Sneak (Swipe Series, Band 2) - Softcover

Angler, Evan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400318424 ISBN 13: 9781400318421

Verlag: Tommy Nelson, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

 

“Apocalyptic dystopian fiction at its best. Angler’s sharp wit and dexterity with political themes are matched only by the thrilling suspense on every page.” —Lis Wiehl, New York Times bestselling author and FOX News correspondent

 

In a future United States under the power of a charismatic leader, everyone gets the Mark at age thirteen. The Mark lets citizen shop, go to school, and even get medical care—but without it, you are on your own. Few refuse to get the Mark. Those who do . . . disappear.

Logan Langly went in to get his Mark, but he backed out at the last minute.  Now he’s on the run from government agents who will stop at nothing to capture him. But Logan is on a mission to find and save his sister, Lily, who disappeared five years ago on her thirteenth birthday, the day she was supposed to receive her Mark.

Logan and his friends, a group of dissenters called the Dust, discover a vast network of the Unmarked, who help them travel safely to the capital city where Lily is imprisoned. Along the way, the Dust receives some startling information from the Markless community, opening their eyes to the message of Christianity and warning that humanity is now entering the End of Days.

When the Dust finally arrives in the capital, it seems that all their careful planning is useless against a government that will do anything to bend its citizens to its will. Can the gentle words Logan has found in a tattered, banned Bible really stand against the most powerful military the world has ever known? Can Logan even sacrifice his own freedom, choosing to act through faith alone?

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Evan Angler is safe, for now. He lives without the Mark, evading DOME and writing in the shadows of Beacon. But if anyone asks, you know nothing about him. Don't make eye contact if you see him. Don't call his name out loud. He's in enough trouble already. And so are you, if you read his books.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

SNEAK

By Evan Angler

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2012 Evan Angler
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1842-1

Contents

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.........................ixPROLOGUE 07:16:32..............................1ONE NEW CHICAGO, NEW RULES.....................4TWO WHERE ERIN COMES IN........................18THREE THE SETUP................................34FOUR SHOT IN THE DARK..........................74FIVE THE AFTERMATH.............................95SIX THE RIVER CODE.............................122SEVEN HOUSE ARREST.............................151EIGHT CITY ON THE HILL.........................183NINE BEACON'S SHADOW...........................206TEN ACHERON....................................230ELEVEN FOXHOLE.................................246TWELVE MARKED..................................259ABOUT THE AUTHOR...............................275

Chapter One

NEW CHICAGO, NEW RULES

1

Logan Paul Langly ran until his legs gave out and his insides burst with pain. He ran until there were sparks in his eyes and splinters in his lungs. He ran until he collapsed.

The sun had long since dipped behind the skyline's abandoned rooftops, and Logan Paul Langly slumped now against the side of a building that gave no shelter, under lampposts that gave no light.

Ahead of him, outlined against the dying glow of a purple horizon, was an overpass, silent and slowly crumbling. This was the Ruined Sector, the outskirts of New Chicago, destroyed in the States War and never rebuilt. He was fifty miles out from Spokie. Another twenty from downtown.

Downtown was where he needed to be.

So Logan stood and stumbled on, blindly, paranoid, walking backward half the time, under the shadows of the dead neighborhood. A winter stillness held him at arm's length from any sense of hope these city streets might have given him, but even in his exhaustion, he knew that this was progress. For the moment, he wasn't being followed. For the moment, he wasn't lost.

"It's better than the woods," Logan told himself, emerging from the shadows and finding some small comfort in the thought. He had to wipe his face on his sleeves so the tears wouldn't freeze to his cheeks, but he laughed a little and said it again. "It's better than the woods, and the view here is nice tonight."

He looked out as he said it. Beside him, the water at the Ruins' edge stretched all the way to the horizon, peaceful and frozen and smooth. A soft wind slid over the ice, hitting Logan with waves of clear blue chill, and he could feel the Lake Michigan air lodging, jagged, in his throat.

Three months ago, Logan Paul Langly could not have imagined he'd wind up here. Three months ago, Logan Paul Langly was a normal kid with a normal life. He went to school, he mostly did his homework, and like all kids his age, he waited patiently for his thirteenth birthday—the day he would finally be Marked. By now, Logan should have been a full American Union citizen with full American Union benefits. But instead, he was here, a Markless fugitive stranded and alone—and that was the least of his worries.

