Diane sez: I am so excited to share in Liza O'Connor's blog tour for
SCAVENGER FALTERS. I read
Scavenger's Mission in one night! As I wrote in my
review on Amazon, don't start that book before going to bed. Forewarned by self, I started
Scavenger Falters in the afternoon. LOL It's another thrill ride. Here's what Liza has to say about her new release.
Alisha got slammed in book 1 for disobeying an order that she hadn’t even
known existed. And now she discovers that a reg that has been in the book since
early on, one against abusing new cadets is being blatantly ignored and not
even Jack wishes to stop the horror. She declares it hypocrisy at its worst.
Here she got slammed for rescuing a flyer in need of medical care, while this
fort still allowed the ‘making of dogs’, abusing first year cadets, sometimes
to their death. So with her new Colonel powers, she storms into the mess hall
and climbs upon a table, determined to end the practice of dogs once and for
all.
Scavenger
Falters
By
Liza O’Connor
Alisha Kane, the Corps’ best flyer, is promoted to
colonel, in charge of teaching the Corp’s SkyRyders her extraordinary flying
maneuvers. The man she loves, Logan, continues to place the Corps first and
insists they both remain focused on their work. For Alisha, this means
ferreting out the best flyers in a Corps that has systematically forced great
flyers into mediocrity. Logan focuses on learning Alisha’s flying techniques so
that he can become the hero the East Coast desperately needs. The result
includes fractured ribs and broken hearts, but through it all they never
relinquish their love of the Corps.
EXCERPT
Alisha pushed her way through the crowded mess
hall and climbed up on a table. Standing taller than the men for once, she had
little trouble getting the troops’ attention and silence. “It has come to my
attention that this fort still keeps dogs.”
A few snickers in the far corner got her quick
attention. “I will remind each of you that reg 3.354 forbids the practice. But
then you all know that. So I will tell you something else. It. Is. Wrong!” She displayed her anger in each separate word. “The
Corps is not just a job. It is your family. And what type a family takes their
new additions, their children, and beats, rapes and sodomizes them for the
first year of their lives?”
The room was deathly quiet as she continued.
“On my first day as a Ryder I was the dog, and I was nearly killed when I was
purposely stalled out at three hundred feet over the Wind Farms Ridge. And
before you say ‘so what’, think about how many of you would be standing here
today if I had died before the Ridge and Broadtown battles?
“All of you have probably been a dog. That’s
what makes the continuance of this behavior so horrible. You personally know
how hurtful it is. Nobody will admit it, but you know the violence can go too
far. You know Ryders who have died. So I’m telling you now. The practice of
making dogs stops today! And captains, I hold you personally responsible for
the health and well-being of every member of your squad. If I even suspect that
someone under your care is being abused, I will come down on you so hard, you will
long for the anger of the general. Is that understood?” she asked softly.
The dead silence gave no reply.
“The colonel is waiting for a reply, captains,”
General Powell said from the door.
“Sir, yes, sir!” The reply came immediately.
“I hope the slowness of your response was
because you were in shock at the realization of the monstrosity of this
practice each of you has participated in. Because if you only replied because I
prompted you, then your time as captain will be very short-lived. And I don’t just
mean at this fort.” The general entered the commissary and walked to the table
where Alisha stood.
“We’ve all been the dog,” he continued. “I was
one, myself, when I was a cadet. But until today, I’d forgotten the horror of
that year: the beatings, the abuses. When my year was up, I put it behind me. I
convinced myself it made me a stronger soldier. But it didn’t make me stronger.
It just made me hate a couple of officers for the next forty years.”
The remark got several nervous chuckles from
some of the men.
The general was not smiling, however. “We are
at war, gentlemen, and our enemy is well financed, clever, and determined. If
Colonel Kane’s reasons have not convinced you that the practice of dogs must
stop, then let me try one more reason. We can’t afford to waste Corps
resources. Had Colonel Kane died during her time as a dog, the war would be
over now. And every man here would be nothing more than a glass-framed picture
on his mama’s mantel.”
The general let his words sink in for a moment
and then continued.
“Now, is there any soldier here that thinks I’m
not dead serious that the days of dogs have ended?”
The reply was instantaneous. “Sir, no, sir.”
“Consider this a part of the new world,
gentlemen. No dogs, no rabbits, no nothing! You will treat your newest members
with the same dignity and respect you expect from your own commander.” He
looked up at Alisha. “Sorry for stealing your thunder, Colonel. Is there
anything you’d like to add?”
“No,” Alisha said. “I think they’ve gotten the
message.”
SALES LINKS
The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 2
Scavenger Falters
The SkyRyder’s Series, Book 1
Scavenger’s Mission
About the Author
Liza
O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods
every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she
learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in
Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia,
dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four
river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in
watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has
and always will be writing novels.
OTHER
BOOKS BY LIZA O’CONNOR
SCIENCE
FICTION
Sci-Fi Soap Opera with
humor, romance, and science
Sci-Fi/Romance
The SkyRyders Series
Sci-Fi Romance
Scavenger
Vanishes-coming 2017
Social
Networks