An exclusive excerpt and GIVEAWAY from The First Life of Vikram Roy
The Ruby Iyer Series—by Laxmi Hariharan
I hear the staccato of shots being fired,
followed by yells and howls of pain. Then, the sound of something being smashed
and everything goes quiet. The TV no longer chatters. I look to the open door.
The recreation room is down at the end of the corridor. The sounds of shots get
closer. Without giving myself a chance to think I make a run for the door slam
it shut, lock it and it’s as if that’s a signal to the rest of the men to jump
to their feet. Without a word, the ten of us scram to our bunks, pull on trousers
and shoes.We get our hands on whatever weapon we can find. No guns, none of us
have guns. So I grab my cricket bat. (As if that’s going to make a difference?)
Around me the others too are grabbing cricket
bats and hockey sticks. Neil grabs an iron rod. An iron rod? Where did he get
that from? We drop to the floor, crouch
and wait.
Should
I hide under the bed? Nope, no way. Like, that is going to help.
And
then a crash as the door is broken down, hacked by what looks like an axe till
it’s in pieces on the floor and through it step through two men. One holding a
machine gun, the other wielding an axe which he drops to the floor and instead
grabs the the gun slung over his back. They are both wearing balaclavas, so we
can’t see their features. Of medium height, they are muscular and dressed all
in black: Black jeans and sweatshirts, their hair covered by the hoods. Their
backs are to the door. They point their guns at us, signalling to us to put our
hands up. I hesitate, not looking around but sense that the others too are not
sure what to do. The first gunman points his gun at the nearest recruit … a boy
just out of his teens and shoots him in the head.
There
is a collective gasp from the room. A chill runs through me. Who are they? How
did they break through the security measures of the force base? And then they
are foolish enough to barge right into the heart of the training facilities of
the force and shoot its cadets? Why? Why would they do that? The gunmen gesture
to us and this time we follow their orders. We walk to the wall at the back of
the bunkhouse and line up, hands on our heads, staring ahead.
An
alarm rings out then. Finally! It’s been almost ten minutes since the shooting
started. Still, the reinforcements should be here soon. Now all we need to do
is keep these gun men distracted enough so they don’t kill us. As if reading my
mind, the guy who’d shot the young recruit moves forward, his gun trained on
us. I draw in a breath and hold it. The sweat trickles down my back. My heart
is racing so fast I am sure if I look down I can see it leaping out of my
chest. The gunman passes me, walks to the end of the line; then back to the
middle where I am.
"You
have no idea what this is about do you?" He asks.
He
sounds young, as if he is barely a man himself. And something in his voice …
muffled as it is, it sounds familiar. A faint recollection grabs the edge of my mind, And then I forget
everything because he leans close to Neil who is next to me, and smashes the
butt of his gun into his stomach. Neil falls to the ground, moaning, holding
his middle. I firm up my stomach muscles. I know I am next, I must be. I want
to squeeze my eyes shut, but don’t. The gunman leans to the other side, and
shoots another man in the head.
This
chap collapses without a cry. What the fuck? I want to jump him right then, but
that would be really stupid of me. I am not going to help anyone if I get
killed will I? There are six of us left in the room now. One of the younger
recruits lets out a sob, at which gunman no 2 holds his gun at him, so he shuts
up immediately.
The
gunman asks me, "Where are the plans?’
"What
are you talking about?" I reply, trying to stay calm, struggling not to
show how scared I am inside.
He
only grins and in response, and without taking his eyes off me, holds his gun
up and I know what what he is going to do and I scream. "No!" But
it’s too late. This time he’s shot two more guys in succession. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck. These guys are desperate, or crazy or both.
Besides
me Neil stirs on the ground.
The
gunman takes a deep breathe, as if trying to calm himself and says, "Don’t
pretend to be dumb. If you don’t get me the blue prints of the security
arrangements being planned by the force for Bombay; the one that you and your
team mates are being trained for, then all the rest of you die too."
Only
six of us left now. Four young lives, gone just like that. I feel sick. What
the fuck are these guys upto? And … and how do they know about the plans? This
is top secret. The only reason I know about it, is because I’ve overheard the
training officer speaking with the ACP about it on the phone last week. And
only because I happened to be waiting outside his room then. And how does this
gunman even know that I know the details?
