Sunset Rising Trilogy
S.M. McEachern
(Sunset Rising #1-3)
Publication date: December 25th 2015
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Limited Time Preorder price of just $4.99! Have it delivered December 25th!

 

Special edition of the ebook set of the Sunset Rising Trilogy, which includes: Sunset Rising, Worlds Collide, New World Order, and—available in ebook format for the first time—all seven satellite stories!

 

 

Sunset Rising: Born a slave inside a government biodome, seventeen-year-old Sunny O’Donnell becomes a pawn in a political plot that sparks a rebellion. Accused of treason and facing execution, she escapes with a man she considers an enemy and discovers she not only has to work with him to survive, but also lead the revolution.

A Readers Favorite 2015 Book Award Gold Medal winner!

 

Worlds Collide: Sunny and Jack must continue a life of subterfuge in order to stay alive and find a way to free the Pit. But in their attempt to save the urchins, they uncover the horrifying truth about President Holt and the evil he could unleash on the world.

 

New World Order: While Sunny and Jack struggle to find each other in the lawless post-apocalyptic world, tensions between the Pit and the Dome escalate. In the action-packed conclusion of the Sunset Rising Trilogy, friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends on a journey that will lead to a new world order.

 

Satellite Stories: For the first time in ebook format, the seven satellite stories are included with the trilogy. Find out what’s happening in the Pit between books one and two, and get a closer look at some of the other people in Sunny’s life.

Goodreads / Amazon

The Sunset Rising Trilogy ebook boxed set is up for the special pre-order price of $4.99 and includes seven satellite stories.

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EXCERPT BOOK 1 – Sunset Rising:

(Sunny O’Donnell and Jack Kenner on starting a rebellion)

 

I went at him as fast as I could, and when I saw the nose of the gun come up, I pushed it down and used it to give me balance. I raised my leg and kicked him in his side. His grip on the gun loosened for a second, and I grabbed it with both hands while swinging my leg in a backward arc that brought me behind him. I brought the gun up under his throat and held it there. I heard people clapping and looked up to see them staring at me.

 

“You do catch on quickly,” Jack said, smiling.

 

I loosened my grip on the rifle, and he lowered it. “Am I scaring you, Jack?”

 

Suddenly Jack’s hands were on me, and he threw me over his hip. I hit the floor with an ungraceful flop.

“A little bit.” He stepped away and left me to pick myself up. “It’s going to be lights out soon, so we should wrap it up,” he said to the room.

 

“Can we try again tomorrow?” Raine asked.

 

Jack looked around the room to see if anyone else was interested. Most people wanted to come back. Jack asked the guards, and they agreed as well.

 

“You were amazing tonight,” Jack said once we were alone. “You blew me away.”

 

“I guess it went well.”

 

“You were great, but we only had maybe fifty people in that room, not nearly enough to take on the few hundred guards that patrol down here. I told you before, power comes with numbers, and we don’t have numbers.”

 

“I don’t think we stand much of a chance anyway. I expect someone in that room will gladly turn us in for the four hundred credits Holt is offering.”

 

When we arrived at our apartment, I scanned my hand across the lock and went in.

 

“I know. I think that too.” Jack shut the door behind him. Then he picked up one of the chairs and put it under the doorknob. I gave him an inquisitive look. “At least it will give us a little notice if someone comes.”

 

“I’ve always known we’ll be caught eventually, but now that it might be real, I’m scared.”

I didn’t want to die now that I had found a reason to live. I wanted to see this rebellion through and free Summer from Holt; have the chance to find my father if he was still alive; help liberate the Pit from centuries of slavery. I wanted time to finish what we started.

 

“You’re scared?” he asked in surprise. “I can’t believe the girl who stood up on a chair and convinced an entire room to start a rebellion is scared.”

 

“And you’re not?”

 

“Terrified. Hey, what was wrong with Raine’s wife? She seemed a little out of it.”

 

“Women get that way after they’re sterilized.”

 

“After they’re what?”

 

“Sterilized.” He had an odd look on his face. “You must know about the Sterilization Program. Your government came up with it ten years ago. If a couple doesn’t qualify to have a child, the woman is sterilized, and whatever they inject her with makes her go… blank. The injection changes a woman. She’s not as full of life as she used to be.”

 

Jack was staring at me with a horrified look on his face when the lights went out, leaving us in darkness. Maybe he didn’t know about that program.

 

“We should get some sleep,” I said.

 

“I’ll take the chair.”

 

“No. We shared last night, we can do it again tonight.” Considering the way I responded to his kiss this morning, it probably wasn’t a good idea. But we both needed a decent sleep. Jack was exhausted from sleeping in the chair, and I couldn’t afford to be tired and sloppy with Madi as my supervisor.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah. Just stay on your on side of the bed.” But I didn’t really mean it. I walked toward the bedroom.

 

“That bed isn’t big enough to have sides.” He stumbled after me, knocking a chair over.

 

“You really can’t see, can you?”

 

“And you’re surprised? It’s pitch black in here.”

I took him by the hand and guided him toward the bedroom. He took off his t-shirt and flopped down on the bed. Since he was blind in the dark, I stripped off my vest and put my t-shirt back on before I climbed in.

 

“It’s not pitch black in here. The guards use nightlights, and it leaks into the apartment.”

He opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked around the room. “I guess you have to born in the Pit to find light where there isn’t any.”

 

I rolled that thought over in my mind and realized just how true it was.

