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Wheezers #0.5
Submerge
"Ever heard the saying when you assume, you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'? Yeah, keep that in mind the next time you judge a person before truly getting to know them. You might've heard some fragments of my story, but you don't know me. You don't know where I've come from, or how I got here; you merely scratched the surface of this nutty package. If you're brave, enter the world of my crazy."
What do you do when the life you had planned is snatched away before it can begin? Do you give in, and let yourself succumb to the misery that tries to drown you, or do you attempt to swim to the surface that forever seems out of reach? If you're like me, you rely on the strength of those you care about and allow them to boost you up when you're down. But what happens when they're no longer around to support you? What happens when you're at your lowest point, and there's no one left to lend you a helping hand?
The world may have ended, mine just took a little longer to catch up. I've lost people along the way, some I loved; others I didn't, but the one I've really lost is myself. How, then, can I find the will to go on when all I see is a stranger in the mirror? How do I force myself to breathe when it's so much easier to just wait for something to come and mercifully finish me off? The answer: I'll let you know when I figure it out.
****Warning: this novel contains graphic violence, abuse, strong language, and sexual content (both consensual and rape). Please express caution before purchasing if you have any triggers.
What do you do when the life you had planned is snatched away before it can begin? Do you give in, and let yourself succumb to the misery that tries to drown you, or do you attempt to swim to the surface that forever seems out of reach? If you're like me, you rely on the strength of those you care about and allow them to boost you up when you're down. But what happens when they're no longer around to support you? What happens when you're at your lowest point, and there's no one left to lend you a helping hand?
The world may have ended, mine just took a little longer to catch up. I've lost people along the way, some I loved; others I didn't, but the one I've really lost is myself. How, then, can I find the will to go on when all I see is a stranger in the mirror? How do I force myself to breathe when it's so much easier to just wait for something to come and mercifully finish me off? The answer: I'll let you know when I figure it out.
****Warning: this novel contains graphic violence, abuse, strong language, and sexual content (both consensual and rape). Please express caution before purchasing if you have any triggers.
1299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2017
118 people want to read
About the author
Katelin LaMontagne
6 books39 followersI'm twenty-three years old, currently in college, and an avid book reader. I'm an animal lover, as can be seen with my profile picture. (That's my first baby, a four year old Silky Terrier named Elvis.) My second baby would have to be my books. I love sports, but have to support my home teams, the Sox, Pats, Bruins and the Celtics.
I recently picked up the hobby of writing, and Surge is my first attempt at a novel. It's the beginning of a series, so there's more to come in the future. If you liked the book, please leave a review. Thanks.
Blog:
http://wheezerseries.blogspot.com
http://wheezersseries.wordpress.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/WheezerSeries
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wheeze...
Website:
http://wheezerwoman.wix.com/wheezers
I recently picked up the hobby of writing, and Surge is my first attempt at a novel. It's the beginning of a series, so there's more to come in the future. If you liked the book, please leave a review. Thanks.
Blog:
http://wheezerseries.blogspot.com
http://wheezersseries.wordpress.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/WheezerSeries
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wheeze...
Website:
http://wheezerwoman.wix.com/wheezers
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 31, 2017
#### CONTAINS SPOILERS ####
This may seem like a strange choice of book for me and it is but over 3 years ago while flicking through Smashwords Surge: Wheezers Book 1 came up just released and free and something about it really appealed to me, I’m not sure what exactly because it was a book about the undead (my genre is romance, the living kind) but I downloaded and I loved it and I’ve been waiting for this one ever since.
I even asked the author Katelin for an arc (only the second time I’ve actually done this) and she very kindly said yes so fingers crossed I’m going in.....
This was always going to be slightly difficult read because in Surge we were thrown straight into the middle of the disaster but here we are taken back to the beginning. We meet Liv when she was just a young girl in love, back before her whole life was destroyed and that brings me to huge problem, Travis.
