As is tradition with this blog, whenever I roll out a new book, I include a sample from it to give readers a taste. This book is a little different than my novels, since it’s a short story collection, so the sample will be handled differently as well. I’m going to include the Introduction to the book and a sample from Investigating the Future’s End, my favorite story of the bunch. Here it is:
INTRODUCTION
When I was a kid, I would spend countless hours in my bedroom writing stories. At the time, I assumed everyone was doing this. I would ask my friends in school what stories they were working on, and they thought I was referring to homework. Over the years, I composed dozens of stories, but, cards on the table, many if not most of them were unpublishable. Hopefully, that’s not true for these six you hold in your hands.
These tales were written between 1994 and 2000. Rereading these half dozen stories decades after they were first put to paper, I was surprised at how dark they are. Not to give too much away, but almost all of them have unhappy endings, and not every character makes it out alive. Then I remembered that I wrote most of them in high school. Ah, I thought. That explains it.
Still, teenage angst can’t fully justify just how dark things get. By now, you’re wondering if I go there, and yes, I do. (Looking in your direction, How to Save a Drowning Butterfly.) But you can probably tell by this affable Introduction (if I do write so myself) that I have a sly sense of humor and don’t take myself too seriously. Looking back as a middle-aged adult, I’m glad I not only survived those troubled years but also that I haven’t fully succumbed to my dark impulses. (Now I’m looking at you, The Shovel.) But it’s fun every once in a while to take a trip down a darkened alley, unsure of whether you’ll make it to the other side.
Enjoy your trip in the dark.
Sample from Investigating the Future’s End
(To give you some background on the following sample, main character Bill Hartly is a detective of the near future investigating a series of bombings in his town of Park City. As he gets closer to discovering the truth, he begins being targeted by a secret society of assassins who may be more than they appear.)
The drops of blood plopping onto Bill’s steering wheel were so large, they made a sound upon impact. Bill tried fruitlessly to divert his mind from the searing agony that heightened with each pump of his heart. Picturing his destination, Park City Memorial Hospital, he ignored the pain that wrestled for his attention as more blood leaked from his broken body. At once, Bill felt a booming crash directly behind him, and his car popped a wheelie, the front two wheels spinning in the air. When they met the street again with a resounding screech, Bill’s fears were confirmed after he looked over his ailing shoulder. A Model-Z purposefully rammed his bumper, and another muscle car was close behind.
“What is this, the karma police?” Bill asked himself. Two shots, one from each speeding car, alerted Bill of their intentions, and he shot back through the open driver’s side window, his ammo filling the sky but not striking any targets. An enemy bullet ricocheted off his trunk with a cartoonish Ping! sound, and another connected with one of Bill’s back tires. He continued driving, considering the flat a triumph since they were short one more bullet and it didn’t kill him. Another round burst his rear window in a spectacular splash of glass. Now Bill was a sitting duck. To avoid the incoming shots, he swerved erratically across the road, with bullets whistling by and one almost grazing his ear.
“How many freakin’ guns do they have?” Bill asked. He checked his own supply: his barrel was empty. “This just keeps getting better,” he muttered between gritted teeth. Resorting to Plan B, Bill slammed his brakes as the twin pursuing cars rushed past, one on each side. He then pulled a sharp left against traffic, the oncoming cars blasting their horns and veering out of the way. Bill was forced to take the longer, scenic route to the hospital. When he finally arrived, he hid his car behind a nearby stationery and stumbled into the emergency ward, half unconscious.
***
As you can tell, this book has a lot more action than my last one. It probably has even more than my first, Danger Peak, and that was an action-adventure. And yes, that line about the “karma police” was a Radiohead reference. This particular story takes place in the near future, and hardcore ‘80s fans of my former books may be disappointed that no stories in this collection take place during that decade, though one takes place in the ‘90s. (Actually, I would say two take place in the ‘90s, but one isn’t overtly stated as the other is.) As I wrote in a previous blog, “If you write one book about your childhood, it’s celebrated. If you write two books about your childhood, it’s a cause for concern. If you write three books about your childhood, they bring out the men in the white coats,” so there will be no more ‘80s nostalgia gazing from me, I’m afraid. This decade of course will always thrive in my heart (just follow my social media channels for evidence of this), but it’s time to move on.
I hope my readers move on too to this next stage in my career. There’s lots of exciting stuff coming down the pike. And as evidence of this, my first official book signing is already next week! Once again, it’s at The James Joyce Restaurant in Patchogue, NY (49 South Ocean Avenue) on Tuesday, September 17th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. I’ll be signing copies of both Danger Peak and Déjà View. Also, every book purchase gets a free ‘80s gift! Plus: Free food and a raffle! For more information, see my earlier blog below:
Hope to see you there!
In other MTP news, I updated this site to include a page on my new book, as well as featuring its cover on this site’s homepage. You can view the book’s dedicated page here:
In other, other MTP news, I have some bad news/good news about the upcoming Danger Peak audiobook. Apparently, it’s taking much longer than anticipated (and what I promised in a blog months ago) to complete this project. The audiobook was supposed to be ready this month, but we’re anticipating it most likely won’t be ready until October (when my new book comes out!) or November (just in time for the holidays!). That’s the bad news; the good news is there’s a reason why it’s taking this long, but I can’t explain why without spoiling something, so it’s probably best if I just end this blog right now.
Until next time, same Perone channel (this site).
MTP
P.S.: Next week’s blog: Recapping My First Official Book Signing
P.P.S.: Déjà View is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:
Michael Thomas Perone 