 

 

S.M. McEachern (also known as Susan) comes from the rocky shores of Canada’s East Coast. As a resident of Halifax during her early adult years, she attended Dalhousie University and earned an Honors Degree in International Development Studies with a focus on ocean development. Throughout her academic studies and early career, Susan had the privilege to study and work with Elizabeth Mann Borgese (daughter of nobel prize winner, Thomas Mann). An author in her own right and a political activist for world peace, Mrs. Mann Borgese played a significant influence on Susan’s view of the political world stage.

 

Sunset Rising is Susan's debut novel, which was published in November 2012. The second novel of the series, Worlds Collide was released in March 2014 and she is currently working on the third book of the series titled, New World Order, due to be released January 2015. For writing inspiration, Susan likes to go on long walks with her iPod (Keane and Moby are among her favorites). A few fun facts about Susan: she loves lattes, red wine, snorkelling, hiking and talking about herself in the third person.

 

If you'd like to read some satellite stories on the Sunset Rising series, visit her at her:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

GIVEAWAY:

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February 2024: Desperate to find refuge from the nuclear storm, a group of civilians discover a secret government bio-dome. Greeted by a hail of bullets and told to turn back, the frantic refugees stand their ground and are grudgingly permitted entry. But the price of admission is high. 

 

The year is 2024 and Benjamin Reyes is a hermit who the town thinks is crazy. He has a feeling that something bad is going to happen and that it is only a matter of time before the world is under nuclear attack. Once said attack actually occurs, the town is left in disbelief and turn to Benjamin for an answer. He leads them through the Valley to a military base where they attempt to seek shelter. Things do not go according to planned and Benjamin must condemn the people to a life of slavery in order to save them.

The story jumps to the year 2307 and we meet Sunset "Sunny" O'Donnell. Sunny has grown up in the Pit as a slave. All slaves, or urchins as they are called, have assigned jobs in the Pit where they work for credits that allow them to pay for basic necessities like an apartment. If that wasn't bad enough, they are also forced to follow rules set by the "bourge" or the upper class that live upstairs in the Dome. One enforced rule is the annual cull, which is a way to control the population. Once an urchin reaches the age of 35, they are executed. After losing her mother to the cull, Sunny is left to take care of her father who has lost the desire to live. In an effort to create change in the Pit, Sunny agrees to an absurd request by none other than the president's daughter, Leisel. The request backfires and Sunny is now on the run, with Leisel's fiancé Jack, and she must take desperate measures to not only save herself, but everyone who lives in the Pit.

I enjoyed the story and found it unique compared to other dystopian novels I've read. The author's writing flowed well and I could envision the characters and their surroundings. I particularly enjoyed the budding relationship between Sunny and Jack as they discover that what they thought they knew growing up may be just a sliver of a much larger picture and that everything may not be what it appears. However, I found myself with questions that weren't answered in the story as I felt they should have been. The book did end with a big cliffhanger so perhaps the questions I have will be answered in the second book, which I will be picking up. Overall, a pleasant story that I'd recommend to lovers of dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels.

Copy received for review for book tour with Enchanted Book Promotions.

Argh the final cliffhanger is *mean*.
Where's the next book in the series??

In 2024, nuclear war breaks out. A group of civilians discover a secret government bio-dome. They are grudgingly admitted entry, but at a high price. In 2307, Sunset (Sunny) O'Donnell is a seventeen-year-old girl living in the Pit. Like her, the descendants of the civilians who came to the Dome live a life of slavery and are culled (executed) at thirty-five. Sunny works in the kitchens and has delayed her wedding to Reyes in order to take care of her ailing father.

One evening, Sunny is ordered to serve in a bachelor party for the Bourge, the people who live in luxury in the Dome. There, she catches the eye of Leisel Holt, the president's daughter, and her fiancé Jack Kenner. Leisel is worried that someone might kill her during the wedding ceremony. So she comes up with a plan: Sunny will wear a bullet-proof vest and pose as the bride. The plan, however, goes horribly wrong.

Jack and Sunny are now forced into hiding and working together to save their lives. They also want to provide better living conditions for the people in the Pit. Sunny had never imagined she would start a rebellion.

Sunset Rising starts out slow, but then the pacing picks up. The dystopian plot is not terribly original (nuclear war, survivors living in a dome, the rich vs the poor), and the characters are not fully explored, save for the two protagonists Sunny and Jake.

Sunny is a determined heroine. After losing her mother to the Cull, she know sher has to take care of her grief-stricken father. Her boyfriend Reyes, however, is not happy with having to postpone their wedding again. They've been bethroted to each other for four years, and with a life span of only thirty-five, seventeen is almost too old to find a new wife. People in the Pit are practically slaves in the coal mines, kitchens, laudry, and sewage: they work for a measly salary, are fed leftovers, and are often beaten if their work is not satisfactory. It's necessary to be married in order to qualify for your own apartment.

The Domers are strictly controlling the population in the Pit, as they have grown from the initial 300 to almost 30,000. I wonder how that might work, though: in 2024, the general complains that with the civilians' arrival there are now additional three hundred people in the dome, and there might not be room and resources for everyone. Then how could 30,000 people fit in the same space?

The government in the Dome is a democracy only by name. The power has been seized by a general, who is now a dictator passing the title to his children. It's not clear how this situation came to be so easily, since when people started to fill the dome, there was a democratically elected president. Did people forget so promptly what a democracy was? Or did they have to accept the situation because it was the only alternative to getting killed? The survivors are forced to live in the Dome because as a result of the nuclear war, the air outside is toxic and would poison human beings. Does this mean the entire world population outside of the Dome died? This is not clear, although one would assume so.

The book ends in a terribly mean cliffhanger. Seriously, I could not believe that was the last page of the book. I need the second book in the series, like, yesterday.