About this item
A paranormal thriller from master storyteller Steven Barnes: A broken family struggles to hold itself together against a plot to unleash global genocide in Twelve DaysAround the world, leaders and notorious criminals alike are mysteriously dying. A terrorist group promises a series of deaths within two months. And against the backdrop of the apocalypse, the lives of a small shattered family and a broken soldier are transformed in the bustling city of Atlanta.Olympia Dorsey is a journalist and mother, with a cynical teenage daughter and an autistic son named Hannibal, all trying to heal from a personal tragedy. Across the street, Ex-Special Forces soldier Terry Nicolas and his wartime unit have reunited Stateside to carry out a risky heist that will not only right a terrible injustice, but also set them up for life -- at the cost of their honor. Terry and the family's visit to an unusual martial arts exhibition brings them into contact with Madame Gupta, a teacher of singular skill who offers not just a way for Terry to tap into mastery beyond his dreams, but also for Hannibal to transcend the limits of his condition. But to see these promises realized, Terry will need to betray those with whom he fought and bled.Meanwhile, as the death toll gains momentum and society itself teeters on the edge of collapse, Olympia's fragile clan is placed in jeopardy, and Terry comes to understand the terrible price he must pay to prevent catastrophe.
About the Author
There was a specific moment in my life when I realized I was a writer. I'd tried to stop writing, to make my Mom happy. My dad had been a back-up singer for Nat "King" Cole, and had failed in his career, and it damaged my family. Mom was afraid my dreams would send me down the same drain. So when I got to Pepperdine University, I studied drama, radio, journalism, composition, literature...everything except writing. Dancing all around it. Then one day they announced a short story contest, and I entered. And won. And found myself reading my story to a field full of alumni who were smiling, and laughing, and nodding, and then applauding. And...I realized. I got it. I was a writer. THIS was what I loved, more than anything. And that I would rather fail as a writer than succeed at anything else.
Never forgotten that moment, and it has sustained me for the rest of my life. No matter how bad things ever got, I CHOSE THIS.
Never asked for an easy life. I asked to be strong enough to survive an authentic one.
--Steven Barnes
