Description:
Rick Dial has the potential to be a hero. He just doesn't know it yet.
Rick's high school football team couldn't be stopped when he was leading them as their quarterback. He was going to Syracuse on a scholarship. But then his dad abandoned them and a terrible accident left him crippled.
Certain his old life is completely lost, Rick spends months hiding away in his room playing video games. He achieves the highest scores on so many games that he's approached by a government agency who claims to be trying to thwart a cyber attack on America that would destroy the technological infrastructure of the entire country. The agents say that the quick-thinking of a quarterback coupled with Nick's gaming experience make him perfect for this assignment. The problem is that there are no extra lives and this isn't just a game . . . but Rick doesn't have many other options at the moment.
Entering "The Realm" gives Rick the one thing he thought he'd never have again: a body that's as fast and as strong as he ever was before the accident. But the more time he spends in The Realm, the more questions he has. What secrets are these agents keeping from him? What really happened to his father? How many others have gone into The Realm already . . . and failed? And perhaps most important, is he the hero they think he is?
EXCERPT
He started running toward the
blue trees, toward the sparkling figure standing in front of them. He got about
three steps—and then he heard the rumble, coming from a distance this time. He
looked over his shoulder. He saw the ground hoisting up, saw the rise of it
rushing toward him like a solid wave. Before he could react, before he could
take another step, the rumble grew loud and the surge came up directly
underneath him. The shock was sharp, fast. He was thrown two steps to his
right—then he tripped and toppled over onto the spongy ground.
He started to push back up to his
feet, but even as his hand pressed into the red-gold turf, there was a loud
shuddering, ripping noise. Frozen where he was, Rick stared as a black chasm
began to open up in the ground in front of him.
It was an astonishing sight. It
was as if the surface of this strange new world were being torn apart. As Rick
watched, openmouthed, the crack in the earth spread toward him quickly, the
noise growing louder, the black rift shooting at him across the open space,
threatening to swallow him if he didn’t get out of the way—if he didn’t start
moving, right now.
Rick rolled, trying to dodge the
oncoming crevice. He felt the whole world shuddering around him, heard the
scrabbling rumble filling the air. With an agonized rending noise, the earth
broke apart right beneath him. He just managed to roll to the edge of it,
keeping out of the way of the widening black chasm.
And then the world shook roughly
and he was thrown backward. He spilled over the rim of the break and plunged
into the blackness.
His arms flailed desperately. He
caught hold of the broken edge of the earth with one hand. He clung to it. Hung
from it, his feet dangling in the air. He had no idea how far down the chasm
went below him—it was too dark to see. If he lost his hold, he might fall and
fall forever.
He hung there, his hand grasping
the quivering ground, his legs swinging free in the pit. He could feel his
fingers slipping off the surface. He had to bring his other hand around, get a
better grip . . .
No. There was no chance. The
earth shook again. He lost his hold and fell.
Rick had a moment of sickening
helplessness and confusion as he tumbled down. He didn’t know where the bottom
was or when or what or how he’d hit when he got there. Then, with a jolt, his
feet touched ground. A dull pain shot through his ankle. His knees buckled. He
fell and rolled across what felt like dirt.
Almost at once, he hit hard
against the wall of the crevasse. The blow jarred him to his bones. For a
second or two, he lay still, stunned. Then, with a groan, he pushed off the
ground, climbed to his feet. Looked around.
He was standing at the bottom of
the long chasm. The fissure traveled off into distant darkness on either side
of him, he couldn’t tell how far. He looked up. At least it wasn’t very deep.
With a little effort, he thought he ought to be able to climb the wall and get
a grip on the surface, pull himself back up.
He was about to try it, when the
earth began shaking again, quivering and bouncing beneath him even more
violently than it had before. Pebbles and dust started falling from the surface
of the earth above him, pattering down on his head. The air began to fill with
noise again, that slithering, scrabbling, rushing noise. What in the world . .
. ?
Rick turned toward the sound. He
froze, openmouthed. His stomach went sour and his eyes went wide. He wanted to
cry out, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t make a sound. He couldn’t even move. He
was rooted to the spot.
He could not believe—no one could
have believed—the horror that was rushing toward him.
******
They were incredibly fast. Their
shrill hawk-like screams—which had been inaudible when they were so far up in
the sky—sounded in the distance one moment, and the next moment were filling
the air, threatening, it seemed, to pierce Rick’s eardrums.
He looked up at the suddenly
deafening noise and could not believe how near the nearest creature was—and
what it was: a beast the size of a dinosaur with the horned leathery face of a
desert reptile and webbed wings that nearly blotted out the sky. Its gray eyes
were the size of cannonballs. Its mouth opened on a double row of bent and
bloody teeth. The noise of its cry was like a weapon: the sound waves billowing
from its mouth hit Rick like a hammer, stunning him, blasting every thought
from his brain.
There was a hoard of them. They
were all around, swarming and circling in the yellow air above him. But even as
Rick turned to see them, that nearest one plunged out of the tendrils of orange
mist and dive-bombed straight toward him at full speed.
In that moment of confusion,
dazed with noise and terror, Rick heard Favian cry out, “Run, Rick!”
But Rick was frozen to the spot.
Favian, even exhausted as he was,
flashed away like lightning—but Rick just stood there. Even with his legs in
good shape, he could never run fast enough to escape that diving thing. Unable
to think what to do, he stood rooted to the spot, gaping in helpless terror as
the screaming sound enveloped him, as the diving dragon’s mouth grew larger,
nearer—opened wider and wider as the thing prepared to rip him in half with
those shark-like teeth. In the instant before it struck, the only clear thought
pounding at Rick’s mind was: I’m
about to die!
Goodreads ** Amazon ** Barnes&Noble ** Kobo ** TheBookDepository
About the author:
Andrew Klavan is a best-selling, award-winning thriller novelist whose books have been made into major motion pictures. He broke into the YA scene with the bestselling Homelanders series, starting with The Last Thing I Remember. He is also a screenwriter and scripted the innovative movie-in-an-app Haunting Melissa.
Author's Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
5 comments:
Your book looks good, thank you for the giveaway
I've seen you on PJ TV I didn't realize you were an author as well! Sounds like an awesome book, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the giveaway! And everything looks so interesting!
Sounds like a super sweet read! I am so glad its on my TBR list!
On my tbr list and I really am looking forward to reading it, sounds great, thank you
Post a Comment