Icehaven
Sum of All Tears Book 1
by
Kim Cresswell & M.K. Chester
Kim Cresswell & M.K. Chester
Genre:
Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian, Paranormal
Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian, Paranormal
They said it wouldn't happen.
Everything would be better.
They were wrong.
After a climate change experiment goes terribly wrong, August Madison,
finds herself resurrected in a frozen wasteland.
finds herself resurrected in a frozen wasteland.
With most of the world's population and food sources annihilated, depraved
nomadic gangs patrol the lawless landscape as outlasters claw for survival.
nomadic gangs patrol the lawless landscape as outlasters claw for survival.
Amid the chaos, Graysen Marx, iron-fisted leader of the domed settlement
Liberty, emerges from the catastrophic event with his own agenda.
Liberty, emerges from the catastrophic event with his own agenda.
When August crosses his path, he sees an opportunity he must exploit.
She sees an evil she must destroy.
Fans of The Day after Tomorrow, The Handmaid's Tale, Mad Max, and The
Hunger Games are sure to enjoy this enthralling post apocalyptic
dystopian adventure with a paranormal twist.
Hunger Games are sure to enjoy this enthralling post apocalyptic
dystopian adventure with a paranormal twist.
ICEHAVEN – Excerpt
Kim Cresswell and M.K. Chester
CHAPTER ONE
In the near future...
August Madison glanced at her watch, then back at her father, her shoulders tight with anxiety. “Minus seven minutes.”
Anticipation flickered in his blue eyes as he smiled and watched the images of the dozens of military aircraft taking off from various airports throughout the United States and around the world on the mammoth digital screen inside the university’s largest auditorium.
As chief climatologist of the International Climate Change Initiative, he believed he’d finally discovered the answer to the world’s most pressing issue. With the oceans growing more acidic, dozens of animal and plant species becoming extinct, and the atmosphere ten degrees higher than a decade ago, widespread catastrophic weather events, each more violent and deadly than the one before had increased. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, and horrific flooding due to rising sea levels had caused the destruction of some nations and continued to kill millions around the globe.
All of that was about to change.
“Can you check on Luke and Chloe?” her father asked under the increasing commotion surrounding them. “They should be here by now.”
August frowned at the cause of her stress. She wasn’t surprised by her brother’s tardiness. He was always late, an eighteen-year-old who had an excuse for everything. All he had to do was pick up their younger sister from school and show up on time for their father’s shining moment. Just be on time for once. Do what was expected. One time.
“I’ll call him.” August snatched her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and hit speed dial. He finally answered on the fourth ring, right before voicemail kicked in. “Where are you? You’re late.”
“Chloe was poky leaving class.”
August rolled her eyes, knowing her brother had been up all night playing video games with his friends. She’d bet her Yale tuition he’d been sleeping and hadn’t gotten up in time. “Hurry up, Dad’s asking for you.”
“I’m pulling into the university parking lot. Wow, there’s a ton of people here. I didn’t know this was such a big deal.”
She checked her watch again. Five minutes. “You’ve known your whole life how important this is to him.”
“I’ll be there in two minutes.”
August ended the call and forced a smile for her father. “They’ll be here soon.”
He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. “I don’t want them to miss it. This will be a story you’ll tell your own children one day.”
She smiled, imagining a future where the climate wasn’t the dominant issue of the day. Her father hadn’t been this happy in a long time. Five years almost to the day her mother had passed away, he deserved some happiness.
While the auditorium filled to standing room only with faculty, students and media, excitement buzzed in the air. Her father really was about to make history, his experiment, his hard work, bringing them to this moment. She took a seat in the front row beside him and looked up at the screen. A low hum caught her attention. Unsure where the sound came from, she glanced over her shoulder, searching for her brother and sister, disappointed that Luke would probably be too late. The humming grew louder. August covered her ears, the high-pitched deafening sound too much.
An earth-shattering boom savagely rocked the auditorium.
The tile floor cracked and shifted under her feet. The seismic force catapulted her out of the seat, slamming her left shoulder and the side of her head into the floor with a hollow whump. Dazed, August staggered to her knees, then to her feet and reached for her father’s hand, mere inches away through the smoke and dust. She couldn’t get to him.