In Surge Travis was Olivia’s lost love, we didn’t know him and yes I was upset at his death because Livi was upset but here, here we really get to know and love Travis and it was really hard because he’s an incredible guy (I always have a soft spot for anyone who loves another to the extent he did Livi) and I was just waiting for his death hoping somehow it wouldn’t come. Crazy I know since it’s already happened.
This is a long book and I do mean long, it’s 1300 (according to Amazon) 1223 on my iPad and in my opinion it’s far too long.
I understand we need to get to know these characters after-all they will be the backbone of the series but it’s 300 pages in before there’s any signs of what’s to come and about 450 pages in before (in my opinion) it really gets going. Now that’s longer than a lot of actual books I read and I just can’t see a lot of readers making it that far, I skimmed a lot of the early pages myself.
These characters are likeable (I’ll get to Olivia later) and I loved the easy humour between them and the writing is relaxed and flows around them, it’s obvious that Katelin finds writing their conversations and interactions easy.
“Just make sure you hit the dispenser in the bathroom before you sink into one.”
“I’ve never trusted those deceitful bastards,” Kyle says as he pulls out his wallet to show me a strip of condoms he has tucked safely inside. “I swear they’re in cahoots with Gerber, and have been trapping unprepared innocents across the world with their faulty equipment for years. That’s why I always cover my own ass.” He points at something on one of the plastic squares, and I squint in the dark to see the elevated stamp punched into the corner. “See, I even check the expiration date and everything.”
“Yup, they were jealous of not being compared to obese teddy bears who shot rainbows out of their asses.”
“Hey,” I say, taking offense. “Rainbows didn’t shoot out of their asses, it was from their tummies.”
So, like this review (I’m sorry but it’s a long book I’m reviewing and I’m nothing if not opinionated) this book is too long.
Olivia.
I really liked Olivia in ‘Surge’ but here she’s just too much and it made difficult reading.
“Is there anyone else here that we can deal with?” I ask.
“Sorry, we’re short staffed at the moment,” she replies with a shrug.
“Are you even a nurse?” I inquire, seriously doubting she could have passed the boards when she has zero empathy for other human beings; especially in an environment as stress-prone as this one.
“Kid, you’re in a lab, of course I’m not a damn nurse.”
“Then what the fuck are you?” I inquire.
The curse earns me a sharp look from my mother, but I’m not letting it stop me from glaring at the rude bitch who should be locked away in a cage for experimentation in this ‘lab.’ After all, a person so apathetic could prove useful to someone – like ISIS – so we should discover what’s wrong with her to treat others who suffer the same condition.
“A technical assistant,” Snoopy says, lifting her head as if the title should mean something to me. It doesn’t.
“I can technically assist my foot up your ass,” I offer. “It would save you the trouble of the colonoscopy you’re in dire need of to remove the broom that’s shoved up there.”
They go to a rough bar using fake ID’s and Olivia takes down the huge bouncer which is one thing but nothing is said, there’s no response either from the bar or the bouncer it was weird, like she’s totally untouchable.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I didn’t say nothing,” Gorilla Man says, crossing his massive arms across his equally bulked up chest.
“Oh, but I believe you did,” I counter. “Are you afraid of a woman, or did your last hit of steroids finally wear off so you’re all out of steam?” I glance suggestively at his crotch. “I’d say it’s a combination of the two, since there doesn’t seem to be much going on down there.”
“Why, you little cunt,” he says, and advances a step toward me.
I almost grin, almost, but I don’t because I don’t want to give it away. I just wait for him to step closer, pull back my arm, and sock him across the face when he reaches out to grab me. As I mentioned earlier, my daddy was an amateur boxer, so his little girl was taught how to throw a punch like the best of them. A perfectly executed punch to the jaw which drops the roid-rager coming at me like a sack of potatoes. Shaking out my fist, I lean down into the face of the dazed man lying on the ground.”
“Who’s the bitch now?”
