SecondWorld: A Thriller

by Jeremy Robinson

Overview

"Another crisply plotted tale from the fertile imagination of Jeremy Robinson. This one has it all, frozen Nazis, UFO crashes, Antarctica, and some really cool science. Plan to hunker down for all-nighter with this one. I did." -Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Key

"Robinson blends myth, science and terminal velocity action like no one else." -Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Nocturnal

The high adventure of James Rollins meets the gripping suspense of Matthew Reilly in Jeremy Robinson's explosive new thriller, SecondWorld.

Lincoln Miller, an ex-Navy SEAL turned NCIS Special Agent is sent to Aquarius, the world's only sub-oceanic research facility located off the Florida Keys, to investigate reports of ocean dumping. A week into his stay, strange red flakes descend from the surface. Scores of fish are dead and dying, poisoned by the debris that turns to powder in Miller's fingers and tastes like blood.

Miller heads for the surface, ready to fight whoever is polluting on his watch. But he finds nothing. No ships. No polluters.

No oxygen.

Instead, he finds a cloudless sky full of red particles dropping like snow and coating the ocean with a thick film that stretches to the horizon. When a dead blue whale collides with Aquarius, Miller begins a harrowing race to escape the affected area. Cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by death, Miller makes his way to Miami where he discovers just one survivor, and the awful truth: the strange phenomenon that robbed the air of its life giving oxygen was an attack by an enemy reborn from the ashes of World War II. And they're just getting started. Miami, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo have all been destroyed. Millions are dead.

And if Miller can't track down and stop those responsible in seven days, the rest of the world is next.

MORE PRAISE FOR ROBINSON:

"Rocket-boosted action, brilliant speculation, and the recreation of a horror out of the mythologic past, all seamlessly blend into a rollercoaster ride of suspense and adventure." -- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of THE DEVIL COLONY and ALTAR OF EDEN

"With THRESHOLD Jeremy Robinson goes pedal to the metal into very dark territory. Fast-paced, action-packed and wonderfully creepy! Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN and PATIENT ZERO

"Jeremy Robinson is the next James Rollins" -- Chris Kuzneski, NY Times bestselling author of THE SECRET CROWN

"If you like thrillers original, unpredictable and chock-full of action, you are going to love Jeremy Robinson..."-- Stephen Coonts, NY Times bestselling author of DEEP BLACK: ARCTIC GOLD

"How do you find an original story idea in the crowded action-thriller genre? Two words: Jeremy Robinson." -- Scott Sigler, NY Times Bestselling author of ANCESTOR and CONTAGIOUS

"There's nothing timid about Robinson as he drops his readers off the cliff without a parachute and somehow manages to catch us an inch or two from doom." -- Jeff Long, New York Times bestselling author of THE DESCENT

"Jeremy Robinson's THRESHOLD is one hell of a thriller, wildly imaginative and diabolical, which combines ancient legends and modern science into a non-stop action ride that will keep you turning the pages until the wee hours. Relentlessly gripping from start to finish, don't turn your back on this book!" -- Douglas Preston, NY Times bestselling author of IMPACT and BLASPHEMY

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250015167
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	93,128
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jeremy Robinson is the author of bestselling thrillers, including Antarktos Rising, The Last Hunter: Descent, Callsign: Deep Blue and the Jack Sigler Thrillers including Instinct and Threshold. His novels have been translated into ten languages. Born in the coastal town of Beverly, Massachusetts, Robinson grew up on a steady diet of science fiction, and started out his creative career as a comic book illustrator. He now lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children.

Read an Excerpt

1

 

MIAMI, FLORIDA

WEDNESDAY—AUGUST 8, 2012

 

 

“Shit!”

The microwave door flew open and Rachel Carter reached her hand in.

The spoon, left in the bowl of oatmeal and heated along with the cardboard-flavored breakfast, had been shooting off blue sparks when she noticed it. Without thinking, she grabbed the spoon. A millisecond later, her mind registered the stupidity of her action, along with the searing heat. Her arm reacted quicker than her fingers, flailing backward. The spoon soared across the kitchen, weighted with expensive organic oats, and smacked against the stainless steel fridge, where both breakfast and spoon clung like Silly Putty.

Rachel turned on the tap and ran cold water over her pulsing index finger and thumb, her glare fixed on the spoon. It slid slowly toward the floor.

“You okay, Mom?” asked her ten-year-old daughter, Samantha.

“Fine.”

Samantha walked past the fridge, paused, stepped back and looked at the spoon. She turned to her mother with an eyebrow raised. “Fine?”

Rachel forced a smile that communicated a single message: don’t ask.

Samantha shrugged and pulled a chair up to the counter. She climbed onto the chair, then onto the counter.

“Get down from there!”

“I’m hungry.”

“I made you oatmeal.”

“You’re gonna make me puke, too, if I have to eat that sludge.”

With two granola bars in hand, she jumped down from the counter, swung the chair back to the table, and began unwrapping the first bar. Jake, the younger of the two siblings, strode into the kitchen, still in his footie pajamas, which he wore most days. “One of the advantages of being homeschooled,” he was fond of saying. Samantha tossed him the second granola bar and they sat at the table, eating in silence.

