Mindwar
Release Date: 07/15/14
Thomas Nelson
352 pages
Summary from Goodreads:
Rick Dial has the potential to be
a hero. He just doesn't know it yet.
Rick's high school football team couldn't be stopped when he was leading them as their quarterback. He was going to Syracuse on a scholarship. But then his dad abandoned them and a terrible accident left him crippled.
Certain his old life is completely lost, Rick spends months hiding away in his room playing video games. He achieves the highest scores on so many games that he's approached by a government agency who claims to be trying to thwart a cyber attack on America that would destroy the technological infrastructure of the entire country. The agents say that the quick-thinking of a quarterback coupled with Nick's gaming experience make him perfect for this assignment. The problem is that there are no extra lives and this isn't just a game . . . but Rick doesn't have many other options at the moment.
Entering "The Realm" gives Rick the one thing he thought he'd never have again: a body that's as fast and as strong as he ever was before the accident. But the more time he spends in The Realm, the more questions he has. What secrets are these agents keeping from him? What really happened to his father? How many others have gone into The Realm already . . . and failed? And perhaps most important, is he the hero they think he is?
Rick's high school football team couldn't be stopped when he was leading them as their quarterback. He was going to Syracuse on a scholarship. But then his dad abandoned them and a terrible accident left him crippled.
Certain his old life is completely lost, Rick spends months hiding away in his room playing video games. He achieves the highest scores on so many games that he's approached by a government agency who claims to be trying to thwart a cyber attack on America that would destroy the technological infrastructure of the entire country. The agents say that the quick-thinking of a quarterback coupled with Nick's gaming experience make him perfect for this assignment. The problem is that there are no extra lives and this isn't just a game . . . but Rick doesn't have many other options at the moment.
Entering "The Realm" gives Rick the one thing he thought he'd never have again: a body that's as fast and as strong as he ever was before the accident. But the more time he spends in The Realm, the more questions he has. What secrets are these agents keeping from him? What really happened to his father? How many others have gone into The Realm already . . . and failed? And perhaps most important, is he the hero they think he is?
Excerpt:
He
looked around him. The first thing he saw—the only thing he saw at first—was a
strange purple shape floating impossibly in the air beside him, a glowing
three-dimensional purple diamond about two feet high and a foot wide. He
watched, fascinated, as the thing glowed and pulsed and turned slowly in
midair.
That
must be the portal point, he thought.
That
was the way in—and the way out. He would have to keep that in sight at all
times, just as Miss Ferris had said.
He
felt there was more around him. He looked up.
“Oh
my . . . WOW!” he said loudly.
He
was standing on a little hill, surrounded by the strangest landscape he had
ever seen. The color of it—it was wild! The hill was red—a scarlet red so
bright it hurt his eyes. A gently undulating scarlet plain flowed down from his
feet, and ran toward the horizon, ending in a forest of bright blue trees.
Above the scarlet plain and the blue forest hung a low sky of the deepest, most
beautiful yellow. Here and there the bright colors seemed to mingle in stirring
cloud-like streaks of bright orange and green.
Stunned
by the rainbow-like beauty of the place, Rick turned this way and that, gaping
in amazement. It was as if he had stepped into a painting or a movie cartoon.
He was so mesmerized by the red valley and the blue woods and the streaked
yellow sky that it took a moment before something else amazing—really amazing—suddenly
occurred to him.
He
was standing up! He was! He was standing free. No crutches! No pain! Not even
any weakness. He looked down at his legs. He was still dressed as he had been,
in a black T-shirt and jeans. But his legs were straight now. They felt fine.
More than fine. They felt strong!
Rick
let out a laugh. This was incredible! In-crazy-credible! He felt so . . . so
good! Better than he’d felt in ages, since the accident. He lifted one foot
high and wiggled it in the air, then he set it back down and lifted the other.
He hopped in a circle, laughing again, a high-pitched whoop of laughter this
time. He began dancing around on the hilltop.
“Whoo-hoo!”
he shouted. “Whoo-whoo-whoo-hoo!”
He
tucked an invisible football beneath his arm and ran across the ridge,
straight-arming imaginary blockers.
“Yaaaaah!”
he screamed.
He
spun around at the end and rushed back, running till he reached the floating
purple diamond.
He
shouted: “Touchdown!”
He
spiked the invisible ball into the red, red earth. He lifted his face to that
weirdly beautiful yellow sky. He lifted his hands in celebration and did a
victory dance. He was healed! He could walk! He could run and jump and kick and
. . .
What
was that?
He
stopped. Still panting from his celebration, he stood still. He peered into the
distance, over the flowing red plain, toward the line of blue trees where the
weird forest began. Had he seen something over there? A movement? He stood,
staring. There was nothing.
Then,
suddenly—yes!—there it was again.
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About the Author
Andrew Klavan is
a best-selling, award-winning thriller novelist whose books have been made into
major motion pictures. He broke into the YA scene with the bestselling
Homelanders series, starting with The Last Thing I Remember. He is
also a screenwriter and scripted the innovative movie-in-an-app Haunting
Melissa.
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