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The Undead Never Die: Our Favorite Undead SFF Novels

The Undead Never Die: Our Favorite Undead SFF Novels

Is anyone else having a Spooky Reading Summer? We’re so excited for all of these new horror books hitting our shelves, especially The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus! To celebrate its release, check out our list of other undead sci-fi/fantasy novels. They’ll give you the chills you need to fight this summer heat.


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The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus completes George A. Romero’s brand-new masterpiece of zombie horror, the massive novel left unfinished at Romero’s death! Set in the present day, The Living Dead is an entirely new tale, the story of the zombie plague as George A. Romero wanted to tell it.

Placeholder of  -75The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

From the New York Times bestselling author of Orphan X and comics in the BatmanWolverine, and Punisher universes comes this relentlessly thrilling adventure perfect for fans of The Walking Dead and The 5th Wave. A Hollywood screenwriter, developer, and producer (VThe Book of HenryBlack Flags), Gregg Hurwitz brings his cinematic flair to this suspenseful new tale.

Image Place holder  of - 90I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth…but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville’s blood. By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn. How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?

Image Placeholder of - 92The First Days by Rhiannon Frater

The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde. Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership, mowing down zombies as they rescue Jenni’s stepson, Jason, from an infected campground. They find sanctuary in a tiny, roughly fortified Texas town. There Jenni and Katie find they are both attracted to Travis, leader of the survivors; and the refugees must slaughter people they know, who have returned in zombie form.

Poster Placeholder of - 7World War Z by Max Brooks

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic.

image-37326Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland’s stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.

 

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Books to Give the Teen and Young Readers On Your List

Welcome to the procrastinator’s club! If you’re one of those lucky or organized people who’ve already finished your shopping, that’s okay too–buy yourself a present as a reward for a job well done. The rest of us have no clue how you do it, because we’ve barely started. Luckily, we know the best last minute gift for nearly everyone: books. If you’re like us and looking for some last minute gifts, never fear–we’re here to help. Here are some recommendations for the teen and young readers in your life. And don’t forget to check out our Science Fiction and Fantasy lists as well!

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Image Place holder  of - 7 Middle Grade, Ages 8-12

You’re never too young to fight censorship. Do you have a budding activist on your shopping list? Check out Ban This Book, the story of shy and soft-spoken Amy Anne, who finds herself standing up to her school administration when her favorite book is challenged and taken off the library shelves.

Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Image Placeholder of - 18 Middle Grade, Ages 8-12

Are you shopping for a kid who loves Artemis Fowl? How about Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events? Look no further than #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson’s sharp, funny series of supernatural adventures about a boy whose superpower is breaking things. This is a great series for reluctant readers, who’ll desperately want to know if Alcatraz can do the impossible: defeat those evil librarians for good.

Strikeout of the Bleacher Weenies by David Lubar

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Does the kid on your list like the spooky stuff? Are they a fan of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series? Then they’re going to love David Lubar’s Weenies series! Each book is a collection of short, twisty, sometimes chilling stories designed to scare you, make you laugh, or just see the world in a whole new way. Read these stories–if you dare!

The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

Placeholder of  -16 Young Adult, Age 13+

For the teenage Walking Dead fan in your life, we recommend this terrifying read from acclaimed thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz. Everyone over the age of 18 in Creek’s Cause has suddenly turned into deadly inhuman beings, killing everyone they can. Chance and his brother Patrick must try to figure out how the adults got infected–before Patrick’s 18th birthday, which is only days away. A brilliant reimagining of the classic zombie novel for all the zombie fans out there.

Metaltown by Kristen Simmons

Poster Placeholder of - 14 Young Adult, Age 13+

If you’re shopping for a teen who loves to rebel, who loved Divergent and Under the Never Sky, then look no further than Kristen Simmons. In her most recent novel, Metaltown, the rules are simple: work hard, keep your head down, and watch your back. Looking out for yourself is the only way to survive…but Colin and Lena are sure there’s a better way. A story of friendship and rebellion, Metaltown is sure to capture any dystopia fan’s attention.

Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly

Young Adult, Age 13+

For the teen witch in your life, we recommend Tina Connolly’s hilarious series about reluctant teen witch Camellia. Cam’s adopted mother is determined to turn Cam into a first rate wicked witch, but all Cam wants is a normal life. But when the witch summons a demon that takes over a guy in Cam’s school, Cam doesn’t have much of a choice–she’d better figure out this magic thing, fast, before the demon destroys the guy’s soul.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Young Adult, Age 13+

Is the teen on your list basically surgically attached to her bestie? Are they constantly texting and Snapchatting even when they’re not together? Then Truthwitch is definitely the book for her–though if you want to win major points with the teen in your life, get a copy for her and a copy for her bestie! In Susan Dennard’s first Witchlands novel, all best friends Safiya and Iseult want is to be left alone to live their lives. Instead, they’re going to have to save the world–together.

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New Releases: 10/17/17

Dark Signal by Shannon Baker

Poster Placeholder of - 27 Reeling from her recent divorce, Kate Fox has just been sworn in as Grand County, Nebraska Sheriff when tragedy strikes. A railroad accident has left engineer Chad Mills dead, his conductor Bobby Jenkins in shock. Kate soon realizes that the accident was likely murder.

Who would want to kill Chad Mills?

Deadlands: Boneyard by Seanan McGuire

Image Place holder  of - 9 Step right up to see the oddities and marvels of The Blackstone Family Circus and Travelling Wonder Show! Gasp at pit wasps the size of a man’s forearm. Beware the pumpkin-headed corn stalker, lest it plant its roots in you!

Annie Pearl is the keeper of oddities, the mistress of monsters. Her unique collection of creatures is one of the circus’s star attractions, drawing wide-eyed crowds at every small frontier town they visit. But Annie is also a woman running from her past…and the mother of a mute young daughter, Adeline, whom she will do anything to protect.

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson

Image Placeholder of - 99 Three years ago, Lift asked a goddess to stop her from growing older–a wish she believed was granted. Now, in Edgedancer, the barely teenage nascent Knight Radiant finds that time stands still for no one. Although the young Azish emperor granted her safe haven from an executioner she knows only as Darkness, court life is suffocating the free-spirited Lift, who can’t help heading to Yeddaw when she hears the relentless Darkness is there hunting people like her with budding powers. The downtrodden in Yeddaw have no champion, and Lift knows she must seize this awesome responsibility.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Place holder  of - 15 Once again, Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a final assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens. But who?

Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child.

Enhanced by Carrie Jones

Placeholder of  -83 Seventeen-year-old Mana has found and rescued her mother, but her work isn’t done yet. Her mother may be out of alien hands, but she’s in a coma, unable to tell anyone what she knows.

Mana is ready to take action. The only problem? Nobody will let her. Lyle, her best friend and almost-boyfriend (for a minute there, anyway), seems to want nothing to do with hunting aliens, despite his love of Doctor Who. Bestie Seppie is so desperate to stay out of it, she’s actually leaving town. And her mom’s hot but arrogant alien-hunting partner, China, is ignoring Mana’s texts, cutting her out of the mission entirely.

From the Two Rivers by Robert Jordan

Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. From the Two Rivers is a special edition that contains Part 1 of The Eye of the World, Jordan’s internationally bestselling epic fantasy saga, and is a perfect gift for old fans and new.

Last Chance by Gregg Hurwitz

The New York Times bestselling author of Orphan X, Gregg Hurwitz, returns to Creek’s Cause to follow the Rains brothers as they fight an alien threat that has transformed everyone over the age of 18 into ferocious, zombie-like beings, in this thrilling sequel to The Rains.

Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity’s only hope for salvation.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it to the stars. The bad news is that, out there, planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common.

The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

In one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek’s Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding.

Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen–and Patrick’s birthday is only a few days away.

Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders

Before the success of her debut SF-and-fantasy novel All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders was a rising star in SF and fantasy short fiction. Collected in a mini-book format, here—for the first time in print—are six of her quirky, wry, engaging best.

 

Vallista by Steven Brust

Vlad Taltos is an Easterner—an underprivileged human in an Empire of tall, powerful, long-lived Dragaerans. He made a career for himself in House Jhereg, the Dragaeran clan in charge of the Empire’s organized crime. But the day came when the Jhereg wanted Vlad dead, and he’s been on the run ever since. He has plenty of friends among the Dragaeran highborn, including an undead wizard and a god or two. But as long as the Jhereg have a price on his head, Vlad’s life is…messy.

Wild Cards I by George R.R. Martin & Wild Cards Trust

There is a secret history of the world—a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Aces—those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others were termed Jokers—cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil. Wild Cards is their story.

NEW FROM TOR.COM

Weaver’s Lament by Emma Newman

Charlotte is learning to control her emerging magical powers under the secret tutelage of Magus Hopkins. Her first covert mission takes her to a textile mill where the disgruntled workers are apparently destroying expensive equipment.

And if she can’t identify the culprits before it’s too late, her brother will be exiled, and her family dishonoured…

NEW IN MANGA:

Alice & Zoroku Vol. 2 Story and art by Tetsuya Imai

Beasts of Abigaile Vol. 2 Story and art by Aoki Spica

Devilman Grimoire Vol. 1 Story by Go Nagai; Art by Rui Takatou

Ghost Diary Vol. 3 Story and art by Seiju Natsumegu

Hatsune Miku Presents: Hachune Miku’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise Vol. 1 Story and art by Ontama

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Tor Teen Back to School Sweepstakes

It’s August, and that means we’re in the final days of summer. It’s nearly time to head back to school, but hopefully there’s still a bit of time—time to get that last beach trip in, that last dip in the pool, or that last lazy afternoon with a book and a frosty lemonade. Whatever your ideal last days of summer consist of, we want to give you a pile of books to keep you company and to last you well into the new school year. Take a look at the titles we’re offering:

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Sign up for to receive our monthly Tor Teen newsletter to enter for your chance to win:

Birth Month:

OFFICIAL RULES

Tor Teen Back to School Sweepstakes

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING.

  1. To Enter: Submit your entry by fully completing the sign-up form found at https://www.torforgeblog.com/2017/08/21/tor-teen-back-to-school-sweepstakes (the “Site”). Sweepstakes begins online at 12:30 AM Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, August 21, 2017 and ends at 11:59 PM ET on Friday, August 25, 2017. Your entry will sign you up to receive emailed news related to Tor Teen as well as enter you into the sweepstakes.

Limit one entry per person or household. The entry must be fully completed; mechanically reproduced; incomplete and/or illegible entries will not be accepted. In case of dispute with respect to online entries, entries will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet Access Provider, on-line service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Entries become property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Automated entries are prohibited, and any use of such automated devices will cause disqualification. Sponsor and its advertising and promotions agencies are not responsible for lost, late, illegible, misdirected or stolen entries or transmissions, or problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic.

  1. Random Drawing: A random drawing will be held from all eligible, correctly completed entries received on a timely basis, on or about Monday, August 28, 2017, by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, whose decisions concerning all matters related to this sweepstakes are final.
  2. Notice to Winners: Winner will be notified by e-mail. Winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and publicity/liability release within fifteen (15) days of notification attempt or prize may be awarded to alternate winner. Return of any prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and alternate winner will be selected. If a winner is a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, prize will be awarded to minor’s parent or legal guardian, who must follow all prize claim procedures specified herein and sign and return all required documents.
  3. Prize: One (1) Grand Prize winner(s) will receive Flying by Carrie Jones, Enhanced by Carrie Jones, The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz, Last Chance by Gregg Hurwitz, Ferocious by Paula Stokes, Vicarious by Paula Stokes, Firebrand by A.J. Hartley, Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley, Roar by Cora Carmack, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter, Seeker by Veronica Rossi, Riders by Veronica Rossi, The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Prize: $231.86.