I don’t receive a response, but I hope that once the guy’s brain stops rattling he’ll remember and learn from this lesson. You don’t objectify a woman, and then insult her without getting away with it. At least, not with this woman. No, I’m not a gung ho feminist, but I do admire Mary Wollstonecraft. ‘My own sex, I hope, will excuse me if I treat them like rational creatures.’ That’s one of my absolute favorite quotes from her Vindication of the Rights of Women. Don’t worry, I won’t give you any more lines on feminism, but it seemed appropriate with the subject matter at hand. Moving on, I utilize the guy’s stomach as a bridge to get back over to where Travis and Kyle are standing; one smiling proudly, and the other clutching his stomach with a guffaw.
“That’s my girl,” Travis says.
I mean I get that we’re getting to know her and she’s young but she just comes off as rude and entitled as if she can do what she likes and talk to people however she wants.
Now I appreciate that I’m older than the target audience and therefore I may view things differently but my youngest is 21 years old so I’d like to think I’m not completely out of touch with the younger generation but the more I read the more I disliked her.
“Glaring at the asshole bartender’s head, I place one hand on the bar, boost myself up onto a stool, and climb over the counter. Do I care if it’s illegal for me to do so? Hell no, my man needs a drink, and he’s not waiting for some dumbass to remove his nose from the crafty woman’s cleavage in order to get it. Lifting the lid to the refrigerator, I pull out three bottles of water and place them in front of Travis. Taking the fourth, I twist the cap off and press it to his lips.”
I had issues with the Walgreens shooting as well but I’ll let that pass.
This is a book of two halves (I know it’s silly all books are two halves but you know what I mean) after struggling with the early pages I found I was actually engrossed in the story now maybe it was because we were back in familiar territory I don’t know but I couldn’t get enough.
We know from Surge that Olivia suffered but here we find out just how much and I can’t imagine what she went through, I really can’t. It made difficult reading at times but the more I read the more annoyed I became because while Olivia couldn’t do anything about being taken all t of what happened after that was her fault.
She’s captured by a ruthless killer, Cole and his group but he’s obsessed with her and wants her to be his queen yet despite knowing better Olivia just can’t keep her mouth shut.
“Punish me?” I ask Nasir while pressing a disbelieving hand to my chest. When he doesn’t look up, I hold a hand out to present the boss. “It’s this dickhead who should be punished.”
“And I say you’re out of your goddamned mind if you think I’ll listen, you nutty motherfucker.” That does it. Stepping forward, he grabs my arm and rips me closer.”
Cole is obsessed and gives her chance after chance and each time she throws it back in his face and instead of living like a queen, playing it smart and looking for an opportunity to escape she ends up restrained, beaten, abused and repeatedly raped by his men and still when the next chance comes she does the same. I’m not expecting her to like the man but play it smart.
This is a new world and when we first met Olivia she was a warrior and that’s the image I went into this book with and that’s what it takes to survive in this new world but I’d never considered that Olivia wasn’t that bright and it took me a long time to come to terms with it and therefore I spent a lot of time telling her to shut up.
It was reminiscent of the bear in the woods joke.
I digress I know so back to my review.
I loved Surge and there’s a lot here to like but in my opinion it desperately needs cutting I accept this is a hard thing for any author to do especially an independent author with no editor.
Despite my review being less than glowing I’ve been incredibly impressed with Katelin she’s taken my criticisms which can’t be easy and I know I wouldn’t be as gracious if someone picked something of mine to pieces.
It’s her book, her series and she knows where’s she going with it, she’s confident and capable and I hope she finds her audience because despite my feelings on this book and Olivia I’m still hooked and wanting to know where it goes from here.
I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by the author.
This may seem like a strange choice of book for me and it is but over 3 years ago while flicking through Smashwords Surge: Wheezers Book 1 came up just released and free and something about it really appealed to me, I’m not sure what exactly because it was a book about the undead (my genre is romance, the living kind) but I downloaded and I loved it and I’ve been waiting for this one ever since.
I even asked the author Katelin for an arc (only the second time I’ve actually done this) and she very kindly said yes so fingers crossed I’m going in.....
