Blurb:
The richest man in the world wants to celebrate the July 4th holiday as never before. In a bid to get into the record books, a global fireworks show is staged from orbit. Satellites drop pyrotechnics into the atmosphere, thrilling everyone from the Arctic to the Antarctic with their rich colors and massive explosions in every time zone.
The next day, people around the globe begin to lose their sight. Governments crumble, society degenerates, and infrastructure falls into chaos. Humanity finds itself stumbling in the dark and losing all hope.
A few fortunate individuals retain their vision. Attempting to deal with the growing despair around them, they come together to discover the true purpose and origin of the affliction. They race to find a cure before the world is subjugated under an invading power.
Excerpt:
Keith
Hurst’s secure telephone rang, waking him from a sound sleep. He
opened his eyes and looked at the LED clock on his nightstand. It
said 3:12. As national security advisor to the president of the
United States, middle-of-the-night calls were common. His staff did
their best to filter out the less important matters until his morning
brief, but there were times when an emergency forced sleep into
second place.
Hurst grabbed the handset by the second ring. He had to
wait for the encryption to handshake before he could say, “Hurst.”
“Good
morning, sir. This is the night watch officer. We have several NSA
intercepts from the following countries: India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia all placing their
militaries on high alert. We’ve had sporadic reports of multiple
air, car, and rail accidents, resulting in thousands of deaths. Many
radio and television stations have gone off the air in those
countries.”
Hurst
snapped on his bedside light and sat up. “Accidents? Do we know the
cause?”
“No,
sir. The strange thing is, NSA claims many of the foreign military
units that were signaled never acknowledged the alert. There also
appears to be a major communication disruption with U.S. CENTCOM
units in Afghanistan and our embassies in the aforementioned
countries.”
“Are
the comms being hacked, or is there some sort of natural phenomenon
like sunspot interference?” Concerned about the call, Hurst looked
at the empty space beside him. His wife had left him several years
before, directly because of the election campaign and the late-night
calls.
“No,
sir. Not that we can see. The circuits are up, and the phones are
ringing, but no one is answering.”
Hurst
swung his legs out of bed. Has someone come up
with a way to simultaneously disrupt communications with American
bases, embassies, and headquarters, or is this some sort of terrorist
attack? “Does NRO have anything on overhead
imagery?”
“No,
sir. No major troop movements in the CENTCOM area. In fact, NRO
reports minimal movement overall.”
“I’ll
be in the office in thirty-five minutes. I’ll want everyone in for
an early brief for the president. Get the joint chiefs and SECDEF up
to speed. Warn the Secret Service that we may be moving POTUS with
short notice. If this is an attack, I want to stay ahead of it. See
if we can get drone surveillance of any U.S. bases in Afghanistan
ASAP. We need answers.”
“Yes,
sir.”
Hurst hung up and hit the bedside crash button to summon
his protection detail. This was no time for subtlety. He needed to be
in the White House as soon as humanly possible.
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About The Author:
Mr. Parkinson was an Air Force avionics technician, a decorated
veteran of the Persian Gulf War, and several United Nations peacekeeping
missions. He has lived overseas in numerous countries and travels
extensively. His novels have been praised for their realism and have
sold in fourteen countries, winning multiple international awards.
“I don’t incorporate overt sex, profanity, or extreme violence in any of
my writing. I prefer the story to be the main focus and want my novels
to be accessible by all.” -SJ Parkinson
Author Links:
Giveaway:
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