    Approximate retail value of all prizes: $231.86.

  1. Odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received. If any prize is won by a minor, it will be awarded in the name of minor’s parent or legal guardian. Each entrant selected as a potential winner must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all such requirements. Sponsor makes no warranties with regard to the prize. Prize is not transferable. No substitutions of prize allowed by winner, but Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. Prize is not redeemable by winner for cash value. All taxes, fees and surcharges on prize are the sole responsibility of winner.
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New Releases: 10/18/16

Here’s what went on sale today!

Pathfinder Tales: Shy Knives by Sam Sykes

9780765384355Shaia “Shy” Ratani is a clever rogue who makes her living outside of strictly legal methods. While hiding out in the frontier city of Yanmass, she accepts a job solving a nobleman’s murder, only to find herself sucked into a plot involving an invading centaur army that could see the whole city burned to the ground. Shy could stop that from happening, but doing so would involve revealing herself to the former friends who now want her dead. Add in an aristocratic partner with the literal blood of angels in her veins, and Shy quickly remembers why she swore off doing good deeds in the first place.

The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

The Rains by Gregg HurwitzIn one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek’s Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding.

Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen–and Patrick’s birthday is only a few days away.

Sun Born by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear

Sun Born by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael GearA thousand years ago, the mighty Cahokian civilization dominated the North American continent from its capital near modern St. Louis. From Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, settlers and priests carried word of the power of their gods. People who wouldn’t bow to that power were conquered or slaughtered. At the heart of the empire stood a vast city, teeming with tens of thousands. Power rested in one being, Morning Star, a god resurrected in the body of a living man.

With Sun Born, W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear take readers back to this amazing place with a tale of murder, magic . . . and the battle for a people’s very soul.

 

NEW FROM TOR.COM: 

Everything Belongs to the Future by Laurie Penny

Everything Belongs to the Future by Laurie PennyIn the ancient heart of Oxford University, the ultra-rich celebrate their vastly extended lifespans. But a few surprises are in store for them. From Nina and Alex, Margo and Fidget, scruffy anarchists sharing living space with an ever-shifting cast of crusty punks and lost kids. And also from the scientist who invented the longevity treatment in the first place.

Everything Belongs to the Future is a bloody-minded tale of time, betrayal, desperation, and hope that could only have been told by the inimitable Laurie Penny.

NOW IN PAPERBACK:

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente

Radiance by Catherynne M. ValenteSeverin Unck’s father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1986 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father’s films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the levitator cults of Neptune and the lawless saloons of Mars. For this is not our solar system, but one drawn from classic science fiction in which all the planets are inhabited and we travel through space on beautiful rockets. Severin is a realist in a fantastic universe.

NEW IN MANGA

Battle Rabbits Vol. 2 Story by Amemiya Yuki; Art by Ichihara Yukino

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Vol. 1 by Coolkyoushinja

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Vol. 4 Story by Rifujin na Magonote; Art by Yuka Fujikawa

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Things That Go Bump in the Night

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The Rains by Gregg HurwitzWritten by Gregg Hurwitz

For every Halloween from kindergarten through third grade, I was Evel Knievel. The costume was not particularly sophisticated. There was a stuntman helmet with a logo and a jumpsuit that was vaguely Evel Knievel-y (and, alas, vaguely pajama-y). It didn’t take much to thrill me but thrill me it did. I imagined jumping my stunt motorcycle across vast ravines or tanks filled with live sharks. Generally, in my mind’s eye, I stuck the landing, but now and then I broke a limb or bruised myself in aesthetically pleasing fashion and humbly basked in the accolades and adoration of my fellow students.

