Pages
▼
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Donna of the Dead: Excerpt and GIveaway
Title: DONNA OF THE DEAD
Author: Alison Kemper
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pub. Date: March 4, 2014
Pages: 250
Find it:Goodreads ,Amazon,Barnes & Noble
Donna Pierce might hear voices, but that doesn’t mean she’s crazy. Probably.
The voices do serve their purpose, though—whenever Donna hears them, she knows she’s in danger.
So when they start yelling at the top of their proverbial lungs, it’s no surprise she and her best friend,
Deke, end up narrowly escaping a zombie horde. Alone without their families, they take refuge at
their high school with the super-helpful nerds, the bossy head cheerleader, and—best of all?—Lance,
hottie extraordinaire and Donna’s long-time crush. When Lance is around, it’s easy to forget about the
moaning zombies, her dad’s plight to reach them, and how weird Deke is suddenly acting toward her.
But as the teens’ numbers dwindle and their escape plans fall apart, Donna has to listen to the secrets
those voices in her head have been hiding. It seems not all the zombies are shuffling idiots, and the half-
undead aren’t really down with kids like Donna…
Excerpt:
We stand on the paved road, peering into the quiet, concrete cavern of the garage. My pulse pounds in
my ears. For a moment, the fear is so strong, I’m afraid I’ll pass out.
I will not be a wimp, I will not be a wimp.
Deke crouches low and moves to the half-wall running alongside the first level of the garage. I mimic his
actions, following behind. We’re absolutely silent as we climb the ramp to the second story where we
parked the Toyota. The garage’s upper floors are shaded and quiet. The infected weirdos could find a
million places to hide here.
Deke points across the garage to a sign—Orange, Level 2. That’s where we left the car. Good thing we
didn’t park in the basement.
Lurking underneath.
I roll my eyes. Thank you, voices, for always being so specific. Why can’t you say something helpful, like
“There’s a zombie under that red Volvo.” What kind of hint is “lurking underneath?” With my luck, this
probably means the goons are hiding in the worst place imaginable.
My dad’s Toyota is parked on the left, twenty-six spaces from the end. I consider kissing the hood, but
instead I peek under the car, making sure nothing’s lurking underneath. I remove the magnetic box with
the spare key and hold it up triumphantly. Then I take the first deep breath I’ve had in an hour.
Deke grins. “Let’s pick up your dad and Gran. They don’t need to wander around the docks if someone
followed us off the ship.”
I toss him the box. “Okay, Mr. Action Hero, but you drive.”
“Uh, stick.” He reminds me, lobbing it back.
I groan. Deke may be a genius, but he can only drive an automatic. Technically, I’m not supposed to
drive at all—I just turned sixteen last month and my dad hasn’t gotten around to taking me for my test
at the—
LURKING UNDERNEATH!
I jump. Time to get our butts in the car. I fumble with the metal box, pulling the key from inside.
That’s when the growling begins. It’s inside the parking garage, one level below us, echoing off the
concrete walls as if an entire gang of monsters is creepy-crawling out of the basement.
“They’re coming!” I scream, dropping the key.
Deke scrambles to pick it up and thrusts it at me. “Hurry,” he commands evenly, bolting toward the
passenger side.
I cram my key in the door, cursing the cheapo car for not having automatic locks. Deke hops up and
down on the balls of his feet as I lean over to unlatch his door.
“Rawwwrrrr….”
The zombies limp into view. A bunch of them—between twenty and thirty. They’re slow, but they don’t
have far to go. They reach the ramp on our level just as I gun the engine, and Deke locks his door.
“Take it easy, Donna, you can do this,” Deke says as I reverse out of the parking spot.
“Do what? What am I doing?” I pant, gaping at the squadron of walking corpses. They’re forming a
line…blocking the exit ramp…and moving steadily toward our car. There’s no way around them.
My throat goes dry. “Uh, any chance they’re just practicing the routine from Thriller?”
“I doubt that’s what they have in mind.”
“Am I supposed to run over them?” I fight to keep my voice flat, but it squeaks on the last syllable.
“Might be the best idea.” Deke’s face is set with fear and determination.
I pop the clutch, and promptly stall the car.
About Alison:
Alison Kemper grew up in South Florida, the only girl on a street with eleven boys. She spent most of her
childhood paddling a canoe through neighborhood canals and looking for adventure. She usually found
it. Sometimes the police were involved. And large dogs. And one time, a very territorial snake. She now
lives in North Carolina and writes books. The books often include girls having adventures. With boys.
Cute boys. And cute dogs too. But no cute snakes. Never cute snakes.
Her debut novel, Donna of the Dead, will be published by Entangled Teen in 2014 and followed by
two companion novels. She loves to meet new people and talk books, so send her a friend request or
connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.
Website /Blog / Twitter/Facebook / Goodreads / Instagram
Giveaway Details:
15 Zombie Swag Bags that include $5 Amazon card, Donna of the Dead mints (don't get caught with
zombie breath) and exploding eye gumballs (they squirt red goo when you bite into them, but are
surprisingly delicious)!
Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
That's one of my favorite parts of the book! I get so jumpy when I'm in parking garages now.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesome! I'm really excited to read it!
ReplyDeleteSo am I! I can't wait!
ReplyDelete