The Summer the World Ended
Author: Matthew S. Cox
Published by: Curiosity Quills Press
Publication Date: June 29th, 2015
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult
Book Description:
As far as Riley McCullough is concerned, her best friend getting ‘dragged’ off to Puerto Vallarta for the first two weeks of summer vacation was the end of the world―at least until the bombs fell.
Life in suburban New Jersey with her mother has been comfortable, not to mention boring, to an introverted fourteen year old. As if her friend’s surprise trip wasn’t bad enough, her expectations for the ‘best summer ever’ disintegrate when she gets sent across the country to stay with a father she hasn’t seen in six years. Adjusting to a tiny, desert town where everyone stares at them like they don’t belong proves difficult, and leaves her feeling more isolated than ever. To make matters worse, her secretive father won’t tell the truth about why he left―or what he’s hiding.
Her luck takes an unexpected turn for the better when she meets a boy who shares her interest in video games and contempt for small town boredom. In him, she finds a kindred spirit who might just make the middle of nowhere tolerable.
Happiness is short lived; fleeing nuclear Armageddon, she takes shelter with her dad in an underground bunker he’d spent years preparing. After fourteen days without sun, Riley must overcome the sorrow of losing everything to save the one person she cares about most.
Author: Matthew S. Cox
Published by: Curiosity Quills Press
Publication Date: June 29th, 2015
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult
Book Description:
As far as Riley McCullough is concerned, her best friend getting ‘dragged’ off to Puerto Vallarta for the first two weeks of summer vacation was the end of the world―at least until the bombs fell.
Life in suburban New Jersey with her mother has been comfortable, not to mention boring, to an introverted fourteen year old. As if her friend’s surprise trip wasn’t bad enough, her expectations for the ‘best summer ever’ disintegrate when she gets sent across the country to stay with a father she hasn’t seen in six years. Adjusting to a tiny, desert town where everyone stares at them like they don’t belong proves difficult, and leaves her feeling more isolated than ever. To make matters worse, her secretive father won’t tell the truth about why he left―or what he’s hiding.
Her luck takes an unexpected turn for the better when she meets a boy who shares her interest in video games and contempt for small town boredom. In him, she finds a kindred spirit who might just make the middle of nowhere tolerable.
Happiness is short lived; fleeing nuclear Armageddon, she takes shelter with her dad in an underground bunker he’d spent years preparing. After fourteen days without sun, Riley must overcome the sorrow of losing everything to save the one person she cares about most.
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Excerpt
Riley looked up. “So… You really found my dad? He wants me?”
“Yep.” Mina grinned. “I got in touch with your mother’s attorney; he had the contact information.”
“What?” Riley blinked. “Mom knew where he was this whole time? She said she had no idea.”
“Well, that could be true. His ‘contact information’ was an email address… that doesn’t mean she knew where he was.”
“Why did he leave?” Riley bit her lip.
Mina’s eyes widened and rolled as she pursed her lips. “That’s something for you to ask him. I honestly don’t know. However, I do know that he is very keen on having you back. He asked me to make sure you understood he never stopped loving you. The man got himself so worked up to get out here, he hung up on me before I could ask him if he wanted to talk to you. You know, I think the man ran right out his door.”
“I was eight. He didn’t come home from work one day. Mom was all normal and stuff until I asked why Dad wasn’t home yet, and then she cried. She said was I was too little to understand. The best answer I ever got was they decided it was in everyone’s best interest to separate.”
“Not every marriage works out. You’ll have plenty of time to talk to him about that. It’s really not my place to speculate what happened.”
He wants me? She bit her knuckle and sniffled.
“What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know… I thought he hated us.”
“Okay, enough negativity.” Mina tucked a finger under Riley’s chin and lifted her gaze off the floor. “Grab clean clothes and I’ll show you where you can take a shower. After that, you are eating dinner. Toya isn’t kidding. She will strap you to a chair and spoon-feed you if she has to.”
Riley slid to the edge of the bed, kicked off her sneakers, peeled off her socks, and stood. Dad’s coming for me. Dark orange light shimmered through the tiny, prison-like window. I’m getting out of here. She shrugged off the sweatshirt and threw it in a ball to the ground next to the bag. After pulling a clean set of clothes out of the small suitcase she’d brought from home, she managed an almost-smile at Mina.
“Thanks for finding him.”
Riley looked up. “So… You really found my dad? He wants me?”
“Yep.” Mina grinned. “I got in touch with your mother’s attorney; he had the contact information.”
“What?” Riley blinked. “Mom knew where he was this whole time? She said she had no idea.”
“Well, that could be true. His ‘contact information’ was an email address… that doesn’t mean she knew where he was.”
“Why did he leave?” Riley bit her lip.
Mina’s eyes widened and rolled as she pursed her lips. “That’s something for you to ask him. I honestly don’t know. However, I do know that he is very keen on having you back. He asked me to make sure you understood he never stopped loving you. The man got himself so worked up to get out here, he hung up on me before I could ask him if he wanted to talk to you. You know, I think the man ran right out his door.”
“I was eight. He didn’t come home from work one day. Mom was all normal and stuff until I asked why Dad wasn’t home yet, and then she cried. She said was I was too little to understand. The best answer I ever got was they decided it was in everyone’s best interest to separate.”
“Not every marriage works out. You’ll have plenty of time to talk to him about that. It’s really not my place to speculate what happened.”
He wants me? She bit her knuckle and sniffled.
“What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know… I thought he hated us.”
“Okay, enough negativity.” Mina tucked a finger under Riley’s chin and lifted her gaze off the floor. “Grab clean clothes and I’ll show you where you can take a shower. After that, you are eating dinner. Toya isn’t kidding. She will strap you to a chair and spoon-feed you if she has to.”
Riley slid to the edge of the bed, kicked off her sneakers, peeled off her socks, and stood. Dad’s coming for me. Dark orange light shimmered through the tiny, prison-like window. I’m getting out of here. She shrugged off the sweatshirt and threw it in a ball to the ground next to the bag. After pulling a clean set of clothes out of the small suitcase she’d brought from home, she managed an almost-smile at Mina.
“Thanks for finding him.”
About the Author
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Author Links:
Website ¦ Goodreads ¦ Facebook ¦ Twitter
***GIVEAWAY***
$40 Amazon Gift Card.
Signed copy of The Summer the World Ended.
International.
Ends August 27th.
Website ¦ Goodreads ¦ Facebook ¦ Twitter
***GIVEAWAY***
$40 Amazon Gift Card.
Signed copy of The Summer the World Ended.
International.
Ends August 27th.
Blog Tour Organised by:
Thanks for hosting today, Alecia! :)
ReplyDeletethis looks a great read! It must be horrible to know that you've lost just about everything and everyone you knew - a great plot line though!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds really good, I can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeletethanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this is an interesting book! I couldn't imagine the idea of this being about bombings and having to survive. It would make quite the thriller.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my book haul: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/08/my-hoarding-catastrophe-classic-crazy.html