branches of a mature maritime pine tree. I couldn't resist. 
It was a great trip. Dad and I had some nice talks, we did a lot of walking, we ate like kings, and we saw some beautiful places. I hope that Trevi Fountain legend really works, and we'll go back to Rome again soon.