Two years have passed since Inanna stole Junco
away from Lucan. Two years of unimaginable pain. Two years of isolation, mutilation and
torture. Two years of fear and loneliness in a morph tank. And that’s not
something you just get over, even if you are psycho-assassin, Junco Coot.
Now
Junco has to learn to live with the consequences. Her Siblings are suspicious and angry, half
her team is dead, Tier is wreaking death and destruction, Lucan is holding his
secrets close, and she is spiraling out of control.
There
is only one partnership that matters anymore – only one person she will trust
and take direction from – and only one way out of the Hell she’s been sentenced
to.
Junco
is tired fighting and death. She’s had enough and this time she means to end it
– once and for all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Selia
comes out of the bathroom, her eyes darked up, her lips glowing and pink, and
her golden hair flowing down her back in large bouncy ringlets.
She’s
beautiful.
And
I’m jealous of how easy she fits into her own skin, at how she can make small
talk with strangers - even the guards in the elevator and downstairs in the
lobby. And most of all, at how her face always seems to be smiling.
No
wonder Ashur fell in love with her while I was away being morphed. She looks
happy.
I
have a permanent frown, I’m afraid to talk to anyone except Gid and Sel, and I
feel like my brain has been forced inside a body I’ve never met before. Even
when I came out of the tank with wings back on Amelia I never felt this awkward
about myself. My replaced fingers and missing scars just make it worse. When a
nightdog eats two of your fingers and a psycho slices a SEAR knife down your
jawline, you’re supposed to have to live with the consequences of those things
forever.
And
when you cut yourself in half to save the man you love, there should be
evidence of that.
But
my scars have all been erased. Every bite from the mutants in the Stag, every
prairie lion claw mark, every battle wound I’ve ever had inflicted on me is
gone. Even the one I inflicted on myself.
Just
gone.
On
the outside anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
J.A. Huss writes new adult
speculative fiction, contemporary romances, and an entire line of science
non-fiction textbooks that cater to home learners. She also runs the New Adult
Addiction and Clean Teen Reads book Blogs. She has an undergraduate degree in
equine science and a graduate degree in forensic toxicology. She adores
everything science and considers herself a major geek! Her first series is
called I Am Just Junco.
J.A. will be awarding a $25 gift card to Amazon or PayPal cash,
winner's choice, plus a custom angel necklace, plus swag (Book marks, stickers,
postcards) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. (USA ONLY)
Encourage your readers to follow the tour and comment; the more
they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found
here:
In 2152 the
avian race is on Earth looking for something stolen from them decades ago –
their genetics. At the center of the search lies the Rural Republic; a small
backwards farming country with high hopes of military domination and a penchant
for illegal bioengineering.
19 year old Junco Coot is the daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking
commander. She’s the most foul-mouthed, wildly unpredictable and ruthless
sniper the Rural Republic has ever trained. But when her father’s death sparks
a trip into forbidden places, she triggers events that will change everything
she knows to be true.
As an elite avian military officer, Tier’s mission is to destroy the
bioengineering projects, kill Commander Coot’s daughter, and return home
immediately. There’s just one problem. Junco isn’t who she claims to be.
With no one to trust, not even herself, Junco must confront the secrets of her
past and accept her place in the future, or risk losing herself completely.
I really liked this book. It was different from any others and I couldn't just read it. I had to stop and think to make sure that I understood what was going on. I really liked Tier. I felt like he was the only real person (Avian, you know what I mean). He tells it as he knows it. Junco is.. well she's tough. She has all this stuff happen to her and found out that her life isn't real and she still rolls with the punches. She still plays the game and comes out ahead (I mean she is still alive, so that counts for something). She is soo funny (in a non funny way). She curses worse than a sailer and doesn't care if people like it or not!
She goes from one crazy, life threatening adventure to the next with barely a blink of an eye!
AHH The second one must be to crazy and exciting too!
4/5 Stars.
