Transition is the third book of the Euphoria Z Series
set in a post-apocalyptic California.
Title: Transitions
Series: The Euphoria Z Series
Author: Luke Ahearn
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Thriller
Release Date: 25th April 2016
BLURB supplied by Bewitching Blog Tours
The post-apocalyptic world is in transition. While things may seem safer, a great danger lurks under the surface and sometimes from above.
What does the Island have to do with the state of the world, and the invisible creatures? New threats arise and evil is tracked down. Will this finally be the end for Ben and his psychopathic lifestyle?
Continue the adventure as we find out what happened to Cooper, Lisa and the others
What does the Island have to do with the state of the world, and the invisible creatures? New threats arise and evil is tracked down. Will this finally be the end for Ben and his psychopathic lifestyle?
Continue the adventure as we find out what happened to Cooper, Lisa and the others
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
Prologue
It doesn’t rain frequently in San Jose, California and when
it does it’s a quick gray affair that rinses away dust and freshens the air.
Every few years there’s a day or two of torrential downpours, interspersed by
widespread drizzling and dripping. And rarely, as was the case this day, the
skies opened and dumped a decade’s worth of rain upon the city in only a few
days. These rare downpours could last days and do substantial damage citywide.
The downpour was so heavy it was impossible to see farther
than a few hundred yards. Water ran from the highest spots in the city and
merged into thick fast flowing rivers on its journey downhill. It gushed down
streets, blasting over curbs and past sign posts, taking away anything that
wasn’t nailed down. The waters were black with months of accumulated filth and
foamed with the runoff of a million miles of city streets. The fine dust of
millions of corpses, that which wasn’t already blown away by the winds, was
swept into storm drains and out to the Pacific Ocean.
But the most alarming aspect of the rainstorm by far was the
thunder and the lightning. Every few minutes great jagged bolts of light arced
across the sky, illuminating the world in blinding flashes, followed moments
later by the thunder, a terrifying sound as if the heavens were being torn
open. Then cascading booms shook the earth for long moments after.
One of these giant flashes illuminated the inside of a dark
warehouse revealing a world of crisp black shadows and harsh blinding whites.
For a split second a human shape was visible laying atop a large worktable. It
resembled the sarcophagus of a long dead pharaoh. Puddles of odd liquids had
collected under the body and run off the edge, hardening in long stalactites of
black and dark red. A minor flash revealed a hardened shell, mottled with the
same black and reddish hues. The long low rumble of the distant thunder that
followed caused an eye to twitch. A loud crack and a blinding flash of light
caused both eyes to open wide in shock and fear. A high-pitched keening could
be heard emanating from the misshapen body on the table.
Slowly a hand rose, the cracking of dried viscera was faint
but clearly audible above the muted pounding of rain. The open eyes, clear and
green, regarded a grotesque hand armored in a red and black crust. The arm
dropped and the eyes closed. The thrumming of the rain and intense fatigue made
slipping back into the sweet darkness of sleep all too easy.
Later, a blinding flash of light and the ensuing crack of
thunder caused the figure to startle awake. Fat drops of water fell almost
forty feet from the compromised skylights above creating a loud rhythmic clunk,
clunk, clunk as they struck a crustaceous shell. There was a hiss as breath was
sucked inwards through thin reddish tubes that hung over a tiny mouth. The
creature spasmed at the discomfort as air filled its long dormant lungs.
The figure rolled awkwardly left and right as it attempted
to stand. Dried viscera cracked and crunched and fell away in large chunks. It
stopped to rest a few times until eventually, with great effort, it rolled on
its stomach and swung its legs off the table, pushing itself to a standing
position in a sort of diagonal pushup. It struggled to stay upright as it took
one awkward step forward, then another.
The heavy armored shell made walking difficult and
uncomfortable. Each labored movement caused the figure to hiss and gasp. It
took three steps and bent forward over the table to rest. The effort was
exhausting and the armored plates tugged at odd spots and pinched and pulled on
the raw skin beneath.
Many laborious steps later and the creature was nearing the
door to the warehouse. The effort was exhausting, the movement unnatural, and
feelings of weakness and nausea were overwhelming. But a sense of urgency drove
the creature forward. It knew that it must get out of that dark place. There
was somewhere it had to be.
