Friday, March 8, 2013

March Giveaway Madness #6: Mercy by Jay R.





Mercy by Jay R.:


After a war shatters civilization, society collapses into hunter-gatherers who fight the elements, mutated beasts, and one another in a desperate struggle for survival. Can Alex, a tiger, learn to have the mercy to save and protect Jen, a young wolfess whose technical knowledge is their only means of escape?







***Leave your NAME & E-MAIL in a comment below for a chance to win 1 of 4 e-copies (PDF or HTML) and 1 Signed Print. Drawing to be held 3/15/12***

Excerpt:

No books remained; they’d all been used up within the first year after the war for fires. And with the death of books came the death of the family—no longer able to provide for their cubs, most parents simply turned them away before themselves disbanding into the barbarian free-for-all that was existence.
Others simply gave up completely and made meals out of their children.
The tiger had personally been witness to this on several occasions, though he couldn’t—or, more accurately, he wouldn’t—remember it.
Censoring one's own thoughts was the only means by which to live. More than once, the tiger had veered dangerously close to suicide, simply by asking himself why he ought to live. Wouldn’t it be easier, after all, to just hurry fate along and end it all?
The only way to avoid such dangerous thinking was to keep one’s mind strictly on the material world. All that mattered now was finding that next cache of food and weapons and eliminating the next threat that appeared.
Non-physical health was as pertinent to survival as mercy: it was entirely irrelevant. All the survivors had to apply a cruel scalpel to their own psyches, slicing away anything that was a potential liability. What was left... wasn’t much. They were all simply shells of beings, as cold and dead as the world around them.
The tiger wasn’t entirely sure why he continued to walk. It was cold and wet and he was tired. Any of the houses in his immediate vicinity were, doubtlessly, just as good as those ahead of him—
He froze instantly and kneeled, raising his weapon. He peered through its scope, as rain dripped off its barrel, continuing to puddle at his feet... but there was nothing. A quick glance behind him, just in case—nothing, as well.
Reasonably satisfied that he wasn’t being trapped, he stood, slowly, tilting his head. His nose was twitching…
“That’s... beans... and rice. Smoke... a fire. There’s someone else here.”
Another person. Another person doubtlessly with a gun of their own, and, quite probably, more energy and wit about them than him. Avoiding them and simply finding shelter to wait out the storm, that could be wise...
But a sudden, loud clash of thunder rejected that plan for the tiger. No lightning had preceded it; that wasn’t unusual. Perhaps, then, it wasn’t even thunder, that roaring boom that echoed across the city from the sky, but it didn’t matter. These days, it simply didn’t pay to ask pointless questions.
It was really starting to rain, and though he’d lost any real concept of what wet and cold were long ago, even he realized that if he stayed out for long his body would simply cease to function. He needed to move faster.
So, engaging in an act that could have been called praying, though the tiger was no longer aware of any religion or any God that might exist, he started to run. Water sprayed from where his boots touched the ground and his eyes fixed on where his nose told him that sweet, delicious scent was coming from.
He was going to eat. And to do that, he was going to kill.

***Leave your NAME & E-MAIL in a comment below for a chance to win 1 of 4 e-copies (PDF or HTML) and 1 Signed Print. Drawing to be held 3/15/12***

Buy Link: 
Contact the Author:

15 comments:

  1. I could sure use some free books in exchange for reviews!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hop over to our Facebook event page for this giveaway. Many of the authors are there. You can post your request, and any who are interested are welcome to contact you.

      https://www.facebook.com/events/146515272180691/

      Delete
  2. Julie Jennings
    Sirenabeau@gmail.com

    I would be willing to write reviews as well. Thank you for the opportunity to maybe win a book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gregory Thompson
    gregorymarkthompson (at) live.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Would love to read this book, sounds very enticing. I always write review once I finish reading a book.

    Sandy Evans
    tiggernpooh55@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really like this…it's like the same world as The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but from the perspective of a different narrative.

    torilridgewood@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. The plot sounds interesting.. it would be fantastic to win this book:)
    Iris Yeo
    yuriko.himiko@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am a cover gal and this once certainly calls to me, then the synopsis peaked my interest, and the excerpt left me wanting more. Thank you for sharing this treat and for the awesome giveaway opportunity :)
    dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  8. This one reminds me of The Island of Dr. Moreau! Did anyone make that connection?

    ReplyDelete
  9. How fantastic of a book and giveaway.
    lorrie.zielinski@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Mysti - Yes, whenever I read about anthropomorphic animals (except for Disney / WB esque stuff), I think about Dr. Moreau. And Marvel comic's High Evolutionary and his new Men.
    KuligowskiAndrew (at) gmail (daht) com

    ReplyDelete
  11. This looks like this book has a little of a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Can't wait to see how it is though.

    sankofa0509@yahoo.com

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  12. Congratz to the winners of the ebook: Alex, Tori, Lorrie, and Iris!

    Congratz to the print winner: Andrew!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Rebecca Heeren

    snappy_1969@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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