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Zedger’s Book Cover Animation

I want to give a special shout out and say thanks to Morgan Wright for animating Zedger’s cover. She is a stellar book cover animator and person. She’s also working on her own books and stories. (See more below)

I’m working on a short story prequel to the Hybrid Genesis series that will be out late this spring. It’s a dystopian cyberpunk novelette that follows main character, Marci, as she travels to the last known city of Tellurians, buried in the red zones. She’s searching for biotech parts to replenish her supply so she can continue to care for the soldiers dumped and left to die in her northern area of the Free Territories of Zion. It will be a permafree book available on this website when it’s ready.

Zedger: Edge of Zion (Book 1 of Hybrid Genesis)

They haven’t had a Crisper in months. When a man’s body is dumped in the basalt flow south of Marci’s mountain cabin, she knows something is off. Stealth vehicles patrol the area, preventing her from rescuing the newest victim of the Disconnect. Unless she wants to risk exposure.

In a post-war, irradiated, future Earth, Marci is the only one of the test subjects strong enough to escape the experiments of Project Zedger—the Astrals’ bioenhanced military designed to protect what’s left of humanity in the Free Territories of Zion. The six High cities that remain create all law and order, enforcing it upon the wildlands at the cost of all others. Zedger soldiers are their main weapons: mutated, spliced, and cybernetically restructured to do the most damage, without objection.

The Genesis hub controls everyone. Marci knows she must take it out if she is to free her people. But this Crisper is different. He was sent to her with a message. When Operational Cybernetic Corps Snipes come after them, Marci knows her time is up.
Zedger must fall.

Zedger’s Animated Cover:

It feels like I’m right there with Marci in the conditioning tank, getting Cerithymite injections…

Morgan gave me three animations to pick from which is just wonderful.


About Morgan Wright: the amazing animator behind the bubbles and flashing light:
On March 31, 2021, Morgan Wright is releasing a dark fantasy short story: When Black Roses Bleed.

Short Stories | Morgan Wright (morganwrightbooks.com)

If you’d like to have your book cover animated by her you can find her:

Website: Book Cover Animation Service | Morgan Wright (morganwrightbooks.com)

Twitter @byMorganWright

Facebook @byMorganWright

Goodreads “By Morgan Wright”

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Teleporter By Lee Hall

Book Review: The Teleporter By Lee Hall (4 Stars)

A humorously crass story of a drunkard turned superhero.

Hall has created a realistic world in which corporations hold the power and the common man has little control over his own life, until fate elects a portion and hands it over in the form of teleportation karma. The transformation of our main character, Kurt, is depicted with a perfect amount of stumbles, physical and emotional, and leaves us rooting for him as he finds his new place in society.

The voice isn’t hindered by formalities; it is free and true to character and, yes, littered with curses. But it fits so perfectly with Kurt’s sarcastic/apathetic personality that it is hard to be bothered by it.

The story picks up quickly and doesn’t linger too long in any one scene. Hall has done a great job at keeping a smooth pace and throwing in just enough detail to encourage us to continue reading without bogging us down. If you’re not used to reading an Irish accent, give it a chapter or two.

The Teleporter was a fun ride that I would recommend to anyone that enjoys shorter scifi stories involving average-joe superheros, technology, and characters that simultaneously banter and care.

Summary (Spoiler Alert!):

The beginning might throw you for a loop because it sounds a lot like the author is breaking the fourth wall. That’s how genuine the voice of our main character, Kurt, is. And he is a complete drunk, a jerk, and is funny as hell. With a love life and a job that are both dead-ends, Kurt relies on booze and his imagination for entertainment. But like all superheroes, Kurt has an endearing quality. Beneath all the swears and drink, he has a conscience and doesn’t truly want anyone to get hurt. He just doesn’t know anything different.

Kurt works for a company called Liqui-tech as essentially their social media marketer/outreach guy. During a planned media event, Kurt runs into his next-door neighbor, Casey. As a journalist, she’s a skeptic and can’t believe their company’s teleportation project doesn’t produce any toxic waste. When Kurt is assigned media coverage for that specific project, Casey’s words get to him. He finds himself soon doing his own recon and, inevitably, succumbing to a vat of the liquid… and scrambling out of the opposite tank.

After sleeping for several days, Kurt awakens to discover he can teleport around his house just by thinking about the refrigerator etc. Learning to teleport and keep his clothes on is a trick he has to learn the hard way. And, ironically, his beloved alcohol is his kryptonite. This made the character’s struggle much more complicated. He can no longer rely on his usual “out” and must learn to cope with his new life on his own. In his jubilee over becoming a superhero, he goes out and makes a big deal about being a superhero in front of a bar full of people. But his efforts in protecting a girl—who’d had her drink spiked—prove he is worthy of said powers.

