Synopsis

In a chaotic, post-apocalyptic world, an endless night is closing in, and only the strong will survive. In the midst of the turmoil, fourteen-year-old Meat, and his three closest friends, embark on a mission to rescue kidnapped children from the compound enslaving them.

Battling their way through treacherous terrain and immeasurable odds, the boys must learn to lean on each other if they hope to survive. Little do they know fate has far greater plans for them. For they represent the trinity, a symbol older than time itself, that keeps the darkness at bay.

They are three, bound by a fourth, destined to save mankind.

With time running out, and the cloak of eternal night descending, can the boys find a way to turn the tables on evil?

Or will they be the next to join the growing legion of the dead?

Amazon Rating: 3.8 stars with 27 ratings.

Goodreads Rating 3.9 stars with 26 ratings.

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Reviews

Brutal with a purpose! This book is absolutely worth reading. It is brutal with a purpose. It’s post-apocalyptic and set in the zombie genre without being clichéd. And that ending. That ending is spectacular. Jeanette Andromeda: Amazon.

Zombies are bad but people are worse! Despite the death and horror, I walked with these boys willingly as I read the book, listening to my lessened echo, glad to have made my way intact through to the end, and looking forward to the next book in the series. Fairness in everything: Amazon.

Excellent! To call this a zombie novel would be a misnomer. First and foremost this is a coming-of-age drama, written by a man with a deft hand for characterization, set within a dystopian backdrop. Mark Taylor: Amazon.

A fast, entertaining read! With mesmerizing descriptions, prose so rich it curls your toes and a well- crafted plot chocked full of surprises, Richard Schiver pulls you into a shadowy dystopia that tests the mettle of each of his characters and makes you think about life. Jo Ann Carson: Goodreads

Schiver rocks! This is a horrific and well thought out story … not a zombie gore fest … just well-developed characters and monsters … some of which are human. Tamara: Goodreads.

An entertaining read! Richard Schiver has written a great zombie novel and that would be good enough. However, underneath he deftly flips the script and actually writes a very intense coming of age story. About what makes family and keeping promises. Papaphilly: Goodreads

Excerpt 1

After Einstein is nearly killed by a female zombie while Window sat by doing nothing he flees from the house and is followed by Meat.

Begin Excerpt!

Meat placed his hand on Window’s shoulder. “You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to.”.

Window shook his head. “I have to. I gotta get this out of me. I’ve been keeping it bottled up for the past seven years and it’s eating me alive. Last night when I saw that woman, it was like I was back at the cabin.”

“They raped my mom, took her into the back room where I couldn’t see what was happening, I knew from the sounds they were hurting her, and I wanted to help. I had my twenty-two and pulled it out. They thought it was funny and laughed when I aimed it at them. One of them snatched the twenty-two from my hand and handed me my father’s pistol.”

Window pulled the forty-four from its holster and ran his finger along the design carved into the barrel. “It was still loaded.”

“The last one came out of the back room pulling up his pants. He told the others he’d strangled her, and they all laughed. After a bit, she came out, her dress torn, the cord the man had used to strangle her still wrapped around her neck. They told me I had to shoot her quick, to give her peace. I’d fired the forty-four several times before with my dad, so I knew what to expect. There were five rounds in the chamber. I saved the last one for her.

“Everything happened so fast they hardly had time to react. The last man I shot knocked over the kerosene lantern and a fire started in the cabin. My mom staggered towards me, that cord still tight around her neck and I remember wondering how she could still be breathing with it like that. Then I realized she wasn’t really alive anymore, so I shot her, and ran away.”

End Excerpt

Excerpt 2

Captured by a group of four men who call themselves enforcers, Penny has no choice but to follow them away from her home.

Begin Excerpt

As they neared route 219 they came abreast of TJ’s convenience store at the intersection with Sleeman Road. Three cars sat in the lot, their paint faded from neglect, their windows filthy, hiding what lay within. Aside from the sense of emptiness, it could have been a typical day, in any of the days that had come before. A cold wind chilled her as she watched the cars. At any moment someone was going to step out of the store and cross to one of the cars. Out here, away from major cities and towns, the world continued to look as it had that day fourteen years before. On the surface the effects of the awakening were not as bad as in the cities. She knew better. Inside the store she knew they would find the death stalking their species.

At 219 they turned south. Several abandoned cars sat in the roadway, their doors open, and in the back seat of one she spotted a car seat. She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to know what had befallen an innocent child. But she couldn’t stop herself. As the others moved down 219 ahead of her she approached the car. A blanket moved in the car seat and her heart climbed into her throat as her mind filled with images of babies in varied states of life, death, and the hell of the afterlife. She approached the car, powerless to stop herself, compelled to look against her will. She released her breath when she discovered the car seat empty. A breeze had probably stirred the blanket, or the child’s ghost. A chill caressed her cheek at the thought.

Another sensation stirred, overwhelming her with the impression she did not belong. She nearly fell from the horse as strange images swamped her. She saw a group of children oddly dressed in loincloths. Their flesh covered with strange tattoos that made her sick to her stomach. More images followed, a city sparkling in the night, its lights reflected from the surface of a slow-moving river. Crosses wrapped in barbed wire, voices chanting in prayer, words written in fresh blood that slowly dripped down the wall beneath each letter.

This way to heaven.

End Excerpt!

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E-Book: 9781311963284

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About the Author

Richard spent the early years of his life seeking a creative outlet for his imagination. First he tried his hand at being a rock star but quickly learned he was too introverted for such a field, and wasn’t really that good with the guitar. He then turned to film making.

Armed with his dad’s 8mm camera he created his first epic about a space ship landing in the woods behind the house. The space ship was aluminum foil wrapped around a wooden frame, the monster was his brother wrapped in torn strips from a set of bed sheets. and the damsel in distress was his sister. Everything was going well until on opening night his mother recognized the missing bed sheets and aluminum foil. His budding movie career ended when he was grounded for the reaminder of the summer.