Title: TENTH
STEM
Author: Mary Cook
Pub. Date: February
12, 2020
Publisher: Mary Cook
Formats: Paperback,
eBook
Pages: 263
No longer
is there a waiting list. Not when women can be created in a lab for the express
purpose of supplying readily available organs that can be harvested within
hours.
An
international research corporation does the unthinkable. Taking stem cell
research to new levels, they push the boundaries.
An innocent
young life hangs in the balance. Because of the simple fact of one child too
many, Tansy faces certain death. A baby thrust into her arms, then a kind guard
whisks her away from all she has ever known. Lost and alone on the streets,
Tansy finally finds sanctuary in an unlikely ally. Together the three work to
stay one step ahead of the individuals who seek to cause them harm.
Her only
desire is to find hope, love, and acceptance. She is faced with desperation,
terror, and death. Now she must turn the tables and work to bring down those
who would seek to destroy her new found happiness.
*warning:
Graphic violence.
Excerpt:
She looked down at the bundle in her arms, “If I sit here holding number
1, that means that the numbers are coming faster, and pretty soon mine will be
up? Is that it, Mark? Is that the everything you wanted to talk to me about?”
Shoulders hunched, his head bowed in shame, he couldn’t meet her eyes. He
sat, silent, as he drew circles in the cold hard dirt with his fingers.
10 heard him sniffle and knew how hard it was for him.
Guilt for the way she had talked to him consumed her, as she put her hand
on his arm in comfort. He was too kind. Sympathy rose for the man who had
always tried to be more than what was required. She knew what this job could do
to one such as him, she had seen it before. The caring souls who became cold
and callous, so she decided to do what she could to give him a boost in the
right direction.
“Mark, why are you doing this? Why are you here?” She lowered her voice
to a whisper as she looked around, “Get out while you can.”
His head jerked up, the startled expression on his face; the tears he had
been trying to hide, unsettled her like nothing before. She had never seen Mark
like that. He was afraid. She had always known fear, that was what her world
was all about. Never would she have considered one of the guards would also
know the same fear she lived with every single day.
“Granny, I’m as stuck here as you are. Sure, I get to go home every day,
but if I were to miss one shift—”
When he mentioned going home, she couldn’t help thinking back on the
question 31 had posed earlier that day. She scooted a little closer, then
looked over at the closed door before she asked the question that all of them
wanted answered.
She trusted him, and so she leaned in, the question blurted out before
she could stop it, “Is this it, Mark? Is there anything else out there? Is this
what it’s like… I mean, for everyone?”
About Mary:
Mary Cook is
a retired police detective that lives in a small town right outside a ring of
fire, just on the other side of…no wait, that’s a different character.
Actually
retired, with hours and hours to write the next great novel, oh wait…nope
that’s me. Yes, totally retired. Worlds come alive in my head, characters stand
over my shoulder, and sometimes they wake me up at night. All of them want to
come alive, to have their stories written. No matter how I think the story
should go, it goes according to how the character decides it should. An evil
character finds redemption. A beloved character is massacred for no good
reason. They all write their own stories.
The ideas
come to me, the character develops a personality, and the result is a book. I
sincerely hope that everyone will love my books, but what I write isn’t for
everyone, and that’s okay. (Is it Mary? You sure you don’t want me to take care
of it?) (Get back in the book, Ann!) I love to write stories that make you
think, maybe make you a little uncomfortable. I am actually a pretty boring
person. Retired, live in a dungeon (my office), two birds and a dog. Every now
and then my husband expects me to come out and interact with the world, and I
do (begrudgingly). Writing is my hobby, I used to do other things with my
hands, crochet, knit…but then I got old(er), and they just don’t work as good
as they used to.
On a more
personal note, I do have children. I have three grown children, and lots and
lots of grandchildren, with a few great-grandchildren. It’s like they’re in a
competition on who can produce the most. If any of you read the back of the
book, you’ll know that there’s more. But, outside of that, nothing. Boring. So,
I bring life and color into the world through the pages of my books. Every time
someone buys a book, or gives a review, I’m delightfully surprised. My eternal
gratitude to all of you, for reading what I have written, and allowing me to
become a small part of your life.
Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.
Ends May 26, 2020. Midnight EST.
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