Teaming up with Casey across the hall, they return to Liqui-tech to search for evidence they can use to hold Mr. Williams, the owner, accountable for. His family owns most of the town, and they disrespect most of the people they come into contact with. Casey and Kurt are caught and put through their own interrogation. Kurt is beaten and thrown out, which brings him new perspective on the divide between upper and lower classes. Emotional over the matter, Kurt returns to his favorite bar and basically tells everyone the teleporter thing was a stunt and they should all go home instead of spending the night out drinking. As mentioned before, Kurt has a heart, though sometimes it can seem buried.

On a walk, Kurt meets two old men, one of which he defends from Mr. William’s entitled brat-of-a-son and takes quite a beating for it. The other who offers Kurt some wisdom on the matter of his skill set. Feeling empowered again, Kurt records a video threat to Mr. Williams and begins practicing his teleporting skills for means of hand-to-hand combat.

A group of his closest companions gather around him demanding it is time for some action because Casey has been taken. They end up infiltrating Liqui-tech with literally no plan. Finding Casey is the next experiment and that Mr. Williams as created teleportation biotech for himself, the crew is thrown into a frenzied series of attacks and defenses ultimately ending in the testing facility. There, Casey is subjected to the teleportation tanks plus a car battery. When she emerges again from the muck as Kurt holds her, she is shot twice… and uncovers her own ability. She’s bulletproof.

Kurt’s former supervisor (before being fired from Liqui-tech), Marcus, ends up being a member of the FBI and has recorded everything. William’s is taken away, and Marcus therein becomes the mentor/guide to Kurt and Casey.

Personal Thoughts:

This book was hilarious, though I’m not usually a laugh-out-loud type. I’m more of the chuckle type. The emotional range didn’t include major moments of anger (which I think would’ve completed the spectrum), but this made for an easier, laid-back type of read.

It was entertaining to find a book about a realistic man that had something supernatural happen to him. We all want to feel like there is this possibility, this hope, that some miracle will pull us out of the muck of everyday life, and we’ll be able to finally change the world. All too often superheroes are from rich families or royalty or gods. Kurt is an unlikely option in our stereotypical world. But here, we get to see him in action. Hope and humor thrive together in The Teleporter.

The Teleporter on Amazon

Goodreads

https://leehallwriter.com/

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: Imprint By Nicholas Adams

Imprint By Nicholas Adams (5 stars)

If you liked Ex Machina, you will like this.

Overview: (spoiler alert)

Imprint follows Malcolm as he tries to find a solution for a debilitating and life-threatening side-effect of the synthetic organs he designed. His wife is the last remaining test subject in a world that destroyed itself thinking “The Scald” was a plague. The Scald is the term for the burns which appear sometime after a synthetic organ transplant has occurred. Good intentions aren’t always enough.

Limited to a bed of gel to support her fragile, disintegrating body, Malcom’s wife, Cynthiana, can no longer participate in daily activities. After being given a week to find a cure for his fatal mistake, at the Warden’s threat of execution, Malcolm attempts to build Cynthiana a new body through which she can wirelessly transmit conscious action and, in a manner, live again.

But the created anthropomorphic being begins to act of its own accord while Cynthiana isn’t conscious. Malcolm studies his wife’s neural activity, attempting to find a connection between the waking sessions and odd behaviors of “Synthia.” It isn’t until he and Synthia are alone that he uncovers the imprinting of personality, interests, behaviors, etc of his wife within the constructed AI. What Synthia does after is unexpected and unpredictable.

This is an easy, short read (novella). I had no trouble following the storyline. I enjoyed the addition of the Canadian French in Malcolm’s wife’s dialogue. Learning a little something while reading for pleasure is a great two-for-one deal. Speaking of pleasure, there are a few steamy scenes, though nothing described in raw detail—a perfect mix.

Definitely cyberpunk/biopunk dystopian fiction. The world in which the story takes place is limited to Malcolm’s residence, specifically his lab, focusing on details of his biomechanical creations. Synthia’s new body is described in wonderful detail, including how she perceives the environment, and him.

Malcolm loves his wife dearly. She is a delight: still actively engaged despite her failing body, reading romances, always attentive to what’s going on when she’s awake. I would fully expect, in any other situation, for her to moan and cry and hate everything because of her state. She strikes me as the strongest of the characters.

The ending, the imprint, is a surprise that couldn’t make more sense. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I won’t give it away. It evoked some strong feels for Malcolm. Anyone that’s had a spouse with a mysterious illness can probably relate. Their bond is obvious, his dedication to her unmovable. I have missed reading about characters with morals, respect, and true love. …And a future hanging wide-open before me.

 

Personal thoughts:

Only two things mildly bothered me: glazing over the week Malcolm originally had to find a solution or face execution with the mention of three weeks later he’s working on the synth body, and the fact Cythiana’s neural expertise didn’t come into play. I expected the Synthia to start working on a project of her own because of that detail in Cythiana’s opening credits. Maybe she’ll find a solution to download her actual consciousness into the body?! Yes? Please? And then the twist… Ha! Proves just how much I should not let my mind do this while reading. And honestly, the ending was a good one, true to life. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Find it on Amazon

Goodreads

Nicholas Adams Website: http://www.nicholasadamswrites.com/