Want to find out what
happens next? Click here
Want to find out what happens next? Click here
About The First
Life of Vikram Roy (Ruby Iyer Series)
His family is being held to ransom by a
deadly mastermind.
Vikram never should have left his family, but when Vikram's father brings his half-brother Vishal home, life will never be the same. Vikram thinks things will be better now that he's gone. He's met the love of his life, his future looks bright and then everything is shattered. Now, his family's life is hanging in the balance, and only Vikram can do what needs to be done to save them. From the bestselling dystopian fiction author with over 200 reviews and ratings of her dystopia books across Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers.
If you’re looking for books like Hunger Games, then this dystopia romance series, The Ruby Iyer Series is it.
Vikram never should have left his family, but when Vikram's father brings his half-brother Vishal home, life will never be the same. Vikram thinks things will be better now that he's gone. He's met the love of his life, his future looks bright and then everything is shattered. Now, his family's life is hanging in the balance, and only Vikram can do what needs to be done to save them. From the bestselling dystopian fiction author with over 200 reviews and ratings of her dystopia books across Goodreads, Amazon and other retailers.
If you’re looking for books like Hunger Games, then this dystopia romance series, The Ruby Iyer Series is it.
About the origins of Ruby Iyer:
Growing
up in Bombay, my daily commute to university was inevitably nightmarish. It's
just how public transport is here. The man behind you on the bus will brush up
against you. You know you are going to be felt up on a crowded train platform.
All you can do is accept it and get on. Or so you think. I did too, until, a
young photojournalist was raped in the centre of Bombay in broad daylight. It made me furious. Nothing had changed in
this city in all these years. Then, I had a vision of this young girl who would
not back down; who would follow her instincts, stand up for herself regardless
of consequences. Thus Ruby Iyer was
born. Make no mistake, Ruby’s her own person. She leads. I follow. You can
download the RUBY IYER DIARIES, the prequel novelette in the series free HERE
About The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer:
2015 Readers' Favorite (Bronze) YA Action
YA
Finalist 2015 IAN Book of the Year Award
Finalist 9th Annual Indie Excellence Awards
When
her best friend is kidnapped, Ruby will stop at nothing to rescue him.
Criminals run the streets of Bombay. Jam-packed with the worst degenerates. The city is a shell of the pride and joy it used to be. Ruby knows something must be done, but it isn’t until her best friend is kidnapped by the despotic Dr Braganza that she knows that she and she alone must save city, save her best friend, save the world from total destruction. Armed only with Vikram, a cop-turned-rogue they are about to embark on a road they may never return from. If you’re looking for fast-paced books like Hunger Games or dystopia fiction like Angelfall, the Ruby Iyer series is perfect for you.
Criminals run the streets of Bombay. Jam-packed with the worst degenerates. The city is a shell of the pride and joy it used to be. Ruby knows something must be done, but it isn’t until her best friend is kidnapped by the despotic Dr Braganza that she knows that she and she alone must save city, save her best friend, save the world from total destruction. Armed only with Vikram, a cop-turned-rogue they are about to embark on a road they may never return from. If you’re looking for fast-paced books like Hunger Games or dystopia fiction like Angelfall, the Ruby Iyer series is perfect for you.
GIVEAWAY
The First Life of Vikram
Roy, The THIRD book in the RUBY IYER Series, launches this month. To celebrate
the launch of the FIRST LIFE OF VIKRAM ROY I am giving away a $30 gift
card. Enter HERE. Winner
will be drawn, Oct 1, 2015, and announced in my next newsletter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
DOING MY BIT
All SEPTEMBER earnings
from the RUBY IYER SERIES will be donated to SAVE THE CHILDREN: SUPPORT
CHILD REFUGEES OF SYRIA. All the RUBY IYER books with their brand new
covers, are on SALE all this month at 99p/c &Rs 69/49. Click HERE to buy them.
YOU can also donate to SAVE THE
CHILDREN directly HERE.
This sounds like a really interesting book and series! Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway!
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