THE FOUNTAIN OF THE EARTH On Sale November 22, 2013
Book Back
Terra Vonn is fighting to survive in a
destroyed world,
surrounded by unspeakable horror . . .
and things are about to get much worse.
After
witnessing the horrific murder of her mother, fifteen-year-old Terra Vonn has a singular
focus—exacting revenge on the killers. But before she can complete her plan,
savagery intervenes, and she is cast alone into a brutal post-apocalyptic
world. As she trails the murderers south—through a land filled with
cannibalistic criminals, slave traders, and lunatics—the hunter becomes the
hunted. Terra quickly learns that she is not as tough or as brave as she thought
she was. Worse, she may be the only one who stands between what little remains of
civilization and destruction.
Excerpt
Ike Shaw, the clan leader, tried to put
a stop to the charity toward us by threatening the other women. Thinking, I
guess, it would force us to take husbands. It didn’t work, and a little food
continued to show up at our hut. I was grateful, but it made Mom embarrassed.
We had never needed charity before. It apparently made Shaw angry, because one
afternoon he ordered us out of our hut and made us stand in front of the clan.
“You will both take husbands. It is
unnatural for you to live without men in your hut.”
Mom tried to push me forward. I
shrugged off her hand and walked back to our hut.
After his little speech, a couple of
the men in the camp tried to take me as a wife by force, probably believing I
was weak and the clan leader would approve. Once, I was able to fight my way
free, but the other time, Carson came to my aid.
All of that stopped when Delon attacked
me after I had returned from a hunt. In the couple of years since my friend Leslie
died, he had turned into a fat drunk with two wives.
I had just walked across the camp
center from the latrines when he lurched from between two huts and stood
weaving in front of me.
“I have an idea,” Delon said, his
breath thick with the smell of alcohol. “I’ve got room for you in my hut.” He
reached for my arm.
I jerked back. “Get away from me,” I
said.
Apparently, it took him by surprise,
because he just stood there with a stupid look on his face. I took the
opportunity to walk past him. But I wasn’t quick enough, and he grabbed me from
behind. Wrestling me to the ground, he flipped me on my back and pushed his
huge, sweaty gut onto my face to hold me down. I could barely breathe.
“You’ll like being my wife,” he said.
Then he touched me.
I bit down as hard as I could on his
belly and twisted my head until a big chunk came off in my mouth. Delon jumped
up, screamed, and ran into the forest. I stood and spat the bloody gob into the
fire pit where it sizzled, smelling a little like roasted pig. That same day, I
started carrying Dad’s gun everywhere I went. It would be far worse for him if
he ever came near me again. Delon knew it too, because he ran whenever he saw
me.
And here is Ravven's (
www.ravven.com) terrific cover!