Growing up, Logan had always thought of New Chicago as being familiar and close. He and his family had visited often to see his grandmother on birthdays or for the Inclusion Day parades. New Chicago always reminded him of cakes from his aunt and uncle's bakery downtown, of school trips to museums or family trips to sights and shops. He had felt like he belonged there. It had felt almost as much like home as Spokie did.

But New Chicago did not feel like home tonight.

And Logan did not belong anywhere now.

"Hands out, hotshot!"

Logan spun in the direction of the voice behind him.

"I said hands out!"

Under darkness, Logan could see the silhouette of a teenager in front of him, poking up from behind a trash can and holding its lid as some type of defense.

"I'm not ... I don't ... I'm no hotshot," Logan stuttered, barely even knowing what that meant, but the girl was already rushing at him, fumbling with Logan's coat, tearing at it. Finally she had Logan's wrist, and with the hand that held the lid, she pushed Logan's sleeve up tight past his forearm.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Logan yelled, wide-eyed and horrified, as the girl twisted his arm painfully to get a better look. "I'm no hotshot! I'm Markless, you beggar! I'm Markless! Like you!" And with these words, the girl paused finally, her arms slackening ever so slightly. She peered down at Logan's wrist, squinting severely in the dim light.

Logan was right, of course. His wrist was empty.

"Oh. Well, then it's nice to meet you," the girl said suddenly, smiling big and toothy. "Welcome to the Ruins!"

2

"It's how we get by." The girl shrugged, sitting cross-legged next to Logan by the lake. "I'm sure you understand."

But Logan rubbed his elbow tenderly, not understanding at all.

"Oh, get over it!" she scoffed. "As if you've never accidentally attacked a friendly stranger."

"I haven't," Logan said. "And where I come from, no one else does, either."

"Oh yeah? Where's that?" The girl rolled her eyes. "I'd love to visit."

Logan rose to his feet. "Slog Row," he said. "In Spokie." Then, more quietly, "You can't visit anymore."

The girl paused for a moment, cocking an eyebrow and taking in the sight of him. "You're a long ways from home," she said.

Logan laughed. "You have no idea."

The two of them walked along the water's edge for some time after that, Logan still nursing his elbow, the girl swinging her trash can lid playfully. "So you looking for anything in particular?" she asked. "It isn't an easy hike from the suburbs to the Ruins. Especially not this time of year."

"I wasn't headed for the Ruins," Logan said. "I'm headed downtown. I'd still be on my way if you hadn't stopped me."

"Well, then you're lucky I did! Markless like us don't stand a chance downtown anymore."

Logan looked at her, narrowing his eyes.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard."

He shrugged.

"DOME. They've gone bonkers!" She raised her eyebrows, pausing for effect. "Come on. You must know this by now. What they're doing—"

"I've been on the road a long time," Logan said, shaking his head. "Hiding in alleys, lost in the woods ..." But the truth was that Logan did know. The truth was that Logan knew exactly what the Department of Marked Emergencies had been doing in the month since his Pledge. The Department of Marked Emergencies had been looking for him. He knew because they'd chased him in circles for weeks. He knew because they'd barricaded every last entrance to his hometown of Spokie. He knew because it took him three false starts to make it even this far toward New Chicago without getting caught in his first few steps.

Logan shrugged. "I haven't exactly been keeping up with current events. Been about a month since I've spoken to anyone at all."

The girl eyed Logan sideways for just a moment longer than he would have liked. "Well, that's when it started," she said. "'Bout a month ago. DOME has agents everywhere now, patrolling the streets. Someone with a dirty coat or unwashed hair or a skinny face comes along, DOME asks to see a Mark. Any poor tightwad can't show one ... off they go."

"Where?"

"Hard to say." The girl shrugged. "They don't come back. Anyway, you can understand why I get a little jumpy around strangers these days." She took his hand playfully, twining her fingers in his and pointing his wrist upwards to examine it again.

"Still not Marked," Logan said.

"Yeah, well ... can't be too sure." The girl rolled her eyes and...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Tommy Nelson
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1400318424
• ISBN 13: 9781400318421
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 288
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: HarperCollins Publishers Ireland; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; Mayor Street Upper 39/40; Dublin; D01 C9W8; Irland