Craig Zablo

THE DEVIL BY NAME by Keith Rosson

First sentences…

Denis knocks once and steps into her room.

Past her bed and to the window, where he thumbs aside the gauzy curtains.  They’re on the fourth floor next to the stairwell.  Naomi rises, sits there numbly, sleep still crowding her.  She’d been dreaming of her brother.

“Come,” Denis says, without turning from the window.  “We have to go.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter,” he says curtly.  A tall wide-shouldered man wearing a black knit cap and a mishmash of scavenged tactical gear.  A black hunting rifle slung over his shoulder.  A week’s worth of bread.  “Just get dressed.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Five years ago every cell phone in the world lit up with a call.  Those that answered heard something that changed them into mindless killing machines.  Any person murdered by someone under the influence of the demon message, reanimated with the same sadistic killing urges.

It turns out the message was accidentally sent worldwide tby the President of the United States.  His intention was the call would just go out to phones in enemy nations.  Governments fell.  Terradyne Industries took control in the United States.  The corporation walled in major cities.  They recruited soldiers to control life behind the walls.  Although they claim to be working on a cure — the vaccine they are refining may be for something else.

John Bonner was a US government black ops agent when things went sideways.  His division dealt with the occult.  Bonner was part of the boots on the ground in Portland – a hotspot during the initial days of infection.  Bonner knows the dark secrets behind the apocalyptic call.  He blames himself for not doing more to stop it.

Katherine Moriarty was married to the man who dared dive too deep into the occult.  He became an instrument of doom.  It cost Katherine her marriage, her husband’s life and ultimately killed her son.  Now Katherine wants revenge.

Dean makes do by traveling the wastelands.  Along the way he collects discarded items of worth.  When he can, Dean barters for things he needs survive.

There are whispered rumors that a young girl lives who has the power to cure the infected.  Rationale folks pray the rumors are true.  Those in power at Terradyne Industries know that such a child could bring down their hold on the world.

Now Terradyne has a name: Naomi Laurent. They need to find and bring in Naomi for “study”.

Bonner, Katherine, Dean and others will venture into the apocalyptic wasteland in search of Naomi.  Some want to save her.  Others to do her harm.  The fate of the humanity will be determined by who gets her first… or maybe last.

Rosson has created a worthy follow up to FEVER HOUSE.

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