EXCERPT:
"I
think we should stick together, Junco. In fact I was thinking I can help get ya
back to safety. Ya know, help ya get the Goat back up on the road. Even though
yer healed, yer still pretty–" He hesitates.
"I’m
pretty?" I ask.
He
laughs a little and shakes his head, which pisses me off for some reason.
"No, I was going to say pretty weak, ya know. From yesterday’s crash. But
then I wondered if ya would take that as an insult as well."
I
roll my eyes and try to push past him to get the winch hooked up to a tree, but
he leans his hands on either side of the Goat, essentially boxing me in. I
shoot him a nasty look and he drops his hands to let me through.
"Thanks
for all your help," I call back to him, "but I’m going to take it
from here. And I won’t report you, so don’t worry about that. Just get hell out
of the RR before anyone else sees you." I turn to see how he’s taking the
news but he’s not there. When I turn back he’s in front of me again.
He
shakes his head at me.
I
shake mine back and raise my eyebrows.
"You’ll
refuse my help?"
"Look,"
I huff, "you have those people tracking you and neither of us is supposed
to be out here in the first place, so let’s just cut our losses and move on.
Separately."
He
looks down to the tech that is still in his hand. "They can’t see anything
here. Some sort of shield."
"Right.
That’s called a defense system. The deeper you go into the Stag, the thicker
the shields. So why don’t you just fly over to the Mountain Republic where they
probably can track you?"
He
lifts the device to illustrate his point. "In case ya haven’t figured it
out yet, these people aren’t my ride home."
"So
why are they tracking you?"
His
eyes twinkle and I know what’s coming and push past him at a full run. He’s on
me before I can take more than half a dozen strides and pulls on my shirt until
I slip in the mud and go down hard on my back.
"Stop!"
I scream, but instead of stopping he pins my arms down and sits on top of me as
I wriggle and kick to try and get him off. His legs twine around mine, essentially
cutting off any thoughts of getting him off me that way. Then his eyes are
glowing again and his lips are touching my cheek, whispering for me to settle
and be calm.
To
my surprise, I do settle. I can’t help it. I realize too late that the soft
words brushing past the sensitive skin on my cheek are controlling me. I can
feel the sound waves trickling into my ear canal, making their way to the nerve
pathways that control my muscles, and I bring my shoulders up to try and push
his face away. His lips remain next to my ear and I am just about to fully give
in when the tech device, forgotten and left on the ground during our struggle,
sounds off an alarm. He loses his concentration and the words stop for half a
moment, but that’s all I need.
I
take my opportunity and flip myself over so that I’m on my belly. This takes
him by surprise and for a split-second he is off balance. I flip back around
and use my right arm to knock him in the windpipe as my body turns. He goes
reeling off of me and I’m up and running down into the little creek.
A
boot goes flying just past my head, but I don’t stop and wonder at this weird
turn of events. I run as hard as I can, over the opposite bank, out of the
small grove of cottonwoods, and into the tall flowing prairie grass. I’m short,
so the leftover husks slap me in the face as I run, blurring my vision.
The
wings descend and he’s swooping down upon me. I look up to see talons where his
boots were just a few minutes ago and they latch onto my shoulders, puncturing
my skin and making me scream. His grip tightens and clutches onto my shoulders
making me fall. I roll as I land and pop back up, booking it again without
missing a beat.
One
second I’m hauling ass towards the open prairie, the next he’s on the ground in
front of me and we’re on a collision path. I plan my move and let him get to
within a few strides of me and then I flip into the air and land on the other
side of him. He misses a step and I take advantage of it, turn and deliver a
hook kick to his jaw. His head snaps to the side and he stumbles over sideways
a little.
I
run hard for a few seconds and don’t look back. Off in the distance I hear the
roar of a hovercopter and a few seconds later I feel the effects of the prairie
grass wind tunnel it creates from the blades, but still I push my way through
the now wildly swaying wheat until I come upon the alien again.
His
lip is bleeding and his jaw is slightly red from my kick. I stop in my tracks,
bent over and panting hard.