It wasn’t just a costume. I was practicing being a daredevil. Without actually having to, you know, jump a stunt motorcycle across ravines or tanks filled with live sharks.

As I got older, I tried on various characters. Cowboy, bandit, Batman, the Punisher. I dressed up as heroes and villains and antiheroes, and for one glorious day each year, that’s who I was—and even grownups had to pretend to take me seriously.

How glorious.

hurwitz-buriedtreasureI didn’t realize it at the time but I wasn’t just dressing up. I was practicing being an author. I wrote my first thriller in fourth grade (Willie, Julie, and the Case of the Buried Treasure), and when I embarked on that not-so-glorious tome, I learned how to try on different characters, just as I did on Halloween. After all, that’s what writing is. It’s putting on costumes, looking through the masks of your characters, and experiencing the world through their eyeholes. You see what they see and feel what they feel—and then you try to capture those sensations as best you can for your readers.

As an author, you dress up as heroes and villains and antiheroes—and even grownups have to pretend to take you seriously.

Kids and teenagers need less help when it comes to imagination. That’s why I always knew that at some point I would write a YA thriller. When I started The Rains, I had two goals. I wanted to let my imagination run wild. And I wanted to live inside these characters and let them tell their story.

So I guess you could say that The Rains is the culmination of all those Halloween nights of playing pretend and make believe, of thinking like a hero, plotting like a villain, and keeping a nervous ear out for things that go bump in the night.

In The Rains, there are plenty of things that go bump in the night. I hope it gives you that feeling in your gut that I used to get when I pulled on a new costume on Halloween and trudged out into the dark, peering over my shoulder, sizing up the other gruesome outfits, and approaching haunted houses with caution.

I suppose that’s the great thing about writing and reading. We don’t have to wait for one special day a year. We get to do it whenever we want.

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Follow Gregg Hurwitz on Twitter, on Facebook, and on his website.

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Sneak Peek: The Rains by Gregg Hurwitz

Image Place holder  of amazon- 30 Placeholder of bn -54 Placeholder of booksamillion -25 ibooks2 81 indiebound-1 powells-1

The Rains by Gregg HurwitzIn one terrifying night, the peaceful community of Creek’s Cause turns into a war zone. No one under the age of eighteen is safe. Chance Rain and his older brother, Patrick, have already fended off multiple attacks from infected adults by the time they arrive at the school where other young survivors are hiding.

Most of the kids they know have been dragged away by once-trusted adults who are now ferocious, inhuman beings. The parasite that transformed them takes hold after people turn eighteen—and Patrick’s birthday is only a few days away.

Determined to save Patrick’s life and the lives of the remaining kids, the brothers embark on a mission to uncover the truth about the parasites—and what they find is horrifying. Battling an enemy not of this earth, Chance and Patrick become humanity’s only hope for salvation.

The Rains—available October 18th—is the first YA page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz. Please enjoy this excerpt.

ENTRY 1

It was past midnight. I was still working in the barn when I heard the rolling door lurch open. I started and lost my grip on a block of hay. It tumbled off the baling hooks.

It was creepy out here with the wind whipping across the roof, fluttering loose shingles. Bits of hay strobed through the shafts of light from the dangling overheads, and the old beams groaned beneath the load of the loft. I was plenty tough, sure, but I was also a high-school sophomore and still got spooked more often than I’d want to admit.

I turned to the door, my fists clenched around the wooden handles of the baling hooks. Each hook is a wicked metal curve that protrudes about a foot from between the knuckles of my hand. The barn door, now open, looked out onto darkness. The wind lashed in, cutting through my jeans and flannel shirt, carrying a reek that overpowered the scent of hay. It smelled as if someone were cooking rotten flesh.

I clutched those baling hooks like a second-rate Wolverine, cleared my throat, and stepped toward the door, doing my best to deepen my voice. “Who’s there?”

Patrick swung into sight, his pump-action shotgun pointed at the floor. “Chance,” he said, “thank God you’re okay.”

