SFFS: Snippet #4 from Atomic Zion
DESCRIPTION:
I've skipped ahead in the first chapter of my SF Thriller, Atomic Zion, which is in its final revisions. The book was influenced by my time as the Educational Marketing Director at Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob and by reading stories from Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum, James Rollins, and Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Back Cover Blurb...
On the night of his 90th birthday, a former Wright Apprentice is thrown from the fifth floor of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The only clue to clear his grandson of the murder is a note written in Navajo code which warns "The Bear has awakened."
These four words throw Nick Vanko into the middle of a decades old international cover-up where Wright Apprentices encoded WWII-era secrets about genetic experimentation into their blueprints. In order to stop a being who isn't quite human from unleashing a biological weapon upon the U.S., Nick must find Broadacre City, the fabled utopia designed by Wright, but supposedly never built. Searching by his side are an old Navajo CodeTalker, a woman who sees emotions as colors, and a Mossad agent who is really working for the Russian mafia. But can Vanko trust any of them?
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SNIPPET #1
SNIPPET #2
SNIPPET #3
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SNIPPET #4:
Three men crawled on their knees down the rocky maw in front of Skovajsa. Even without their shed packs, the meter and a half square tunnel squeezed the men.
Skovajsa watched the legs and boots of the man in front of him angle down and out of sight into darkness. The line stopped.
At that moment, it was good to be small. Rock pressed around him and above him. He pulled deeper breaths, his mind telling him the air was thinning. He wanted to scream, "Move!" Or "Back up! Get me out of here!" Instead, he closed his eyes and said a silent Hail Mary, working the M35 strap as a rosary.
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Find other wonderful snippets at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday!
Excellent snippet Heidi. I was enthralled and it seemed to end too soon!
ReplyDeleteKind words, Chantal--thank you.
DeleteI'm not remotely claustrophobic, but Skovajsa's plight brought home to me what claustrophobia ust feel like. Very effective - a very good sequence.
ReplyDeleteSo glad it hit its mark, Peter.
Delete"working the M35 strap as a rosary." Awesome! My snippet in over at my blog, but alas I forgot to add it to the list this week.
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting me know, J.M.--just visited yours.
Delete:) Heidi
Nice touch, using the strap as a rosary.
ReplyDeleteThanks. That part inspired this whole scene, JC.
DeleteI hope he's not claustrophobic! I like the last line about the rosary. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you stopping by, Gayle.
DeleteBent over, yes, but squeezed? He must really be claustrophobic if he feels squeezed by a meter and a half square tunnel.
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed, Sue.
DeleteVery nice! Gave me a shiver because I am claustrophobic in that tight a space. I'd be praying, too...
ReplyDeleteNo snippet from me this week. I'll be back next week.
See you next year for another snippet, Ann.
DeleteYou can feel the claustrophobia in waves. Interesting how people deal with that kind of fear under pressure. I think you nailed it.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate it, Lyndi.
DeleteYou've had a wonderful tension in each of these snippets and this one is no different. Excellent tension. The last line was particularly striking. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteVery kind of you to say so, J.M. Thanks.
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