This was always going to be slightly difficult read because in Surge we were thrown straight into the middle of the disaster but here we are taken back to the beginning. We meet Liv when she was just a young girl in love, back before her whole life was destroyed and that brings me to huge problem, Travis.
In Surge Travis was Olivia’s lost love, we didn’t know him and yes I was upset at his death because Livi was upset but here, here we really get to know and love Travis and it was really hard because he’s an incredible guy (I always have a soft spot for anyone who loves another to the extent he did Livi) and I was just waiting for his death hoping somehow it wouldn’t come. Crazy I know since it’s already happened.
This is a long book and I do mean long, it’s 1300 (according to Amazon) 1223 on my iPad and in my opinion it’s far too long.
I understand we need to get to know these characters after-all they will be the backbone of the series but it’s 300 pages in before there’s any signs of what’s to come and about 450 pages in before (in my opinion) it really gets going. Now that’s longer than a lot of actual books I read and I just can’t see a lot of readers making it that far, I skimmed a lot of the early pages myself.
These characters are likeable (I’ll get to Olivia later) and I loved the easy humour between them and the writing is relaxed and flows around them, it’s obvious that Katelin finds writing their conversations and interactions easy.
“Just make sure you hit the dispenser in the bathroom before you sink into one.”
“I’ve never trusted those deceitful bastards,” Kyle says as he pulls out his wallet to show me a strip of condoms he has tucked safely inside. “I swear they’re in cahoots with Gerber, and have been trapping unprepared innocents across the world with their faulty equipment for years. That’s why I always cover my own ass.” He points at something on one of the plastic squares, and I squint in the dark to see the elevated stamp punched into the corner. “See, I even check the expiration date and everything.”
“Yup, they were jealous of not being compared to obese teddy bears who shot rainbows out of their asses.”
“Hey,” I say, taking offense. “Rainbows didn’t shoot out of their asses, it was from their tummies.”
So, like this review (I’m sorry but it’s a long book I’m reviewing and I’m nothing if not opinionated) this book is too long.
Olivia.
I really liked Olivia in ‘Surge’ but here she’s just too much and it made difficult reading.
“Is there anyone else here that we can deal with?” I ask.
“Sorry, we’re short staffed at the moment,” she replies with a shrug.
“Are you even a nurse?” I inquire, seriously doubting she could have passed the boards when she has zero empathy for other human beings; especially in an environment as stress-prone as this one.
“Kid, you’re in a lab, of course I’m not a damn nurse.”
“Then what the fuck are you?” I inquire.
The curse earns me a sharp look from my mother, but I’m not letting it stop me from glaring at the rude bitch who should be locked away in a cage for experimentation in this ‘lab.’ After all, a person so apathetic could prove useful to someone – like ISIS – so we should discover what’s wrong with her to treat others who suffer the same condition.
“A technical assistant,” Snoopy says, lifting her head as if the title should mean something to me. It doesn’t.
“I can technically assist my foot up your ass,” I offer. “It would save you the trouble of the colonoscopy you’re in dire need of to remove the broom that’s shoved up there.”
They go to a rough bar using fake ID’s and Olivia takes down the huge bouncer which is one thing but nothing is said, there’s no response either from the bar or the bouncer it was weird, like she’s totally untouchable.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I didn’t say nothing,” Gorilla Man says, crossing his massive arms across his equally bulked up chest.
“Oh, but I believe you did,” I counter. “Are you afraid of a woman, or did your last hit of steroids finally wear off so you’re all out of steam?” I glance suggestively at his crotch. “I’d say it’s a combination of the two, since there doesn’t seem to be much going on down there.”
“Why, you little cunt,” he says, and advances a step toward me.
I almost grin, almost, but I don’t because I don’t want to give it away. I just wait for him to step closer, pull back my arm, and sock him across the face when he reaches out to grab me. As I mentioned earlier, my daddy was an amateur boxer, so his little girl was taught how to throw a punch like the best of them. A perfectly executed punch to the jaw which drops the roid-rager coming at me like a sack of potatoes. Shaking out my fist, I lean down into the face of the dazed man lying on the ground.”
