Apocalypticon
by Clayton
Smith
Three
years have passed since the Jamaicans caused the apocalypse, and things in
post-Armageddon Chicago have settled into a new kind of normal. Unfortunately,
that "normal" includes collapsing skyscrapers, bands of bloodthirsty
maniacs, and a dwindling cache of survival supplies. After watching his family,
friends, and most of the non-sadistic elements of society crumble around him,
Patrick decides it's time to cross one last item off his bucket list.
He’s
going to Disney World.
This
hilarious, heartfelt, gut-wrenching odyssey through post-apocalyptic America is
a pilgrimage peppered with peril, as fellow survivors Patrick and Ben encounter
a slew of odd characters, from zombie politicians and deranged survivalists to
a milky-eyed oracle who doesn't have a lot of good news. Plus, it looks like
Patrick may be hiding the real reason for their mission to the Magic Kingdom...
EXCERPT:
They stood on the trestles and waved as the train pulled
slowly away. Horace blew the whistle in two short bursts and saluted from the
engine. When the train had cleared the highway, Ben turned to Patrick and said,
“Please tell me you remembered to pack an elevator.”
“Yeah, I did pack it, originally, but then there wasn’t any
room for my Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, so I took it out. But fear not,
young traveler, for I have the next best thing. Rope!” He pulled the nylon rope
from his bag triumphantly and let it uncoil over the side of the bridge. It
dangled just over the edge of the tracks.
"Brilliant. You brought a really useful three-foot
rope."
“Well, I’m going to find a use for it somewhere,” Patrick
said, hurriedly stuffing it back into the bag. “You just wait.”
“You think we could jump it?”
“Sure. It’s only twenty feet or so.”
“Are you being sarcastic right now, or serious? I can never
tell.”
“This time, I’m being serious, mostly. Twenty feet isn’t
that many feet. It’ll probably hurt like hell, but we’ll live. Probably.”
“Words every man wants to hear in a world without doctors,”
Ben muttered.
“There are doctors somewhere,” Patrick reminded him.
“They’re just not you or me.”
About Clayton Smith
Clayton
Smith is a sometimes-writer, sometimes-napper based in Chicago, where he uses
neither his bachelor’s in journalism nor his master’s in arts management. He is
often calamitous, and good at bacon. He lives with his impressively tolerant
wife.
Clayton’s
previous works include Pants on Fire: A Collection of Lies and the comedic play
Death and McCootie, which debuted at the 2013 New York International Fringe
Festival.
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I enjoyed both the premise of the book and the excerpt. Apocalypticon sounds like an awesome adventure read. Nice to have a little levity when facing the end of civilization as we know it!
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpts enough that I've added it to my TBR list for this year. =] Thanks for dropping by!
DeleteAwesome! Can't wait to read the review! :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting premise
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