on October 16, 2018
Amazon US, Barnes & Noble
Imagine THE STAND told with the intimacy of THIRTEEN REASONS WHY. The world experiences an abrupt and unthinkable cataclysm on the morning of October 29, 2018. Kevin March, high school band trombonist and wannabe writer playing hooky, is witness to its beginning. To stay alive, Kevin embarks on a journey that promises to change everything yet again. On his journey, he chronicles his experiences on a digital recorder. This book is a transcript of that recording.
Depicting an unspeakable apocalypse unlike any seen in fiction—there are no zombies, viruses or virals, no doomsday asteroid, no aliens, no environmental cataclysm, no nuclear holocaust—with a protagonist in the tradition of Holden Caulfield, THE LATE BLOOMER is harrowing, grim and poignant in the way of Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD. Told in Kevin March’s singular and unforgettable voice, delivering a gripping narrative with an unsparing climax as moving as it is terrifying, THE LATE BLOOMER is horror for the John Green reader.
Day before Halloween and I have the chance to share with you an excerpt from the book The Late Bloomer! It is meant to be a unsettling read! Perfect for the season!
Check out the book and audio trailer here
Well *gulp* let us take a look at the excerpt we have today!
TRANSCRIPTION OF AUDIO RECORDING OF
KEVIN GABRIEL MARCH
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
Please, God, don’t let her die.
So, prologue.
In fact, doing it this way is how I process it.
I know you’d prefer this to, well… you were such a supporter of my writing, a mentor. And so telling this with the intention of writing it down instead of filming it…I know you hated the world of screens we’d come to live in. I tend to agree with you now, though at first, I thought you were being a crabby old teacher who didn’t get it and stubbornly didn’t want to. Referred to yourself as a Luddite. I had to look it up.
But it’s me who gets it now. I was getting it then, the way you saw things, which wasn’t negative at all. I got that you were trying to show me that through storytelling I could show readers that the world is a beautiful place, that life is a beautiful thing, even when we’re scared and we don’t understand what life is and who we are and why we live and what happens after we die.“Don’t let anybody tell you they know because they don’t,” you’d said. When I repeated this at the dinner table to my stepdad, Martin, he said, “Sounds like your typical liberal school teacher who can’t hack it in the real world so he teaches, warping minds with his embitterment.” Pretty poetic for an asshole-like Martin, I have to say. I remember offering him a brittle smile when he said that, nodding my head, and muttering to myself, “Embitterment, hmmm.”
And what you said about stories. I really get that now, too. You’d said they weren’t just about filling time, entertainment. Not that that’s wrong, a story can be both meaningful and entertaining, you’d said, should be both for it to resonate. You told me that stories connect us, make us understand ourselves and each other a little better. That stories make the world a better place because they are empathy engines.
I like that. Empathy engine. Vroom Vroom.
It’s a noble cause, storytelling, you’d said. Noble work.
So, here I go with being noble.
This is for you
Well that was quite intruging wasn’t it!! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Now to get me a copy of the book!
jenchaos76 says
This excerpt sort of remind me of my own thoughts. It may be worth a read.
Zoe says
It does sound really good doesn’t it. i wouldn’t mind reading it! It’s been compared to the Stand and I enjoyed that