Release day:
Driven Press is excited to welcome Scott Bell and his latest novel
Working Stiffs
. . . available now.
Driven Press is excited to welcome Scott Bell and his latest novel
Working Stiffs
. . . available now.
At a time when civil liberties have been eroded and unemployment has
exceeded Great Depression levels, nanotechnology provides the ability to
reanimate the recently dead. Far from zombies, but nothing like their former
selves, “Revivants” are a ready source of cheap labor able to perform simple,
routine tasks. Great news for some sectors, but for many, the economic and
social impact is devastating.
Enter Joe Warren—an unemployed college dropout, who is self-absorbed
and disinterested in the world’s problems. All Joe wants is a job, food on his
table, and a cure for his girlfriend’s lingering illness. What Joe gets is a
stint in jail with a bunch of self-proclaimed freedom fighters, and coerced to
become an informant by federal government agents.
Joe
is forced to examine his me-first attitude, and in the process learns that some
things just might be worth fighting—or dying—for.
Exclusive excerpt:
Corpus Interruptus
Corpus Interruptus
“How
far do you think he’ll get?” Homeland Agent Maravich used his pinkie to circle
the inside of his nostril.
Across
the street from the Huateng Tower, in what was once the Magnificent Mile
Marriott but was now a deserted hulk harboring junkies, alkies, and lice,
Agents Ramirez and Maravich followed Joseph Warren’s antics on a portable vid
screen. Scratchy audio buzzed from tiny speakers. An inset window indicated the
subject’s position in real-time and read out his vital stats in a tiny scroll
at the bottom.
“Far
enough to hang himself.” Ramirez leaned over the monitor, set up on what was
once the circular bar in the Marriott’s lobby. He refused to let any part of
his body other than the soles of his shoes touch any surface in the derelict
building. Water dripped and things skittered in the dark corners of the open
space, long since stripped of fixtures and covered in a layer of filth deep as
cake icing.
A
team of six TAC officers in full gear held position near the boarded-up
entrance. A chain hung from a hole in the plywood, its lock a thing of distant
memory. The glut of street people lurking in the lobby had slunk away like
feral dogs when Ramirez and his fellow agents shoved open the damp and rotting
barrier and flashed lights around the interior. Ramirez perceived them hovering
in the shadows the way a ship’s captain sensed bad weather over the horizon.
“So
what is it about this dingleberry?” Maravich studied the small screen, his
Eastern European ancestry evident in the flat planes and angles of his face.
“This Warren guy, he ain’t much.”
“He’s
going to get us in.”
“You
think?”
“Warren
is the only person I’ve ever seen get close to MacCauley who wasn’t one of her
fanatics.”
“And
you think that’s enough?”
On
the screen, Warren accessed the security door and the camera view switched to
inside the room. Ramirez smirked as their subject tapped his way through the
building’s security features.
“There’s
more to Warren than meets the eye,” he told Maravich. “He’s a survivor. I get a
lever on him; he’ll do what we need.”
“You
say so.” Maravich shrugged. He snorted and spat across the bar. “I think the
guy’s a chump.”
“He
is. But he’s our chump. He’ll get us in, and we’ll run down these terrorist
fucks once and for all. These assholes think they can tear down the foundation
of this country and destroy the United States government. I will not, under any
circumstances, allow that to happen. If I have to sacrifice a hundred Joseph
Warrens, it’ll be a small price to pay.”
Working Stiffs . . . available now!
More info:
Author:
Scott Bell holds a degree in criminal justice from North Texas State University and has enjoyed careers in both asset protection as well as sales. With the kids grown and time on his hands, Scott turned back to his first love—writing. His short stories have been published in The Western Online, Cast of Wonders, and in the anthology, Desolation. Yeager's Law, published in 2015, was his first novel, with its sequel, Yeager's Mission, published in 2016. April's Fool was also published in 2016.
When he’s not writing, Scott is on the eternal quest to answer the question: What would John Wayne do?
Find Scott at:
