Friday, August 28, 2015

Peach Fuzz

An Excerpt from The 25th Hour (Book One in The Adventures of Mackenzie Mortimer):

Tucker folded a note and passed it down the row. Mackenzie’s eyes followed its path, horrified to see it end its sojourn through the classroom at Vanessa Carlyle’s desk. Mackenzie’s heart skipped a beat, as the teenaged heiress read the note and smiled at Tucker.


Omigod! No, this is not happening, Mackenzie thought. Tucker Bryant is not going after my girl, even if she doesn’t know she’s my girl yet. He watched Tucker wink at her. He’s trying to use his hero status to impress her. But I’m the real hero. All he did was come in at the end and slug a guy from behind. What could she possibly see in that jerk, anyway? Mackenzie studied the larger, more muscular boy, grudgingly admitting he was handsome. He glanced at the window and saw the awkward adolescent looking back at him. Junior high was such an unfair place, he thought. The hallways teemed with baby-faced kids a few months out of elementary school and others, shaving peach fuzz from their lips or preparing to drive their first car, ready to enter high school. Mackenzie was convinced somewhere in the school building was a door marked “puberty” through which each student eventually passed to attain their mature physiques. What he couldn’t understand was how someone like Tucker, his same age, had managed to cut so far ahead of him in line.

Available in paperback or Kindle exclusively on Amazon.com


Time is running out… fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has a few more minutes than anyone else!

Friday, August 21, 2015

Don’t Bother Running Kid; Your Time is Up!

An Excerpt from The 25th Hour (Book One in The Adventures of Mackenzie Mortimer):

The teenaged gunman looked puzzled, as he pulled the trigger with no result.

Mackenzie grinned. “Lose something?”

The shooter stared in disbelief at the empty magazine well in his AR-15.

Mackenzie held up the gun’s magazine. “Looking for this?”

“I don’t know how you did that, smart-ass, but that’s the last trick you’ll pull.” The gunman reached into his backpack and pulled out another magazine filled with ammunition. “I’m the one carrying the extra ammo. We brought enough to turn these halls into Swiss cheese.” He popped it into his rifle’s magazine well.

Mackenzie’s eyes bulged. He glanced down the long hallway, wondering how far he could get before being mowed down in a hail of semi-automatic gunfire. He knew, without the pocket watch, he would never make it in time.

“Don’t bother running kid; your time is up.” The teen raised the gun. “You’ll make a nice splat on the wall.”

Mackenzie gulped. Had it all been for nothing? Had he merely postponed a killing spree? He wanted a chance to say goodbye to his family, and Marlene, and Vanessa. If only he could have a little more time.

Available in paperback or Kindle exclusively on Amazon.com


Time is running out… fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has a few more minutes than anyone else!

Friday, August 14, 2015

Can You Stop a Speeding Bullet? He can.

An Excerpt from The 25th Hour (Book One in The Adventures of Mackenzie Mortimer):

 “My friend’s going to ring the fire alarm as soon as I start shooting. When the halls fill with students, they’re going to turn into a shooting gallery. We’ll score a higher body count than Columbine and Virginia Tech combined.”

“If you start shooting, you won’t get out of this alive,” Vanessa said. “There’ll be SWAT teams surrounding the school in minutes.”

The boy laughed. “We ain’t planning to make it out alive. I was born covered in someone else’s blood and that’s how I’m going out. But we’ll be famous. People will be talking about us long after we’re dead.”

“You’re crazy!” Marlene said.

The boy whirled his rifle barrel toward her. “And you’re dead.”

Mackenzie grasped the pocket watch. “Don’t shoot her!” he cried.

The gunman turned in his direction. “You want to volunteer to be the first target? Fine by me. This baby shoots sixty rounds per minute. I bet I can hit both of you and everyone in between in the first minute. Then, I’ll finish off the rest of you losers and join my friend in the hall for the real fun. Eat lead, sucker.”

Mackenzie watched the boy’s finger depress the trigger on the AR-15. He pushed down the watch stem and turned it clockwise, projecting himself into the world of Q-Time. He blinked, adjusting to his altered perception of reality. He stared cross-eyed at the cylindrical projectile six inches from his nose. It’s the bullet! Stopped in mid-air. The sight of the suspended bullet fascinated Mackenzie. If it hadn’t been for the pocket watch, I’d be dead. Then, a shocking realization struck him. What the—? It’s coming closer! But that’s not supposed to happen. Mackenzie swatted the bullet, knocking it to the floor. He saw two more bullets, one heading toward Marlene and the second toward Vanessa. Of course. The watch doesn’t stop time; it slows it down. In physics class, we learned a bullet travels 2,800 feet per second. Even in the space between seconds, those bullets are moving. Mackenzie jumped over a desk and caught the bullet aimed at Marlene, and then raced to snatch the bullet headed toward Vanessa. He looked at his scorched palm. “Ow! Friction burns. I forgot they’re moving objects, even if that movement is nearly imperceptible.” He pocketed the bullets and looked at the watch. “I don’t have much time left. If only I could take back the minutes I used fooling around with the watch earlier.”

Available in paperback or Kindle exclusively on Amazon.com


Time is running out… fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has a few more minutes than anyone else!