Hot Zone

Madde and her friends live ordinary lives in Catfish Lake, Minnesota, until a biological weapon is unleashed upon the Upper Midwest. The devastating impact and the nightmarish aftermath send people crazy. All around Madde are the homicidal, suicidal remnants of society. Together with a small band of unaffected survivors she must fight for her life.

As they struggle with this new reality, Madde sees those around her gaining ‘gifts’ like mind reading, silver-tongued charm, extreme intelligence, and many exotic mutations. She too develops her own powers, but is just beginning to understand them.

As Madde struggles to help her town pull back from the brink strange men arrive from Gabriel, a man who wants to control the entire Hot Zone. Anyone who meets Gabriel loves him, with the exception of Madde, who strains herself to resist.

Now Madde must walk a fine line since Gabriel could make her as obedient as the rest if he tried. She has her own power over him, and each must be careful not to influence the other to the point that it is impossible to recover.

As the Midwest is cut off from the rest of the U.S., Madde and her friends must cope with the breakdown of society and find ways to protect themselves. In addition, Madde is drawn to two different men, each of whom have a piece of her heart.

As Madde navigates the dangerous path, always knowing that this day may be her last, will she find love or death ahead?

*** About The Author ***

Sandy was born and raised in Iowa, moved all over Minnesota and has finally put down roots in Texas. She attended the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Minnesota, and St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. She has four outstanding boys and a cat and dog. She has been writing since she was fourteen.

*** Exclusive Excerpts ***

That last one rocked me back, I don’t mind telling you. Because secretly, I thought I was probably frigid too. I thought I had been adequately faking it, however, and so I was surprised he would say that. I mean don’t get me wrong, I thought sex was fine, just not all that great. It felt good, but that was it. And no one knew this, or at least I thought no one knew this. Apparently Eddy suspected. There goes my Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. You’d think that I would have told Meri or Phil, but I’d known them for so long that I just couldn’t bring it up somehow. They knew that Eddy and I had “jumped the hurdle” so to speak, but they had immediately assumed it was wonderful and left it at that. I just didn’t really know how to tell them it was frankly a little boring. I guess I didn’t like to admit it to myself.

Anyway, it was just one of Eddy’s complaints, and I’d only seen him once during the week, when it used to be that we’d be together everyday. I wasn’t as upset as I thought I should be (see? frigid!) but was relatively practical about it. I was young—if he walked, I’d probably find someone else eventually.

I was thinking these thoughts when I realized the announcer on the TV (I’d switched to Headline News) was looking alert and almost, well, scared. I mentally tuned back to what she was saying.

“ . . . is saying the United States had no reason to attack China in this manner.”

The announcer cleared her throat as video replaced her. I felt my jaw slacken as I saw people holding cloths over their mouths and noses as they ran about, and on the ground there were bodies of people. These people looked as if they had just dropped suddenly and become unconscious—or were they dead?

The announcer continued.