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Lazy Lion
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Scott Nicholson |
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The Harvest It falls from the heavens and crashes to earth in the remote southern Appalachian Mountains. The alien roots creep into the forest, drawn by the intoxicating cellular activity of the humus and loam. The creature feeds on the surrounding organisms, exploring, assimilating, and altering the life forms it encounters. Plants wilt from the contact, trees wither, animals become deformed monstrosities, and people . . . . People become something both more and less than human. A contaminated moonshine still causes the first exposure when a bootlegger touches a tendril of mildew. Then a deer hunter crosses paths with an infected drunk and the alien influence spreads. More residents of the rural town of Windshake turn up missing as sinister creatures shamble through the dark alleys and woods. Tamara Leon is a psychology professor who sometimes sees the future, but no one acknowledges her clairvoyant gifts, especially her husband. When the strange phrase shu-shaaa enters her mind, she senses a telepathic force that threatens her family and the entire world. Her telepathy is a mental mirror: the more she allows the creature into her mind, the deeper her empathy, and the deeper its understanding of the human species. Chester Mull, a mountain dirt farmer, is suspicious of the green glow up on the ridge, and he doesn’t take kindly to trespassers. His neighbor Herbert DeWalt is a reclusive millionaire whose spiritual search has led him nowhere. Kyle Emerland is an ambitious developer who wants to turn the mountains into a playground of ski resorts and condominiums. The trio teams up with Tamara on a mission into the forest to face the alien in its secluded cave. Chester draws his courage from corn liquor and a twelve-gauge, DeWalt acts out of a desperate fear of failure, Emerland is driven by greed, and Tamara has no choice but to communicate with the powerful presence that has invaded their lives. The alien doesn’t want to destroy the world. It only wants to survive. But so do the people whose metabolism has become food for an otherworldly reaper. |
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