My older brother’s broad chest rose and fell, his black cowboy hat seated back on his head. He’d been running, or he was scared.

But Patrick didn’t get scared.

“Of course I’m okay,” I said. “What are you talking about?” I let the baling hooks drop so they dangled around my wrists from the nylon loops on the handles. Covering my nose with a sleeve, I stepped outside. “What’s that smell?”

The wind was blowing west from McCafferty’s place or maybe even the Franklins’ beyond.

“I don’t know,” Patrick said. “But that’s the least of it. Come with me. Now.”

I turned to set down my gear on the pallet jack, but Patrick grabbed my shoulder.

“You might want to bring the hooks,” he said.

ENTRY 2

I should probably introduce myself at this point. My name is Chance Rain, and I’m fifteen. Fifteen in Creek’s Cause isn’t like fifteen in a lot of other places. We work hard here and start young. I can till a field and deliver a calf and drive a truck. I can work a bulldozer, break a mustang, and if you put me behind a hunting rifle, odds are I’ll bring home dinner.

I’m also really good at training dogs.

That’s what my aunt and uncle put me in charge of when they saw I was neither as strong nor as tough as my older brother.

No one was.

In the place where you’re from, Patrick would be the star quarterback or the homecoming king. Here we don’t have homecoming, but we do have the Harvest King, which Patrick won by a landslide. And of course his girlfriend, Alexandra, won Harvest Queen.

Alex with her hair the color of wheat and her wide smile and eyes like sea glass.

Patrick is seventeen, so Alex is between us in age, though I’m on the wrong end of that seesaw. Besides, to look at Patrick you wouldn’t think he was just two years older than me. Don’t get me wrong—years of field work have built me up pretty good, but at six-two, Patrick stands half a head taller than me and has grown-man strength. He wanted to stop wrestling me years ago, because there was never any question about the outcome, but I still wanted to try now and then.

Sometimes trying’s all you got.

It’s hard to remember now before the Dusting, but things were normal here once. Our town of three thousand had dances and graduations and weddings and funerals. Every summer a fair swept through, the carnies taking over the baseball diamond with their twirly-whirly rides and rigged games. When someone’s house got blown away in a tornado, people pitched in to help rebuild it. There were disputes and affairs, and every few years someone got shot hunting and had to get rushed to Stark Peak, the closest thing to a city around here, an hour and a half by car when the weather cooperated. We had a hospital in town, better than you’d think—we had to, what with the arms caught in threshers and ranch hands thrown from horses—but Stark Peak’s where you’d head if you needed brain surgery or your face put back together. Two years ago the three Braaten brothers took their mean streaks and a juiced-up Camaro on a joyride, and only one crawled out of the wreckage alive. You can bet Ben Braaten and his broken skull got hauled to Stark Peak in a hurry.

Our tiny town was behind on a lot. The whole valley didn’t get any cell-phone coverage. There was a rumor that AT&T was gonna come put in a tower, but what with our measly population they didn’t seem in a big hurry. Our parents said that made it peaceful here. I thought that made it boring, especially when compared to all the stuff we saw on TV. The hardest part was knowing there was a big, vast world out there, far from us. Some kids left and went off to New York or L.A. to pursue big dreams, and I was always a bit envious, but I shook their hands and wished them well and meant it.

Patrick and I didn’t have the same choices as a lot of other kids.

When I was six and Patrick eight, our parents went to Stark Peak for their anniversary. From what we learned later, there was steak and red wine and maybe a few martinis, too. On their way to the theater, Dad ran an intersection and his trusty Chrysler got T-boned by a muni bus.

