The Unlikely Event (The Unlikely Series Book 1)

In the unlikely event of an emergency… hope for an unlikely hero. Bartholomew Barton didn't have a clue why the two couples he sat sandwiched between needed to be so damned amorous. He certainly hadn’t acted that way when he had been married—none of the times. Maybe the couples mistook the particularly nasty turbulence for their last moments together. If so, how right they would soon be. The contagious epidemic starts in the first class cabin of the 747 with a cantankerous Mr. Patterson Zorn. An acrimonious husband, Patterson berates his wife as his cough deteriorates into a deathly state, whereupon the infected is reduced to his most basic necessity: hunger. Patterson yearns for protein, and soon learns to enjoy his wife in an entirely new way. In this terrifying novel, author Joshua Wright pens a tightly wound, unapologetic, zombie-inspired horror story. Lurid descriptions of carnage aboard the chaos of a doomed 747 mix with memories from complex characters as they face their penultimate moments. The Unlikely Event is the first short novel of a planned pentalogy telling the story of a condemned planet, and the heroes who will try in vain to save her.

From the Back Cover

The fever had been shadowing him since the airport, but it slapped him in the face about the time that the plane reached cruising altitude. Patterson ordered a vodka tonic, dialed up an action flick on the tiny TV fastened to the carpeted wall in front of him, and slowly faded away into a disturbing reverie. In his dream state he was a younger man, boisterous, less angry. His hair was long and his mustache was gone, as were some fifty pounds around his midsection. He was light. So light that he could bound the length of the plane in a single step. And he did. And he scoffed at the stupid people watching their stupid movies. The ignorant giggling at the irreverent. And he scoffed at the parents, trying so hard to curtail their children's antics. And he went down the stairs in a single leap. He floated above the lesser classes. And he scoffed at the poor--packed into their small seats, with their small waists. They looked like french fries in a commercial; perfectly organized in their little red cardboard container, not a fry out of line, each one popping their head up above the cardboard just perfectly. And it made him hungry. He was so hungry. He tasted the salty sweat of fever dripping down his face, collecting on his bushy mustache. He could taste the salt coalescing with the pad thai he had eaten for dinner, the curry and spices still coated his hair follicles. He was starving and he wanted protein. Meat. Flesh. And he floated through the ceiling and back into his seat, and his eyes came to rest on his wife's shoulder. And he sniffed her. And then he coughed-- A fit of coughing wracked his body and he was again fully aware. Perspiration flung to and fro like a wet dog ridding itself of rainwater. The cough abated momentarily, and he whimpered pathetically. Looking down at his arm, he saw puss bubbling, as if boiling, underneath and out of the bandage. His arms were covered with matted sweaty arm hair. He reeked, and he knew it. He unbuttoned the top button on his blue dress shirt, and he untucked it from his baggy tan slacks. Attempting again to sleep, he threw his head against the back of his chair and cranked the volume in his headphones. He drifted into another reverie while wishing his scraggly hair hadn't thinned so much--maybe then the sweat would stay out of his eyes. With a suddenness, he died briefly.

About the Author

Joshua Wright is an author and computer scientist. He writes science fiction, speculative fiction, and horror. His newest book, Idempotency (published by Kindle Press), was a first-round Kindle Scout selection. In his day job, Josh works (with people far smarter than himself) as a software manager at Amazon.com. His team creates software to help publishers and independent authors get more books into the hands of more readers.You can see what Josh is up to by following him on Twitter (@JO2shuaWright), checking out his website (JoshuaWrites.com), or dropping in on his blog (JoshAndJ.com).

Reviews

News