Phantom outlines of people bumped into her, scurrying by, searching for an exit. Screams, sobs, and moans filled her head. Blistering heat ripped through the room, as if the atmosphere was being sucked out by a high-powered vacuum. Her heart thrashed in her chest.
Where were Luke and Chloe?
She fought back tears as panic drove deep into her bones. Stretching out her arm, she reached for her father again and struggled against the growing clatters and groans.
A gale-force wind rumbled like a freight train, and the building blew apart.
“Daddy!”
Chunks of debris pelted down around her.
August tripped on something, maybe someone, and landed flat on her back. While she gasped for each painful, labored breath, electrical wires popped and sizzled around her and shot fiery particles everywhere.
Overhead, a metal beam swung wildly in her direction, like a giant pendulum. A pungent, suffocating odor, similar to lighting a million matches, filled her nostrils. An acidic taste touched the tip of her tongue and burned the back of her throat. Muffled quiet descended over her. The world blurred.
Then came the cold.
Anticipation flickered in his blue eyes as he smiled and watched the images of the dozens of military aircraft taking off from various airports throughout the United States and around the world on the mammoth digital screen inside the university’s largest auditorium.
As chief climatologist of the International Climate Change Initiative, he believed he’d finally discovered the answer to the world’s most pressing issue. With the oceans growing more acidic, dozens of animal and plant species becoming extinct, and the atmosphere ten degrees higher than a decade ago, widespread catastrophic weather events, each more violent and deadly than the one before had increased. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, and horrific flooding due to rising sea levels had caused the destruction of some nations and continued to kill millions around the globe.
All of that was about to change.
“Can you check on Luke and Chloe?” her father asked under the increasing commotion surrounding them. “They should be here by now.”
August frowned at the cause of her stress. She wasn’t surprised by her brother’s tardiness. He was always late, an eighteen-year-old who had an excuse for everything. All he had to do was pick up their younger sister from school and show up on time for their father’s shining moment. Just be on time for once. Do what was expected. One time.
“I’ll call him.” August snatched her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and hit speed dial. He finally answered on the fourth ring, right before voicemail kicked in. “Where are you? You’re late.”
“Chloe was poky leaving class.”
August rolled her eyes, knowing her brother had been up all night playing video games with his friends. She’d bet her Yale tuition he’d been sleeping and hadn’t gotten up in time. “Hurry up, Dad’s asking for you.”
“I’m pulling into the university parking lot. Wow, there’s a ton of people here. I didn’t know this was such a big deal.”
She checked her watch again. Five minutes. “You’ve known your whole life how important this is to him.”
“I’ll be there in two minutes.”
August ended the call and forced a smile for her father. “They’ll be here soon.”
He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. “I don’t want them to miss it. This will be a story you’ll tell your own children one day.”
She smiled, imagining a future where the climate wasn’t the dominant issue of the day. Her father hadn’t been this happy in a long time. Five years almost to the day her mother had passed away, he deserved some happiness.
While the auditorium filled to standing room only with faculty, students and media, excitement buzzed in the air. Her father really was about to make history, his experiment, his hard work, bringing them to this moment. She took a seat in the front row beside him and looked up at the screen. A low hum caught her attention. Unsure where the sound came from, she glanced over her shoulder, searching for her brother and sister, disappointed that Luke would probably be too late. The humming grew louder. August covered her ears, the high-pitched deafening sound too much.
An earth-shattering boom savagely rocked the auditorium.
The tile floor cracked and shifted under her feet. The seismic force catapulted her out of the seat, slamming her left shoulder and the side of her head into the floor with a hollow whump. Dazed, August staggered to her knees, then to her feet and reached for her father’s hand, mere inches away through the smoke and dust. She couldn’t get to him.
Phantom outlines of people bumped into her, scurrying by, searching for an exit. Screams, sobs, and moans filled her head. Blistering heat ripped through the room, as if the atmosphere was being sucked out by a high-powered vacuum. Her heart thrashed in her chest.
Where were Luke and Chloe?
She fought back tears as panic drove deep into her bones. Stretching out her arm, she reached for her father again and struggled against the growing clatters and groans.
A gale-force wind rumbled like a freight train, and the building blew apart.
“Daddy!”
Chunks of debris pelted down around her.
