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Scorched Earth

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SCORCHED EARTH
THE HALO TRILOGY, BOOK 2
by Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays
Categories: Science Fiction / Hard Boiled Detective
Publisher: Pumpjack Press
Date of Publication: February 14th, 2021
Number of Pages: 318
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 SYNOPSIS

Scorched Earth cover

The year is 2188 and the Earth—long-ago abandoned for Mars by the plutocrats—is scorched by poverty, disease, and environmental collapse. What these wealthy elite don’t know is that on his last trip upuniverse, Detective Crucial Larsen stumbled onto a secret that could destroy them. But he doesn’t intend to use it. Fighting back against the ruling Five Families of Mars is a fool’s game destined for failure—or worse, he thinks. Plus, he never wants to set foot on that damn planet again. Then Melinda, his long-lost love and a staff scientist on Mars, begs for his help clearing her fiancée of a murder charge. Crucial jumps on the next q-rocket, hoping maybe this time he can patch things up with Mel. His investigation ultimately leads back to the radiation-blasted sunbelt, where cannibal lizard-people—a climate change mitigation genetic experiment gone terribly wrong—hold the key to a different future, if only Crucial can stay alive long enough to unlock it.

Praise for Scorched Earth
“Others have attempted to blend the genres of an investigative detective piece with sci-fi, but few achieve such a seamless integration as do McFall and Hays … a compelling saga, edgy and different, thoroughly absorbing.”
Midwest Book Review
Purchase: Amazon

REVIEW

Clueless Gent’s Rating for Scorched Earth

5 star rating

This storyline is so utterly good and written so utterly well that I didn’t want the book to end! Lucky for me, though – this is only the second book in this trilogy from Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays. I’ll be counting the days until I can read the third story, when it becomes available.

What makes this story so fantastic? It’s just a combination of things done markedly well. The ONLY bad thing I have to say about this book is that it ended. I’m satisfied and all that, but I want more!

In a trilogy, an author can do some serious world-building, and these authors didn’t even let the ink dry on the paper before they constructed elaborate worlds – one being a future Earth, and the other being a habitable Mars. This is a little hard to explain, but the worlds are just so cleverly built! The descriptions are marvelous and ingenious.

“I need to work on being less petty. Maybe tomorrow.” —Crucial Larsen

The protagonist is Crucial Larsen, a cop. The time is the year 2188 (or thereabouts). He always seems to be in the wrong place at the right time. The authors show that he has a heart of gold, but he rarely lets it be seen. He also has a very dry sense of cop humor. His dialogue is kind of like a twenty-second century version of the protagonists in the renowned Joseph Wambaugh cop books. What makes it even better, however, is the story is told in Crucial’s first person POV. We know what he’s thinking, and sometimes his thoughts are hilarious.

For example, Crucial really knows how to make an insult: “You strike me as a barely functioning biped.” He’s also quick to point out the oddities of cybanisms: “Wait, you poop … in cubes?” There were times that I laughed so hard at something Crucial said that my eyes started tearing.

The antagonists are the Five Families – the ruling class of humanity after the Consolidation Wars, and Halo – a computer system that collects data from everywhere – including the device all humans must have. “On day one, you’re born into this world. On day two, you get your Ocular Communication Device implanted.” Halo knows everything that’s going on and feeds the data to the FIST – the head of the Five Families. The ruling class keeps everyone else in line by keeping them in debt. I thought this construction worked together very well for the story to be told.

“Humans do lots of stupid things that aren’t always in our best interests. It’s what makes us ‘us.’”

I especially loved how the authors gave future names to some common vernacular: “two rockets, one launch pad” for kill two birds with one stone. And I’ll also never forget, “At the door, he turns and gives me the tall-finger.”

This story is also action-packed from start to finish! There was one part where I really got the creepy-jeebies, and I had an immediate flashback to a specific scene in the movie Aliens. (To find out which one, you’ll have to read the book. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know it when you get there.)

I could talk all day long about how much I enjoyed this book, but I think it would be best if I just let you read it for yourselves. Regardless of what your favorite genre is, I’m quite sure that you will thoroughly enjoy this book. (In case you’re wondering, you don’t need to read the first book to enjoy this one.)

As Crucial might say, “Not reading this book would cause you to bring a serious injustice on yourself.” Enough said.

I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.
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About
the Authors

McFall & Hays Author Photo

Clark and Kathleen wrote their first book together in 1999 as a test for marriage. They passed.  Scorched Earth is their ninth co-authored book.
Connect with Kathleen
Goodreads ║ Amazon ║ Facebook ║ Twitter
Connect with Clark
Goodreads ║ Amazon ║ Facebook ║ Twitter
GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
ONE WINNER gets autographed copies of
ALL THREE BOOKS IN THE HALO TRILOGY,
including the forthcoming third book, when available.

(US only, ends midnight, CDT, 3/22/2021)

Scorched Earth tour giveaway graphic. Prizes to be awarded precede this image in the post text.
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY
Or, visit the blogs directly:
3/15/21 Review Chapter Break Book Blog
3/15/21 Review The Page Unbound
3/15/21 BONUS Promo LSBBT Blog
3/16/21 Review Missus Gonzo
3/16/21 Review The Clueless Gent
3/16/21 BONUS Promo Hall Ways Blog
3/17/21 Review Librariel Book Adventures
3/17/21 Review Jennie Reads
3/18/21 Review Reading by Moonlight
3/18/21 Review Sybrina’s Book Blog
3/19/21 Review Forgotten Winds
3/19/21 Review Tangled in Text
3/19/21 BONUS Promo All the Ups and Downs
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