He’s
not even out of breath.
"I’m
not the enemy, Junco," he screams above the roar, "and if you know
what’s good for ya, you’ll run like hell because if those guys from the
Mountain Republic get you, you’ll end up in the same messed-up place as your
father."
He
flies off, disappearing in the tallgrass before I can even string together a
sentence.
But
his words stay with me. Dead like my father is not something I want to be so I
follow his advice. I run until the MR soldiers in the hovercopter blast me with
a plasma bolt and I fall to the ground unconscious.
Author Info:
J.
A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it
shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and
graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had
grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia
and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She’s always packing heat and
she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can
count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco
series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the
Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus
the mutants, of course.
You don’t want to owe that Luck bastard anything. It always asks for something in return. There’s a new twist on an old prophecy and this one brings the End of Days. Junco must make a choice – human or avian? Only one race can survive. Lucan has secrets and the lies are flowing like a mountain river during spring thaw. But he needs Junco to cooperate just a little bit longer or it all falls apart. The Siblings on Earth are waiting for the Seventh to return and pull their clutch together. But Earth has secrets too – secrets that change everything. Junco has survived against impossible odds, but the cost of survival is higher than she ever imagined. Luck is about to catch up with Junco Coot and her debt must be paid. CONTENT WARNING - You know the drill...this is Junco we're talking about, right? Bad language, no qualms about killing.
Author Info:
J.
A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it
shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and
graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had
grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia
and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She’s always packing heat and
she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can
count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco
series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the
Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus
the mutants, of course.
Well-trained soldier or genetically engineered monster? Junco Coot can’t even remember her trip off Earth; she was too busy being morphed into her new avian body. But reality hits her hard when she wakes up to find her new life is not what she expected. Not even close. Tier is on trial for treason, the avian president wants her dead, her new military team is hostile, her body is being taken over by an illicit AI, and her only friend is a ten-year old throwaway boy. In most places the avian Fledge ritual would be nothing more than mass murder, but here in the capital city of Amelia, it’s called growing up. Junco has two choices: fight to the death to prove her worth, or get sent back to Earth in the hands of her enemies. In a foreign culture and surrounded by people she can’t trust or count on, Junco must find a way to save herself and Tier without losing her immortal soul in the process. CONTENT WARNING - Just like CLUTCH, Book Two has lots of bad language and extreme violence. You've been warned. This series is NOT YOUNG ADULT.
Author Info:
J. A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She’s always packing heat and she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus the mutants, of course.
In 2152 the
avian race is on Earth looking for something stolen from them decades ago –
their genetics. At the center of the search lies the Rural Republic; a small
backwards farming country with high hopes of military domination and a penchant
for illegal bioengineering.
19 year old Junco Coot is the daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking
commander. She’s the most foul-mouthed, wildly unpredictable and ruthless
sniper the Rural Republic has ever trained. But when her father’s death sparks
a trip into forbidden places, she triggers events that will change everything
she knows to be true.
As an elite avian military officer, Tier’s mission is to destroy the
bioengineering projects, kill Commander Coot’s daughter, and return home
immediately. There’s just one problem. Junco isn’t who she claims to be.
With no one to trust, not even herself, Junco must confront the secrets of her
past and accept her place in the future, or risk losing herself completely.
"I
think we should stick together, Junco. In fact I was thinking I can help get ya
back to safety. Ya know, help ya get the Goat back up on the road. Even though
yer healed, yer still pretty–" He hesitates.
"I’m
pretty?" I ask.
He
laughs a little and shakes his head, which pisses me off for some reason.
"No, I was going to say pretty weak, ya know. From yesterday’s crash. But
then I wondered if ya would take that as an insult as well."
I
roll my eyes and try to push past him to get the winch hooked up to a tree, but
he leans his hands on either side of the Goat, essentially boxing me in. I
shoot him a nasty look and he drops his hands to let me through.
