Title: AWAKEN
Author: Georgina Kane
Pub. Date: December 5, 2017
Publisher: Fierce Girl Publishing House
Pages: 278
Formats: Paperback, eBook
In the city of Daventry, citizens live without question of authority, liberty or even the ability to dream. Your purpose is determined by your placement within the Sectors of Society. 16 year old Ethan Drake is quiet and awkward without a lot of friends. Plagued by nightmares of people and places he doesn't recognize, he struggles to fit in. Much to his classmates surprise, he is placed in the esteemed Technology Sector alongside the city's top leaders. Soon his vivid and frightening dreams consume his life. He turns to his mentor, Dr. Godrik Stevens, a geneticist and the holder of many secrets to help him figure out what's wrong with him. In their search for a cure, they uncover a secret about their beloved city so horrifying, it could change their lives forever. Of course, there are those who want the secret to remain hidden and soon Ethan finds himself in the middle of a war. Will he be able to find the answers he so desperately seeks before its too late?
Excerpt from Chapter 1
The nightmares began almost a year before Ethan Drake’s sixteenth birthday. In the beginning, they were a blurry mixture of jumbled images shrouded in a heavy cloud of dread. It was as if he was being suffocated with fear. His voice stolen when he tried to scream out.
Nothing had ever terrified him like that before but he pushed down his apprehensions. Everyone saw bad things at night, right? In fact, when the first one hit, he brushed it off as a fluke, even though it left him shuddering under his comforter for the rest of the night. A few days later, when he woke up soaking in his own sweat, he realized the images were not going away.
As time went on, certain details sharpened and he could make out the shape of people and places like a jigsaw puzzle forming a clear picture. But Ethan had no idea what any of it meant since he didn’t recognize them or the landscapes.
Sometimes he would hear a voice calling to him, eerily comforting but foreign none the less. His confusion filled him with anxiety, cloaking the emotion over his body; overwhelming him. He didn’t understand what had brought on the frightful sequences, only that they were becoming more and more frequent. There were days when he would see the phantom figures from his vivid dreams, sulking around hallways like monsters hiding in the shadows, waiting to attack. And Ethan was their prey.
Pain pricked in his eyes as he splashed cold water on his face, glaring at his reflection in the mirror. Tightening his grip on the sink, he could still hear the screams, remembering how they shook the very walls of the dreamscape. Agony was the only word that came to mind.
What was wrong with him? All he wanted was a good night’s sleep but that was clearly asking for too much. He found himself especially annoyed at the timing considering how important tomorrow was. It was the single biggest day of school and now he was destined to endure it with bags under his eyes.
Great.
He padded back to the bed, falling dramatically, huffing in the process. He stretched his fatigued limbs, allowing them to wilt on to his blanket as he turned his head, focusing his attention on the darkness streaming in from his window. He listened to the rhythmic pitter patter of rain beating against the glass, allowing the soothing sound to fill his mind. It was late, or early, depending on how one looked at it. The eerie black expanse of the school courtyard should have disturbed him but Ethan found himself particularly calm at the sight. The obscurity of the evening, soaked in its ebony cloak had never given Ethan cause for worry. It was the images in his mind that kept him up at night.
The following morning, he stepped jaggedly along the school corridor, anxiously clutching his knapsack with both hands. He woke up wearied and emotionally drained, like many mornings before. Simple tasks like brushing his teeth and showering felt like an epic chore but he powered through them. If he was going to have any chance as an adult in society, he would need to get his offending sleep patterns under control. After all, his time as a child was coming to an end.
Georgina Kane – I graduated from St. Cloud State University with a BA in English Writing and Literature. I’ve been writing since childhood but I’ve recently started writing full length novels and short stories.
My first book is called Awaken – a YA scifi dystopian story of a 16 year old boy who finds out the secret his society has been keeping for hundreds of years.
I’m currently working on my second novel, Midnight Wolf – a YA supernatural thriller that follows three caster brothers who are sent to a high school to investigate supernatural attacks.
Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card, US Only.
3 winners will receive a signed finished copy of AWAKEN, US Only.
