RIP THE SKY
by
Mark Packard
Speculative Fiction / Fantasy / Science Fiction
Publisher: Bluestreak Publishing
Page Count: 317 pages
Publication Date: August 21, 2023
Scroll down for a giveaway!
After a shocking courtroom tragedy, a disturbed Vietnam veteran and the vindictive judge who sent him to prison become an unlikely pair of time travelers in a chaotic multiverse. The fallen angel who rescues them wants to guide them to a radiant new life. But first they must return to the scene of a ghastly crime.
Billy Worster was a naïve teenager ill-prepared for the gruesome realities of war. The sole survivor of a deadly massacre in a Vietnamese jungle, he avoided certain death only because he ran away when the shooting started. Riddled with guilt, he comes home to a dusty Texas farm with post-traumatic stress disorder and the crazy notion that he can fly in and out of parallel worlds.
As Billy struggles with addiction and questions his sanity, he is arrested on a drug charge and ends up in the courtroom of Judge Madeline Johnston, a bitter old judge tormented by a dark secret surrounding her father’s death. She callously tosses Billy into prison, but when a greedy executor files a lawsuit to steal his inherited land, Billy is hauled back to her courtroom in chains, where a stunning twist of fate launches them into the sky on an odyssey of discovery and healing.
Spanning forty years from the jungles of Vietnam through infinite, parallel worlds, Rip the Sky examines how the power of forgiveness can lead us toward a better life, no matter how many worlds we may live in.
NOTE* I bought the book after reading the sample pages on Amazon and am happy to share this excerpt.
Excerpt from Rip the Sky by Mark Packard
He heard his voice echo through the jungle again and then the sound of trampled grass crunching, folding, and unfolding. He listened to the spectral voice within, wiped the red moisture from the photograph as best he could, stuffed it into his pocket, and took off toward the jungle. But before Billy could take ten steps, the loud cacophony of bullets firing from AK-47s forced everything else into background noise, even his loud shriek when a burning, stabbing pain sent him tumbling to the ground. Billy was writhing in agony, trying not to look at his leg that twisted awkwardly. When he instinctively reached for the searing pain in his thigh, his fingers hit hard, splintered bone as warm blood streamed red across his hand.
And then he remembered, inside a pocket underneath his blood-stained hand, a photograph of a pretty lady and her beautiful baby girl. They called to him, mother and child, beckoning him back to the terrible phantom hiding in the dark branches. Billy wasn’t sure why, but the woman and her baby needed to be with him under that awful tree when he died, and he was determined to inch his way back. He would perform one heroic deed in his short life and atone for his cowardice, even fight the devil waiting high in the tree if he had to. Billy raised himself up, planted his buttocks firmly to the ground, and began scooting backward to the tree, which was a good fifteen yards behind him. His shattered leg wobbled as Billy dragged it along in excruciating pain, leaving a red trail in the trampled grass, all for them—the pretty lady and her beautiful baby girl.
At last, he reached the tree and leaned back against the trunk, moaning loudly as another red drop fell from the sky, this time dotting his arm. Billy pulled the photograph out from his pocket and clutched it tightly. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to get his leg comfortable, refusing to look at the awful vision above him. The red drops dripped rhythmically, seemingly cleansing him. A heavy weight tugged his eyelids shut, his thoughts drifting to a hazy and distant place. Slipping further and further away from Vietnam, Billy heard the surprising sound of American voices. He struggled to lift his head, opening his eyes just enough to recognize that someone had pulled him away from the tree trunk and into the barren field. He heard the firecracker sound of rifle and mortar fire and caught a fading glimpse of men scrambling around him as he resisted the urge to close his eyelids with all his might.
And then he heard the comforting whir of chopper blades.
Whir. Whir.
All was a blur.
Screaming as a bandage was wrapped around his leg.
Chopper blades humming above him like angel wings, kicking up clouds of dirt everywhere.
Two eyes in the circling mist, wild and excited, staring down at him beneath the rim of a helmet marked with a red cross.
Two red-stained hands strapping him onto a gurney.
The sensation of rising from the ground.
Tearing his eyes away from the specter that seemed to float beside the gurney as the chopper climbed into the air.
And then, feeling every cell in his body infused with odd energy as he rose higher and higher into the sky.
Billy Worster had learned to fly.
Mark Packard spent the last 38 years as a trial attorney and is now retired from the courtroom and working as a mediator. In a life before lawyering he was a journalist and regrets waiting far too long before returning to his roots to write his first novel, Rip the Sky. Though he knows he should have jumped off the merry-go-round years ago, he hopes to hang around long enough to craft a few more tales. Connect with the author:
——————————————————————-
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
ONE WINNER
Signed hard copy of Rip the Sky + $50 Amazon gift card
(US only; ends midnight, CST, 10/13/23)
CLICK TO VISIT
THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
FOR PARTICIPATING BLOGS, ADDED AS THEY POP UP.
blog services provided by
Oh my gosh, this excerpt is powerful. Painful. From the description, this sounds like just one element of a fantastic plotline. Thanks for sharing.
I thought so, too, and it intrigued me enough that I bought the book.
It got my heart pounding! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for stopping by. This is a really engrossing introduction to the book.
This is such a great excerpt to share! I loved this story and it turned out to be a big surprise to me. Thanks for sharing, MaryAnn!
So glad you stopped by, Jan. I’m about halfway through reading the story. It sure is unique, and one can’t help but like Billy and cheer for him all the way.
Thanks for sharing that!
You’re welcome. Always glad to help a fellow author.