Hazel

by M.L.S. Weech, Collin Fogel (Creator/Artist)

Mega cities have become refuges for humanity and continue to rise above the earth’s surface, built upon the decayed husks of the ages before. Those lower levels are supposed to be vacant. The Deep Block Terror Squad is tasked with patrolling those lower levels to ensure nothing happens to threaten the stability of the world above, but they are instead a safe haven for a small variety of people. Criminals, who seek to make the lower levels their base of operations hide and scheme while the exiles who can’t afford to live anywhere else just try to survive. Hazel hates them all, especially the criminals responsible for the death of her mother and, years later, her father. Now she patrols the Deep Block to enforce justice and protect the world above. She’s the newest member of the team and hungry to prove herself. Her suicidal zeal to be the best pushes her to improve, but it might cost her the acceptance she so desperately wants. It might also cost her the only people she has left to love.

87 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2021

About the author

M. L. S. Weech was born in August 1979 in Rapid City, South Dakota. He fell in love with fantasy and science fiction at an early age. His love of writing quickly followed when he tried to write a sequel to his favorite movie. He didn't know what copyright infringement was. He can't remember a time he wasn't working on some sort of project from that day on. He wrote for a junior high project. The only way his freshman English teacher could get him to settle down was to let him start writing a book. He completed what he calls his first manuscript when he was 17. He got a ton of feedback that was honest, helpful, and not much fun to listen to, but instead of quit, he simply wrote another, and then another.

He fell in love with reading in high school when he was introduced to Timothy Zahn and the Star Wars novels. Then he was handed Anne McCaffrey, Robert Jordan, Dean Koontz, Brandon Sanderson and so many more. He went from reading to complete homework to reading more than three books a month.

He joined the U.S. Navy as a journalist in 2005. He served on aircraft carriers and destroyers. He served in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan. He finished his Navy career in 2015 at the Defense Information School, where he still teaches journalism as a civilian instructor. When he wasn't taking pictures or writing features or news stories, he was writing fiction. Photojournalism was a hobby he enjoyed getting paid for, but writing fiction has been and remains his true dream.

His first book, The Journals of Bob Drifter was published March 3, 2015, and he’s published more than ten since. He’s happily married and a father of three wonderful sons.

Reviews

[Joey Sams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in 2250 New York, I love the idea of poverty levels being imagined in physically higher parts of the cities, it sets up a bigger background story than what’s at hand. I think the artwork is pretty nice and unique in its own sorts. A decent story for a first volume.

[Dionne Haye · Rating 3 out of 5]

New author with promise

Interesting read. Storyline a bit hard to follow with the rainbow of colors art. For that reason and also because it was too short and characters weren't fleshed out enough is why I only gave three stars. Still, I would look forward to reading more to see where the story goes.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.

I liked it a lot. The guided view was bad. But overall, it was an ok story with tremendous and gorgeous art. A nice time to waste 30 minutes on. Give it a shot.