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The Last Orphans
by N.W. Harris
One horrifying day will change the life of sixteen-year-old Shane Tucker and every other kid in the world.
In a span of mere hours, the entire adult population is decimated, leaving their children behind to fend for themselves and deal with the horrific aftermath of the freak occurrence. As one of the newly made elders in his small town, Shane finds himself taking on the role of caretaker for a large group of juvenile survivors. One who just happens to be Kelly Douglas—an out-of-his-league classmate—who, on any other day, would have never given Shane a second glance.
Together, they begin their quest to find out why all of the adults were slaughtered. What they find is even more horrifying than anything they could have expected—the annihilation of the adults was only the beginning. Shane and his friends are not the unlucky survivors left to inherit this new, messed-up planet. No, they are its next victims. There is an unknown power out there, and it won’t stop until every person in the world is dead.
A spine-tingling adventure that will have you gasping for breath all the way until the last page, The Last Orphans is the first book in an all-new apocalyptic series.
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★ Age Group/Genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic, Sci-fi
★ Purchase: Amazon • B&N • Books-a-Million • Kobo
*All e-book versions are currently free!
So make sure to grab it while you can! ^-^
Chapter One (continued)
Shane turned away and
covered his face just in time. Once the rocks stopped pelting him, he picked
one up and threw it with all his strength at the smoke and dirt cloud into
which the car disappeared. Dust stinging his eyes and nose, he stumbled away
from the road to get out of the choking plume and fell. Rolling to a stop at
the bottom of the ditch, he lay there on his back in his Sunday finest.
Make sure to stop by Addicted Readers https://addictreaders.blogspot.com/
tomorrow for the next page in the chapter!
Chapter One (continued)
Shane turned away and
covered his face just in time. Once the rocks stopped pelting him, he picked
one up and threw it with all his strength at the smoke and dirt cloud into
which the car disappeared. Dust stinging his eyes and nose, he stumbled away
from the road to get out of the choking plume and fell. Rolling to a stop at
the bottom of the ditch, he lay there on his back in his Sunday finest.
Granny bought him the
black suit to wear on special occasions, getting it a little on the big side so
he’d get use out of it for a few years. She’d be sad to see it abused like
this. It upset Shane something fierce. He felt more important when he wore the
suit, felt like he was going places, like he could escape Loserville and see
the world. Of course his dad had to ruin it, just like he ruined everything
else.
After Shane calmed down
and caught his breath, he decided it felt good just to lie there on the cool
ground for a minute. Granny had always loved dirt, saying it strengthened her
connection to God when she touched it. She liked to walk barefoot around her
small garden where she grew most of her food. He remembered sitting next to her
on the strip of grass that grew down the center, listening to crickets and
counting the stars. How could he have known Saturday was the last time he’d
ever get to do that with her, that she’d be dead two days later?
Biting the side of his
tongue and rubbing his nose, Shane suppressed the tears. Granny was in a box,
in the dirt, and there wasn’t jack he could do about it. The idea of being
buried after he died gave Shane the heebie-jeebies, but it didn’t bother
Granny. On that last night, sitting in the yard, she said she didn’t even need
a coffin, that she’d rather have the cool soil right up against her skin. It
was like she knew she’d die soon, even though she seemed more fit than Shane at
the time.
Against Granny’s wishes,
his aunt flew in from New York, bought the finest box she could afford, and
spent a mint on the reception. He knew it was just her way of doing something
nice for Granny, but he wished she hadn’t provided booze. Dad wouldn’t have
acted like such an idiot if it weren’t for the wine. In this small town, it
seemed everyone knew everything about everyone else. Shane expected the
commotion Dad created would be popular gossip for the next few months.
Before, when Dad was being a jerk, Shane would go to
Granny’s house. She’d feed him some fried green tomatoes and buttermilk
biscuits the size of a cat’s head, or sometimes a fresh cucumber sandwich, and
listen to him vent until he’d calmed down. Then he’d help her in the garden or
they’d play board games, until Dad sobered up and called sounding all
apologetic, on the downside of one of his rollercoaster rides.
Make sure to stop by Addicted Readers https://addictreaders.blogspot.com/
tomorrow for the next page in the chapter!
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Born at the end of the Vietnam war and raised on a horse farm near small town north Georgia, N.W. Harris’s imagination evolved under the swaying pines surrounding his family’s log home. On summer days that were too hot, winter days that were too cold, and every night into the wee morning hours, he read books.
N.W. Harris published his first novel—Joshua’s Tree—in 2013. It was no wonder that with his wild imagination and passion for all things word related, that N.W. Harris was named a quarterfinalist in Amazon’s Break Through Novel Award Contest. In early 2014, N.W. Harris joined the ranks with Clean Teen Publishing when they signed his new young adult apocalyptic adventure series—The Last Orphans.
In addition to writing, N.W. Harris has been a submarine sailor, nurse, and business owner. His studies have included biology, anthropology, and medicine at UCSB and SUNY Buffalo. He is an active member of SCBWI and lives in sunny southern California with his beautiful wife and two perfect children. He writes like he reads, constantly.
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