“Who’s the bitch now?”
I don’t receive a response, but I hope that once the guy’s brain stops rattling he’ll remember and learn from this lesson. You don’t objectify a woman, and then insult her without getting away with it. At least, not with this woman. No, I’m not a gung ho feminist, but I do admire Mary Wollstonecraft. ‘My own sex, I hope, will excuse me if I treat them like rational creatures.’ That’s one of my absolute favorite quotes from her Vindication of the Rights of Women. Don’t worry, I won’t give you any more lines on feminism, but it seemed appropriate with the subject matter at hand. Moving on, I utilize the guy’s stomach as a bridge to get back over to where Travis and Kyle are standing; one smiling proudly, and the other clutching his stomach with a guffaw.
“That’s my girl,” Travis says.
I mean I get that we’re getting to know her and she’s young but she just comes off as rude and entitled as if she can do what she likes and talk to people however she wants.
Now I appreciate that I’m older than the target audience and therefore I may view things differently but my youngest is 21 years old so I’d like to think I’m not completely out of touch with the younger generation but the more I read the more I disliked her.
“Glaring at the asshole bartender’s head, I place one hand on the bar, boost myself up onto a stool, and climb over the counter. Do I care if it’s illegal for me to do so? Hell no, my man needs a drink, and he’s not waiting for some dumbass to remove his nose from the crafty woman’s cleavage in order to get it. Lifting the lid to the refrigerator, I pull out three bottles of water and place them in front of Travis. Taking the fourth, I twist the cap off and press it to his lips.”
I had issues with the Walgreens shooting as well but I’ll let that pass.
This is a book of two halves (I know it’s silly all books are two halves but you know what I mean) after struggling with the early pages I found I was actually engrossed in the story now maybe it was because we were back in familiar territory I don’t know but I couldn’t get enough.
We know from Surge that Olivia suffered but here we find out just how much and I can’t imagine what she went through, I really can’t. It made difficult reading at times but the more I read the more annoyed I became because while Olivia couldn’t do anything about being taken all t of what happened after that was her fault.
She’s captured by a ruthless killer, Cole and his group but he’s obsessed with her and wants her to be his queen yet despite knowing better Olivia just can’t keep her mouth shut.
“Punish me?” I ask Nasir while pressing a disbelieving hand to my chest. When he doesn’t look up, I hold a hand out to present the boss. “It’s this dickhead who should be punished.”
“And I say you’re out of your goddamned mind if you think I’ll listen, you nutty motherfucker.” That does it. Stepping forward, he grabs my arm and rips me closer.”
Cole is obsessed and gives her chance after chance and each time she throws it back in his face and instead of living like a queen, playing it smart and looking for an opportunity to escape she ends up restrained, beaten, abused and repeatedly raped by his men and still when the next chance comes she does the same. I’m not expecting her to like the man but play it smart.
This is a new world and when we first met Olivia she was a warrior and that’s the image I went into this book with and that’s what it takes to survive in this new world but I’d never considered that Olivia wasn’t that bright and it took me a long time to come to terms with it and therefore I spent a lot of time telling her to shut up.
It was reminiscent of the bear in the woods joke.
I digress I know so back to my review.
I loved Surge and there’s a lot here to like but in my opinion it desperately needs cutting I accept this is a hard thing for any author to do especially an independent author with no editor.
Despite my review being less than glowing I’ve been incredibly impressed with Katelin she’s taken my criticisms which can’t be easy and I know I wouldn’t be as gracious if someone picked something of mine to pieces.
It’s her book, her series and she knows where’s she going with it, she’s confident and capable and I hope she finds her audience because despite my feelings on this book and Olivia I’m still hooked and wanting to know where it goes from here.
I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by the author.
Want to read
March 17, 2015Must read all books by Katelin.
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