At the funeral the caskets had to stay closed, and I could only imagine what Mom and Dad looked like beneath those shiny maple lids. When Stark Peak PD released their personals, I waited until late at night, snuck downstairs, and snooped through them. The face of Dad’s beloved Timex was cracked. I ran my thumb across the picture on his driver’s license. Mom’s fancy black clutch purse reeked of lilac from her cracked-open perfume bottle. It was the smell of her, but too strong, sickly sweet, and it hit on memories buried in my chest, making them ring like the struck bars of a xylophone. When I opened the purse, a stream of pebbled windshield glass spilled out. Some of it was red.

Breathing the lilac air, I remember staring at those bloody bits scattered on the floorboards around my bare feet, all those pieces that could never be put back together. I blanked out after that, but I must have been crying, because the next thing I remember was Patrick appearing from nowhere, my face pressed to his arm when he hugged me, and his voice quiet in my ear: “I got it from here, little brother.” I always felt safe when Patrick was there. I never once saw him cry after my parents died. It was like he ran the math in his head, calm and steady as always, and decided that one of us had to hold it together for both of us, and since he was the big brother, that responsibility fell to him.

Sue-Anne and Jim, my aunt and uncle, took us in. They lived just four miles away, but it was the beginning of a new life. Even though I wanted time to stay frozen like it was on Dad’s shattered Timex, it couldn’t, and so Patrick and I and Jim and Sue-Anne started over.

They didn’t have any kids, but they did the best they could. They tried their hardest to figure out teacher conferences and the Tooth Fairy and buying the right kind of toys at Christmas. They weren’t cut out to be parents but they did their damnedest, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters. Patrick and I loved them for it, and they loved us right back.

That doesn’t mean my brother and I didn’t have to grow up in a hurry. There was plenty of work to be done around the ranch and more bellies to fill. Jim had a couple hundred heads of cattle, and he bred Rhodesian ridgebacks and shipped them off across the country as guard dogs at two thousand a pop. Sue-Anne made sure to have hot food on the table three times a day, and she read to us every night. I vanished into those stories—the Odyssey, Huck Finn, The Arabian Nights. As we got older, Patrick grew tired of it all, but I kept on, raiding the bookshelf, reading myself to sleep with a flashlight under the covers. I think I hid inside those fictional worlds because they kept me from thinking about how much I’d lost in the real one.

By his early teens, Patrick was clearly a force to be reckoned with. He and I didn’t look much alike—strangers were usually surprised to find out we were brothers. Not that I was ugly or weak or anything, but Patrick … well, he was Patrick. He got my dad’s wide shoulders and good looks, and he could ride herd and rope cattle alongside the best ranch hand, chewing a piece of straw and never breaking a sweat. The girls lost their mind over who got to wear his cowboy hat during lunchtime.

Until Alex. Then it was only her.

I didn’t like math so much, but I loved English and science. I didn’t have Patrick’s skills as a cattleman, but I wasn’t afraid of hard work. I was pretty good behind a hunting rifle, almost as good as Uncle Jim himself, but the one thing I was better at than anyone was raising those puppies. Ridgebacks are lion hunters from Africa, the most fearless and loyal creatures you’ll ever meet. Whenever we had a new litter, I’d play with the pups, training them up from day one. By the time they hit two months, they’d follow me anywhere, and by the time they were half a year old, I could put them on a sit-stay and they wouldn’t move if you tried to drag them from their spot. It was hard fitting in all the work around school, but somehow I managed, and if there’s one thing Dad taught me, it’s that the Rains don’t complain.

When it came time to stack the hay, Patrick always finished his part early and offered to help me on my share, but I made sure I finished it myself. Even if it was at the end of a long day. Even if it meant I had to stay up past midnight, working alone in the barn.
Which was what I was doing after the Dusting, the first time I’d seen Patrick nervous for as far back as my memory could stretch.

Considering everything that had been going on lately, I couldn’t blame him.

But hang on. Let me start where it makes sense, one week ago. Not that any of it makes sense, but if I lay out some of what I learned later, maybe you’ll be able to keep up.

I do need you to keep up.

Your life depends on it.

Copyright © 2016 by Gregg Hurwitz

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