Metrofloat New York
by William Quincy Belle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Science Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Several hundred years
in the future, Earth is a different planet. Antigravity has been invented and
“flying” has given way to “floating”: giant platforms with cities remain above
the growing surface temperatures as enclaves of the privileged. A global
pandemic has wiped out 80% of those on the ground, and a virulent, flesh-eating
disease, necrofasc, has left most with artificial body parts. Insects are the
main food staple. A utopia for some, a dystopia for others.
Metrofloat New York,
a futuristic city of thirty million, is run by an oligarchy of five rich and
powerful people. An unknown assassin, working from within the system, attempts
to seize control and declare himself dictator by methodically removing all
rivals. Detective Matthew Heart of the Metropolitan Police must deal with his
partner, a cyborg policewoman, his unofficial family, a transgender woman and
her one-legged daughter, and a mysterious assailant bent on taking over the
world by killing anyone who stands in his way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Alan and Terry were skinny enough to slip through the
security perimeter into the antigravity zone. Already, they heard the pounding
of the AG machines. Workers in the area often wore ear protection, as the
constant noise could damage their hearing, but when one is young and foolish,
protection is for wimps. They climbed down to the lowest scaffolding and looked
out over the panorama below. The ground was a good kilometer down, speckled
with the twinkling lights of the settlement. Each light was a potential target
for a jump-and-grab, so tonight looked to be an excellent opportunity.
Rumors had been circulating around the high school for over
a year about thrill seekers doing the unthinkable: bungee jumping from the
metrofloat. Alan and Terry had pooled their money and bought the latest in
equipment, including a controllable elasticized cable, a double-safety ankle
harness, and a precision-positioning system with automatic height detection.
The flexible anchor allowed them to set up the bungee in any location in record
time, so they could get in, jump, and get out before the authorities knew they
were violating restricted areas.
Alan would make the first attempt. He had decked himself
with various tools attached to his belt and a helmet with a lamp. He had
double-checked his ankle connectors and made sure the safety harness was in
place. Terry gave him the once-over, enumerating each item out loud so they
both knew they had checked everything. Alan climbed over the railing and held
on as Terry fed out the cable so it was free and clear of the scaffolding.
Quivering with excitement, Alan looked over at his friend.
Terry grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. Alan turned back to the open space,
took a deep breath, and spread his arms out. He bent his knees and pushed off
into a swan dive.
Alan had ten seconds of free fall before the cable slowed
his descent — ten seconds of weightlessness as the wind whistled by his head.
It was peaceful. And surreal. It wasn’t every day somebody jumped from a height
of a thousand meters.
Looking toward the ground when he jumped, Alan twisted as he
now fell, upside down, and brought his head up to look off into the distance.
The light from his helmet flashed on something. He swept his head back and
forth until the object was visible again. There was a human body three meters
from him, free-falling at the same rate. It tumbled in the air. Judging by the
looseness of the limbs, Alan guessed the person was unconscious. Or dead.
Wouldn’t somebody falling to their death be thrashing about?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
William
Quincy Belle is just a guy. Nobody famous; nobody rich; just some guy who likes
to periodically add his two cents worth with the hope, accounting for
inflation, that $0.02 is not over evaluating his contribution. He claims that
at the heart of the writing process is some sort of (psychotic) urge to put it
down on paper and likes to recite the following, which so far he hasn't been
able to attribute to anyone: "A writer is an egomaniac with low
self-esteem." You will find Mr. Belle's unbridled stream of consciousness
floating around in cyberspace.
Amazon:
Metrofloat New York
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K631LDS
Web site
http://www.williamquincybelle.com
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/WilliamQuincyBelle
Twitter
https://twitter.com/wqbelle
Amazon author
page
https://www.amazon.com/William-Quincy-Belle/e/B01M1IQ69G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks so much for sharing your book with us. Always fun reading about another book to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating in this book tour. Being an indie author is an uphill struggle.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, there are 2.2 million new books published each year, 300,000 in the U.S., 150,000 in the United Kingdom, 20,000 in Canada. The book review section of The Washington Post states they get 150 new titles each day. Each day! What are the chances of anyone getting noticed? Even if somebody has written the next classic, there’s the harsh reality of statistics. Having the public choose any particular book out of the annual American field of 300,000 strikes me as being the equivalent of winning the literary lottery. Congratulations, E. L. James: over 70 million copies of the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy sold.
By the way, the above is about new books published each year. According to Google, there are over 150 million books in existence! Literary lottery, indeed!
There's a lot of junk out there, which means the public is leery of investing their time in anything unknown. Who wants the literary equivalent of bad movie? "I want two hours of my life back." Cheers to the risk-takers who brought E. L. James to the forefront.
I appreciate you taking the risk.
All the best to you in your world. :-)
How many books have you written so far? Congrats on the release.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mr. Wallace.
DeleteSo far, I've published two novels and five collections of short stories. Visit me at Amazon.
I also have a blog where I write about things of personal interest: politics, science, music, and social issues.
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteA Post-apocalyptic SciFi Thriller: A cop teams up with a cyborg policewoman to find a dead killer who's still killing in a floating (antigravity) city.
ReplyDeleteMetrofloat New York
Currently 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Interested, but not yet committed to reading the book? Visit my web site for a longer excerpt.
Still wondering? Here’s what reviewers are saying.
5 Star Review: Suspenseful and Thrilling Future Dystopian
"If you love Dystopian science fiction of the near future, you'll love METROFLOAT NEW YORK. I did, and I'd like to see sequels, a series! In the future, cities float, a kilometer above the Earth. On the surface are Farm Settlements (FS), designed to provide agricultural needs for the floating urban environments, which of course house the wealthy upper classes. On the surface the masses are suffused with crime, poverty, and despair. Yet on Metrofloat New York, all is not sweetness, light, and wealthy expenditure. There is implacable death, inexplicable in its logic, but nevertheless sweeps like a juggernaut, taking life where it will, and for its own reasons.
METROFLOAT NEW YORK is plausible, stimulating, and deeply-characterized, with suspense sufficient to keep the reader up all night."
5 Star Review: Murder...Floating Cities and Cars...Awesome....
"A global pandemic swept the Earth several hundred years ago with a flesh eating disease killing almost everyone. Anyone who was left alive was very lucky if the disease only took one leg or one arm. Most lost both legs or arms and some even half their bodies.
Earth is now divided with the rich folks living in cities floating above the ground and the poor people live on the ground and are called grounders. Detective Heart one of the grounders once lived in the floating city Metrofloat New York until he was thrown out. Heart has been a grounder for almost five years now and works for the Metropolitan Police.
Someone is going around killing members of the oligarchy. The members of oligarchy council consist only of the most powerful and rich. Detective Heart is assigned to find out who is killing the council members. Detective Heart also gets himself a new partner in the deal. His new partner is a woman cyborg from Metrofloat New York. Who is going around killing the council members and why? What do they hope to gain by killing the council member?
I love dystopian and science fiction novels and truly enjoyed reading Metrofloat. The world building was awesome and I really loved trying to picture the floating city and the cars, amazing. It sort of reminded me of Bruce Willis’ movie The Fifth Element. Metrofloat New York pulled me in from the first page and kept me hooked from beginning to end. The characters were all amazing in their own way. I can’t wait to read more about the floating cities and the two detectives Heat and Stanton.
If you like a good dystopian/science fiction with a twist of mystery then you are going to love Metrofloat New York."
Sounds interesting!
ReplyDelete