BOOK EXCERPT & REVIEWS
Brindle 24
the last day in the life of a town
by J.J.Brown
Book Excerpt
8 AM
Officer Joe wakes up from a recurring nightmare of falling into a chasm on fire, near a hill rocked by explosions. He bolts out of bed in a sweat, gasping for air and looking for the rest of his squad. He focuses his eyes on his digital alarm clock. It blinks red. He listens to it beep steadily beside him, the only sound in the room, while he brings his breathing back under control. Sunlight streams around the window shades and grounds him; this is morning and he’s in Brindle, not Afghanistan. He’s home. He gets up and opens the shades. The sun is burning the fog off the ground and wisps linger in the hollows.
A mile from Officer Joe’s place, an unmarked white tanker rumbles along the narrow pavement of Route 32 at the crossroads. Seconds later, a flatbed trailer carrying a bulldozer follows the tanker. An electric car idles, waiting to cross at the intersection of Route 32 and Smith’s Lane. Adrian Berger, a year out of high school, is in the passenger seat and his father is driving. Each time the road clears, their small red car advances a few feet. Another truck appears and blocks the way. A gas truck, followed by water trucks, trucks marked with yellow and black hazard signs—the stream of traffic never ends. Their car rolls back.
Adrian squints. “These guys all work with you up here?”
His father, Henry Berger, is an anxious person. He repeats a phrase over and over in his mind: the things people say.
“They work at the same gas drilling site, yes, but not with me, exactly,” he says. “They’re in construction, I’m in sampling.” The things people say, he echoes mindlessly to himself. None of the phrases he finds himself repeating at times mean anything at all to him. He doesn’t even know why he says them. He knows why he thinks them, because he can’t control his thoughts.
He sees a gray squirrel at the side of the road right next to them. Poised ready to bolt across the road, the tiny animal twitches a long feathery tail. Henry wonders how the animal figures out when to cross; vibrations from the road’s surface, he imagines.
***** -Excerpt from Brindle 24, J.J.Brown
8 AM
Officer Joe wakes up from a recurring nightmare of falling into a chasm on fire, near a hill rocked by explosions. He bolts out of bed in a sweat, gasping for air and looking for the rest of his squad. He focuses his eyes on his digital alarm clock. It blinks red. He listens to it beep steadily beside him, the only sound in the room, while he brings his breathing back under control. Sunlight streams around the window shades and grounds him; this is morning and he’s in Brindle, not Afghanistan. He’s home. He gets up and opens the shades. The sun is burning the fog off the ground and wisps linger in the hollows.
A mile from Officer Joe’s place, an unmarked white tanker rumbles along the narrow pavement of Route 32 at the crossroads. Seconds later, a flatbed trailer carrying a bulldozer follows the tanker. An electric car idles, waiting to cross at the intersection of Route 32 and Smith’s Lane. Adrian Berger, a year out of high school, is in the passenger seat and his father is driving. Each time the road clears, their small red car advances a few feet. Another truck appears and blocks the way. A gas truck, followed by water trucks, trucks marked with yellow and black hazard signs—the stream of traffic never ends. Their car rolls back.
Adrian squints. “These guys all work with you up here?”
His father, Henry Berger, is an anxious person. He repeats a phrase over and over in his mind: the things people say.
“They work at the same gas drilling site, yes, but not with me, exactly,” he says. “They’re in construction, I’m in sampling.” The things people say, he echoes mindlessly to himself. None of the phrases he finds himself repeating at times mean anything at all to him. He doesn’t even know why he says them. He knows why he thinks them, because he can’t control his thoughts.
He sees a gray squirrel at the side of the road right next to them. Poised ready to bolt across the road, the tiny animal twitches a long feathery tail. Henry wonders how the animal figures out when to cross; vibrations from the road’s surface, he imagines.
***** -Excerpt from Brindle 24, J.J.Brown
READERS ARE SAYING:
"All the elements of a thriller are here: love, lust, greed, drama, and the uncomfortable knowledge that the terrifying impact of fracking is all too real." 5 stars from Elizabeth C - reader, Amazon 2015
"Powerful read by a first class writer. Highly recommend." 5 stars from Diana L - reader, Amazon, 2014
""Brindle 24" is an addictive read. I picked it up on a Sunday afternoon and became engrossed in the characters' lives." 5 stars from Mollie - reader, Amazon, 2014
"I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not being affected by it." 5 stars from Physical Graffiti - reader, Amazon, 2013
"From the inciting incident to the explosive ending, this cautionary tale is not for the faint of heart." 5 stars from Sharon B. Buchbinder - reader, Amazon, 2013
"J J Brown is a master story teller and superbly crafts a suspenseful and tension filled thriller..." 5 stars from Creative Pub Talk - reader, Amazon, 2013
"Powerful read by a first class writer. Highly recommend." 5 stars from Diana L - reader, Amazon, 2014
""Brindle 24" is an addictive read. I picked it up on a Sunday afternoon and became engrossed in the characters' lives." 5 stars from Mollie - reader, Amazon, 2014
"I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not being affected by it." 5 stars from Physical Graffiti - reader, Amazon, 2013
"From the inciting incident to the explosive ending, this cautionary tale is not for the faint of heart." 5 stars from Sharon B. Buchbinder - reader, Amazon, 2013
"J J Brown is a master story teller and superbly crafts a suspenseful and tension filled thriller..." 5 stars from Creative Pub Talk - reader, Amazon, 2013