Horizon
OF LIVING THINGS THERE WERE FEW, BUT THEY CARRIED ONCass Dollar is a survivor. She’s overcome the meltdown of civilization, humans turned mindless cannibals, and the many evils of man.But from beneath the devastated California landscape emerges a tendril of hope. A mysterious traveler arrives at New Eden with knowledge of a passageway North—a final escape from the increasingly cunning Beaters. Clutching this dream, Cass and many others follow him into the unknown.Journeying down valleys and over barren hills, Cass remains torn between two men. One—her beloved Smoke—is not so innocent as he once was. The other keeps a primal hold on her that feels like Fate itself. And beneath it all, Cass must confront the worst of what’s inside her—dark memories from when she was a Beater herself. But she, and all of the other survivors, will fight to the death for the promise of a new horizon….
Читать Horizon онлайн беплатно
Of living things there were none
But they carried on
Cass Dollar has survived the worst Aftertime has to offer: civilizationâs meltdown, humans turned mindless cannibals, men visiting and revisiting evil upon one another.
If Cass can overcome the worst of whatâs inside herâafter all, she was once a Beater herself, until she mysteriously healedâthen their journey may finally end. And a new horizon will be born.
Praise for Sophie Littlefield
âLittlefield turns what could be just another zombie apocalypse into a thoughtful and entertaining exploration of many themes.⦠Littlefield has a gift for pacing, her adroit and detailed world-building going down easy amid page-turning action and evocative, sensual, harrowing descriptions that bring every paragraph of this thriller to life.â
âPublishers Weekly on Aftertime (starred review)
âDriven by a tough, smart heroine with a dark past⦠Littlefieldâs compelling writing will keep readers turning pages late into the night to find out what happens next. Outstanding!â
âRT Book Reviews, on Aftertime (Top Pick, Seal of Excellence)
âSophie Littlefield shows considerable skills for delving into the depths of her characters and complex plotting as she disarms the reader.â
âSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel
âIâm geeking out of my mind after reading Aftertime because I felt almost the same way reading it as I do watching The Walking Dead: captivated.â
âAll Things Urban Fantasy
âA new generation of post-apocalyptic fiction: a unique journey into a horrifying world of zombies, zealots and avarice that examines the strength of one woman, the joy of acceptance and the power of love. A must read.â
âJT Ellison, author of A Deeper Darkness
âGrab a Littlefield pronto.â
âKirkus Reviews
âLittlefield excels at keeping the momentum going and she knows how to inject a huge beating heart into any story, even one in which humanity is barely alive.â
âPop Culture Nerd
âRebirth not only matches Aftertimeâs thematic punch, it just may have surpassed it!.â¦Littlefieldâs Aftertime trilogy is top-notch post-apocalyptic fiction. Itâs an innovative take on the zombie mythos. Itâs a heartrending love storyâ¦.If Aftertime was [Stephen] Kingâs The Stand in a bra and panties then Rebirth is McCarthyâs The Road in a dress and sensible heels.â
âPaul Goat Allen, BarnesandNoble.com
âA book about what it means to love and be human disguised as a story about a zombie-riddled dystopia.â
âRT Book Reviews on Rebirth
âFrom H.G. Wells to Max Brooks to Cormac McCarthy, the End Times have always belonged to the boys. Sophie Littlefield gives an explosive voice to the other half of the planetâs populationâ¦a whole new kind of fierce.â
âLaura Benedict, author of Isabella Moon
âYou will have a very good day, indeed, when you enter the wonderful world of Sophie Littlefieldâs fiction.â
âMystery Lovers Bookshop
In honor of all beginnings
failed and fresh hopeless and hopeful
And for M:
safe in His arms
Contents
Chapter 1
ALL THOSE SHADES of redâcandy-apple and cinnamon and carnelian and rust and vermilion and dozens moreâpeople arriving for the party stopped and stared at the paper hearts twirling lazily overhead on their strings. No one had seen anything like it since Before. No one expected to see anything like it again Aftertime.
Except, maybe, for Cass, who dreamed lush banks of scarlet gaillardia, Mister Lincoln roses heavy on glossy-leafed branches, delicate swaying spires of firecracker penstemon. Cass Dollar hoarded hope with characteristic parsimony when she was awake, but since coming to New Eden her dreams were audacious, greedy, lusting for color and scent and life.
Even here, in this stretch of what had once been Central California valley farmlandârarely touched by frost, the sun warming oneâs face in March and burning in Aprilâeven here it was possible to long for spring in February. In her winter garden, homely rows of black-twig seedlings and lumpy rhizomes protruded from the dirt. There was little that was lovely save the pale green throats of kaysev sprouts dotting the fields beyond, skimming the entire southern end of the island with verdant life beyond the few dormant acres in which Cass toiled. At the end of each day she had dirt under her nails, pebbles in her shoes, the sweet-rot smell of compost clinging to her skin and nothing to show for it yet in the fields.
Cass was not the only one who was tired of winter. In fact, the social committeeâs first idea had been a cabin-fever dance, until someone suggested the more upbeat Valentineâs Day theme. There was romance to be found in New Eden, for someâdifferent than Before, of course. Some kinds of human attraction thrived in an atmosphere of strife and danger. Others waned. Cass couldnât be bothered to care.