August tripped on something, maybe someone, and landed flat on her back. While she gasped for each painful, labored breath, electrical wires popped and sizzled around her and shot fiery particles everywhere.
Overhead, a metal beam swung wildly in her direction, like a giant pendulum. A pungent, suffocating odor, similar to lighting a million matches, filled her nostrils. An acidic taste touched the tip of her tongue and burned the back of her throat. Muffled quiet descended over her. The world blurred.
Then came the cold.
Liberty
Sum of All Tears Book 2
A new enemy rises.
Surviving the cold is only the beginning.
In the second installment of the exciting Sum of all Tears series, a
core group of survivors from Liberty travels to Boston, endangering
themselves and those they left behind in a winner-takes-all showdown
that will leave readers breathless.
core group of survivors from Liberty travels to Boston, endangering
themselves and those they left behind in a winner-takes-all showdown
that will leave readers breathless.
Fans of The Day after Tomorrow, The Handmaid's Tale, Mad Max, and The
Hunger Games are sure to enjoy this enthralling post-apocalyptic
dystopian adventure with a paranormal twist.
Hunger Games are sure to enjoy this enthralling post-apocalyptic
dystopian adventure with a paranormal twist.
Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada and is the bestselling and
award-winning author of the action-packed WHITNEY STEEL series.
award-winning author of the action-packed WHITNEY STEEL series.
Her romantic thriller, Reflection (A Whitney Steel Novel –
Book One), has won numerous awards including RomCon®’s 2014
Readers’ Crown Finalist (Romantic Suspense), InD’tale Magazine
2014 Rone Award Finalist (Suspense/Thriller), UP Authors Fiction
Challenge Winner, Silicon Valley’s Romance Writers of America (RWA)
“Gotcha” contest. Kim also signed a 3-book German
translation deal with LUZIFER Verlag for the first three books in the
series: Reflection, Retribution and Resurrect. Lethal
Journey won RomCon®’s 2014 Readers’ Crown (Thriller).
Book One), has won numerous awards including RomCon®’s 2014
Readers’ Crown Finalist (Romantic Suspense), InD’tale Magazine
2014 Rone Award Finalist (Suspense/Thriller), UP Authors Fiction
Challenge Winner, Silicon Valley’s Romance Writers of America (RWA)
“Gotcha” contest. Kim also signed a 3-book German
translation deal with LUZIFER Verlag for the first three books in the
series: Reflection, Retribution and Resurrect. Lethal
Journey won RomCon®’s 2014 Readers’ Crown (Thriller).
The Assassin Chronicles TV series was in development with Council Tree
Productions. The TV series is based on Kim’s upcoming 4-book
paranormal/supernatural thriller series: Deadly Shadow (May
2018), Invisible Truth, Assassin’s Prophecy, and Vision of Fire.
Productions. The TV series is based on Kim’s upcoming 4-book
paranormal/supernatural thriller series: Deadly Shadow (May
2018), Invisible Truth, Assassin’s Prophecy, and Vision of Fire.
M.K. Chester is an RWA award-winning author of historical and
contemporary romance. Her first novel, Surrender to the Roman,
is currently published with Carina Press. Her three-book historical
series, Bryeton Books, focuses on love, loss and redemption in small
town America at the turn of the 20th century, while her latest
release, Crashed, is the first book in the contemporary New South Series.
contemporary romance. Her first novel, Surrender to the Roman,
is currently published with Carina Press. Her three-book historical
series, Bryeton Books, focuses on love, loss and redemption in small
town America at the turn of the 20th century, while her latest
release, Crashed, is the first book in the contemporary New South Series.
M.K. is a native Buckeye who lives in Tennessee. She’s married to a
veteran, recently became a MoM (Mother of Marine), and will soon
become a grandmother. She adores her Scottish Terriers and is fighting MS.
veteran, recently became a MoM (Mother of Marine), and will soon
become a grandmother. She adores her Scottish Terriers and is fighting MS.
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Good blurbs and excerpt. I think a cold setting makes a story more tense, scarier!
ReplyDeleteThe cover is beautiful, in a frightening way. No questions, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe cover is cool and the story sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteThe covers are beautiful. I really dig Ice haven.
ReplyDelete