WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading

On By Teri PolenIn WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a meme from Sam at Taking On A World Of Words

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

I’m literally just starting this book today, so I really can’t say anything about it. You guys know what a science geek I am, so at the mention of genetic engineering I was immediately hooked. I’m excited to see where this book goes.

Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM—Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue created by the scientists of Gathos City as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, he was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and into the Withers—a quarantined, lawless region. Nate manages to survive by using his engineering skills to become a Tinker, fixing broken tech in exchange for food or a safe place to sleep. When he meets Reed, a kind and fiercely protective boy that makes his heart race, and his misfit gang of scavengers, Nate finds the family he’s always longed for—even if he can’t risk telling them what he is.

But Gathos created a genetic failsafe in their GEMs—a flaw that causes their health to rapidly deteriorate as they age unless they are regularly dosed with medication controlled by Gathos City. As Nate’s health declines, his hard-won freedom is put in jeopardy. Violence erupts across the Withers, his illegal supply of medicine is cut off, and a vicious attack on Reed threatens to expose his secret. With time running out, Nate is left with only two options: work for a shadowy terrorist organization that has the means to keep him alive, or stay — and die — with the boy he loves. 

I’ve been listening to Harbinger, the third book in the Wake-Robin Ridge series. If you’ve read these books, you’ve no doubt fallen in love with Rabbit. This young boy has a quite a reputation for stealing hearts.

Continuing in the tradition of Wake-Robin Ridge and A Boy Named Rabbit, Marcia Meara’s North Carolina mountain series takes a shivery turn with the Appalachian Legend of Ol’ Shuck, the Harbinger of Death.

“. . . he felt the wet slide of the dog’s burning hot tongue on his face, and the scrape of its razor sharp teeth against the top of his head. A white-hot agony of crushing pain followed, as the jaws began to close.”

The wine-red trillium that carpets the forests of the North Carolina Mountains is considered a welcome harbinger of spring—but not all such omens are happy ones. An Appalachian legend claims the Black Dog, or Ol’ Shuck, as he’s often called, is a harbinger of death. If you see him, you or someone you know is going to die.

But what happens when Ol’ Shuck starts coming for you in your dreams? Nightmares of epic proportions haunt the deacon of the Light of Grace Baptist Church, and bring terror into the lives of everyone around him. Even MacKenzie Cole and his adopted son, Rabbit, find themselves pulled into danger.

When Sheriff Raleigh Wardell asks Mac and Rabbit to help him solve a twenty-year-old cold case, Rabbit’s visions of a little girl lost set them on a path that soon collides with that of a desperate man being slowly driven mad by guilt.

As Rabbit’s gift of the Sight grows ever more powerful, his commitment to those who seek justice grows as well, even when their pleas come from beyond the grave.

I just finished Namesake last night, and what a conclusion it was. The last book in this duology didn’t disappoint.

Trader. Fighter. Survivor.

With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and its crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when she becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception she learns that her mother was keeping secrets, and those secrets are now putting the people Fable cares about in danger. If Fable is going to save them then she must risk everything, including the boy she loves and the home she has finally found.

Filled with action, emotion, and lyrical writing, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with Namesake, the final book in the captivating Fable duology. 

Next up is a postapocalyptic novel. I read another book by this author that just wasn’t for me, but the comp titles and description for Dustborn intrigued me. I recently read another postapocalyptic Western mashup by Jessica Bakkers that made me a fan of this unusual genre.

Delta of Dead River sets out to rescue her family from a ruthless dictator rising to power in the Wastes and discovers a secret that will reshape her world in this postapocalyptic Western mashup for fans of Mad Max and Gunslinger Girl.

Delta of Dead River has always been told to hide her back, where a map is branded on her skin to a rumored paradise called the Verdant. In a wasteland plagued by dust squalls, geomagnetic storms, and solar flares, many would kill for it—even if no one can read it. So when raiders sent by a man known as the General attack her village, Delta suspects he is searching for her. 

Delta sets out to rescue her family but quickly learns that in the Wastes no one can be trusted—perhaps not even her childhood friend, Asher, who has been missing for nearly a decade. If Delta can trust Asher, she just might decode the map and trade evidence of the Verdant to the General for her family. What Delta doesn’t count on is what waits at the Verdant: a long-forgotten secret that will shake the foundation of her entire world.

38 thoughts on “WWW Wednesday: What Am I Reading? #amreading”

  4. Thank you so much, Teri, for reading Harbinger, and for your thoughts about Rabbit. He’s been the most fun to write of all my characters, and I hope you thoroughly enjoy the rest of the book. (And the one after it, too! 😀 )And thanks for sharing the other three, as well. Checking them all out! 🙂 ❤

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      1. The 4th book, The Light, isn’t likely to be the last, either, though I’m not sure if I’m going to write some spinoff novellas, or full length novels, yet. But Rabbit’s got a few more tales he wants me to share, so hopefully, when I’m done with Riverbend 4, I’ll be back on the Ridge with the Cole family, and some new characters introduced in The Light. 😀 Hope you’ll enjoy meeting them all.

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    1. I’d requested Dustborn several months back and when I downloaded it and read the description again, I thought about the similarities with Jessica’s novel. Maybe this protagonist will be as feisty as Grace!

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  16. I hadn’t heard of Marcia Meara’s series, but you caught my interest with Ol’ Shuck! I’m super curious about Dustborn, so I’ll look forward to seeing what you think about it! It’s been a while since I’ve read a good dystopia book, but I think I’ll need to pick one up soon.

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    1. I love how Marcia adds a supernatural twist to each of the books in this series – and Rabbit is one of the best characters I’ve come across, Sammie. I’m about halfway through Dustborn right now and it’s compelling so far.

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