"Thanks
for all your help," I call back to him, "but I’m going to take it
from here. And I won’t report you, so don’t worry about that. Just get hell out
of the RR before anyone else sees you." I turn to see how he’s taking the
news but he’s not there. When I turn back he’s in front of me again.
He
shakes his head at me.
I
shake mine back and raise my eyebrows.
"You’ll
refuse my help?"
"Look,"
I huff, "you have those people tracking you and neither of us is supposed
to be out here in the first place, so let’s just cut our losses and move on.
Separately."
He
looks down to the tech that is still in his hand. "They can’t see anything
here. Some sort of shield."
"Right.
That’s called a defense system. The deeper you go into the Stag, the thicker
the shields. So why don’t you just fly over to the Mountain Republic where they
probably can track you?"
He
lifts the device to illustrate his point. "In case ya haven’t figured it
out yet, these people aren’t my ride home."
"So
why are they tracking you?"
His
eyes twinkle and I know what’s coming and push past him at a full run. He’s on
me before I can take more than half a dozen strides and pulls on my shirt until
I slip in the mud and go down hard on my back.
"Stop!"
I scream, but instead of stopping he pins my arms down and sits on top of me as
I wriggle and kick to try and get him off. His legs twine around mine, essentially
cutting off any thoughts of getting him off me that way. Then his eyes are
glowing again and his lips are touching my cheek, whispering for me to settle
and be calm.
To
my surprise, I do settle. I can’t help it. I realize too late that the soft
words brushing past the sensitive skin on my cheek are controlling me. I can
feel the sound waves trickling into my ear canal, making their way to the nerve
pathways that control my muscles, and I bring my shoulders up to try and push
his face away. His lips remain next to my ear and I am just about to fully give
in when the tech device, forgotten and left on the ground during our struggle,
sounds off an alarm. He loses his concentration and the words stop for half a
moment, but that’s all I need.
I
take my opportunity and flip myself over so that I’m on my belly. This takes
him by surprise and for a split-second he is off balance. I flip back around
and use my right arm to knock him in the windpipe as my body turns. He goes
reeling off of me and I’m up and running down into the little creek.
A
boot goes flying just past my head, but I don’t stop and wonder at this weird
turn of events. I run as hard as I can, over the opposite bank, out of the
small grove of cottonwoods, and into the tall flowing prairie grass. I’m short,
so the leftover husks slap me in the face as I run, blurring my vision.
The
wings descend and he’s swooping down upon me. I look up to see talons where his
boots were just a few minutes ago and they latch onto my shoulders, puncturing
my skin and making me scream. His grip tightens and clutches onto my shoulders
making me fall. I roll as I land and pop back up, booking it again without
missing a beat.
One
second I’m hauling ass towards the open prairie, the next he’s on the ground in
front of me and we’re on a collision path. I plan my move and let him get to
within a few strides of me and then I flip into the air and land on the other
side of him. He misses a step and I take advantage of it, turn and deliver a
hook kick to his jaw. His head snaps to the side and he stumbles over sideways
a little.
I
run hard for a few seconds and don’t look back. Off in the distance I hear the
roar of a hovercopter and a few seconds later I feel the effects of the prairie
grass wind tunnel it creates from the blades, but still I push my way through
the now wildly swaying wheat until I come upon the alien again.
His
lip is bleeding and his jaw is slightly red from my kick. I stop in my tracks,
bent over and panting hard.
He’s
not even out of breath.
"I’m
not the enemy, Junco," he screams above the roar, "and if you know
what’s good for ya, you’ll run like hell because if those guys from the
Mountain Republic get you, you’ll end up in the same messed-up place as your
father."
He
flies off, disappearing in the tallgrass before I can even string together a
sentence.
But
his words stay with me. Dead like my father is not something I want to be so I
follow his advice. I run until the MR soldiers in the hovercopter blast me with
a plasma bolt and I fall to the ground unconscious.
Author Info:
J.
A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it
shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and
graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had
grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia
and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She’s always packing heat and
she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can
count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco
series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the
Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus
the mutants, of course.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