The warehouse door swung open and wind blasted cold rain
across the armored body, but it felt nothing. It looked down, apparently just
now gaining a sense of awareness beyond wakefulness and the desire to escape
the dark building. Groggily it tugged on a section of armored shell as if it
was just now noticing it. The skin beneath pulled, the shell seemed to be
attached to flesh like that of a lobster or crab. A disfigured hand rose up,
lightning flashed and a gasp of horror came from the bulbous armored head as it
looked with revulsion at its own red and black armored appendage.
The creature looked to the sky and stepped into the
torrential downpour. It shuddered as icy rain made its way beneath its armored
plates. A shell loosened from a forearm and with a touch clattered to the
ground. The rainwater stung like fire and the figure backed into the warehouse
staring at raw skin glistening with red wetness. The unprotected skin was as
sensitive as that of a newborn babe. The arm went back into the rain and
recoiled again as if the rain water was scalding. It tried again and again
until it could stand the pounding rain.
Eventually it stepped out into the deluge and disappeared
into the blinding storm.
Lisa barely remembered her own name when she awoke, but now
it was all coming back to her as she shuffled along in the downpour and she
grew more and more terrified. She had no idea what had happened to her or what
was happening to her presently. She remembered hiding in the safe room and
later talking to the creature. Another piece of her exoskeleton fell away and
she shivered as cold rain pounded her left shoulder. It didn’t hurt as bad as
the first time rain hit her flesh. She almost tripped when most of the shell on
her right leg fell away all at once. It was as if she were molting like a crab.
She was sick, weak, and terrified. She had no idea what had happened to her but
everything about her body felt different and weird.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Luke Ahearn was born in New Orleans, LA and now lives in
Central California. He is a successfully published author of both fiction and
nonfiction, most recently completing Transition, the third book in the Euphoria
Z Series. He has over 20 years of professional game development experience in
lead positions; designer, producer, and art director.
Luke is also a book cover designer interested in supporting
his fellow authors. He hates writing about himself in the third person, but
thinks it makes him sound more substantial.
Luke can be reached at
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/222683.Luke_Ahearn
REST OF THE SERIES SO FAR . . .
Euphoria Z is the first book in this fantastic sounding series!
REST OF THE SERIES SO FAR . . .
Euphoria Z is the first book in this fantastic sounding series!
Title: Euphoria Z
Series: The Euphoria Z Series
Author: Luke Ahearn
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Thriller
Release Date: 5th July 2016
BLURB supplied by Bewitching Blog Tours
Civilization shuts down as the world’s population fills the streets in a deadly orgy. They feel only pleasure and never pain, even as they are injured, maimed, and mutilated. The few who remain unaffected struggle to survive, unaware that things are about to get unbelievably worse.
Cooper is among the few survivors of an apocalypse that is a result of a conspiracy to depopulate the world. One week ago, college was his biggest concern. Now he is on a perilous journey to find his sister. But zombie attacks aren't the only threat he faces. In this nightmarish reality, the living can be far more dangerous in this new dystopia.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Civilization shuts down as the world’s population fills the streets in a deadly orgy. They feel only pleasure and never pain, even as they are injured, maimed, and mutilated. The few who remain unaffected struggle to survive, unaware that things are about to get unbelievably worse.
Cooper is among the few survivors of an apocalypse that is a result of a conspiracy to depopulate the world. One week ago, college was his biggest concern. Now he is on a perilous journey to find his sister. But zombie attacks aren't the only threat he faces. In this nightmarish reality, the living can be far more dangerous in this new dystopia.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Transformation is the exciting second book in the Euphoria Z Trilogy.
Title: Transformation
Series: The Euphoria Z Series
Author: Luke Ahearn
Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Thriller
Release Date: 1st September 2015
BLURB supplied by Bewitching Blog Tours
Cooper has found his sister Ellen and her
boyfriend Taffer who survived the infection. But there's something not quite
right about him now. Cooper must leave Ellen and Taffer behind with a new
companion to go on a critical mission to find the one person that might be able
to help him. Weed, the surviving member of the Wild Rebels MC has infiltrated
the parking garage as a harmless old man, but he's not fooling everyone. The
dead now change in unforeseeable ways that threaten the scant remains of
mankind. A host of characters new and old fill the pages of Transformation.
Some we thought we saw the last of and some we wish we never crossed paths
with. The only thing that is certain….time for mankind is running out.
PURCHASE LINKS
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