Rachel sighed. She couldn’t complain. At least they were eating granola bars and not fast-food egg and sausage sandwiches—which she suspected her husband, Walter, had been sneaking on his way to work. Again. She looked at the microwave clock.

8:30 A.M.

“Walter, you’re going to be late!” she shouted after noticing the time. He worked for a big downtown marketing firm and had a major pitch to make that afternoon.

Walter slid into the kitchen, moving fast. He opened the cabinet, reached up, and took down the granola bar box. Empty. “Ouch. Epic fail.” He looked at Rachel, who nodded toward the kids. Her grin said it all.

He took in their barely contained smiles. “Traitors!” He sighed. “I guess I’ll just get something on the way.”

“I’m sure you will,” Rachel replied, drying off her still-stinging finger.

“What?”

Rachel stared intently at him, trying to convey her annoyance over his bad eating habits, without actually having to spell it out for him in front of the children.

Seeing her expression, Walter laughed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about! Now get out of my head, woman!” He grabbed his bag and headed down the hallway for the front door.

“Love you!” Rachel shouted as the door creaked open.

There was no reply.

No customary “Love you, too.”

No closing door.

No starting car.

She was about to go check on him when Walter slowly backed into the kitchen. He had his iPhone out and was tapping the screen madly. This wasn’t an uncommon activity, but the dire look on his face was far from normal. Rachel held her breath. The kids stopped giggling and watched their father.

“What is it?” she asked. “Did the job fall through already?”

Walter shook his head and kept on tapping. Then he stopped. “This is wrong.”

“What?” she demanded, growing worried. “Is the phone broken?”

He stared blankly down at the screen. “It’s happening everywhere—all over the world. Wait— Crap, I lost our Wi-Fi connection.”

“Walter…”

“The 3G network is down, too.” He met his wife’s eyes. “It must be disrupting cell service.”

She took his face in her hands, willing his stunned eyes to meet hers. “Walter! What are you talking about? What is happening?”

He glanced toward the still-open front door. She followed his gaze and gasped.

The kids hopped out of their chairs to look.

“It’s snowing!” Jake shouted, running for the door.

“No!” Walter jumped forward and snagged his son by the sleeve. He looked at Rachel, his expression alarmed. “Close any open windows. Tape the seams. Use the duct tape.”

She nodded, feeling sick, and they both set off around the house, closing doors and windows. Samantha and Jake went into the living room, climbed onto the couch, and peered curiously out the bay window.

“Why can’t we go out?” Jake asked. “It never snows here. I want to play in the snow!”

“Dad says it’s not snow.”

Jake looked grumpy. “Well, how does he know?”

“Because, silly, snow isn’t red.”

 

Copyright © 2012 by Jeremy Robinson

Editorial Reviews

Relentless pacing and numerous plot twists drive this compelling stand-alone from Robinson (Threshold), though readers should be prepared for a far-fetched premise involving Nazis, a grand-scale conspiracy, and massive iron clouds in the atmosphere. When NCIS agent Lincoln Miller, who’s temporarily stationed at an underwater research station off the coast of Key Largo, Fla., notices an abundance of reddish flakes in the water, he initially believes that it’s illegally dumped waste. But he quickly realizes that it’s much worse—the ocean is littered with dead fish. Once on land, Miller finds a world without oxygen covered in red ash and fresh corpses. Using an oxygen tank to stay alive, he discovers that while the disaster wasn’t global, it may just be the beginning of the end. Thriller fans and apocalyptic fiction aficionados alike will find this audaciously plotted novel enormously satisfying. Author tour. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Jeremy Robinson's latest thriller is massive in scope and brilliantly apocalyptic. Here is a feat of storytelling that shocks as much as it exhilarates. SecondWorld is far from second best.” —James Rollins

“The popcorn novel of the summer has arrived, and Jeremy Robinson delivers an action fest that rivals the best of James Rollins, Clive Cussler, and Matthew Reilly.” —Associated Press

“Another crisply plotted tale from the fertile imagination of Jeremy Robinson. This one has it all, frozen Nazis, UFO crashes, Antarctica, and some really cool science. Plan to hunker down for an all nighter with this one. I did.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author

“Relentless pacing and numerous plot twists drive this compelling stand-alone from Robinson... Thriller fans and apocalyptic fiction aficionados alike will find this audaciously plotted novel enormously satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly

“Gripping, propelled by expertly-controlled pacing and lively characters. Robinson's punchy prose style will appeal to fans of Matthew Reilly's fast-paced, bigger-than-life thrillers, but this is in no way a knockoff. It's a fresh and satisfying thriller that should bring its author plenty of new fans.” —Booklist

“A brisk thriller with neatly timed action sequences, snappy dialogue and the ultimate sympathetic figure in a badly burned little girlwith a fighting spirit...The Nazis are determined to have the last gruesome laugh in this efficient doomsday thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The year 2012 is synonymous with Doomsday, but what if the cause of the chaos to come was. . .Adolf Hitler? Read SecondWorld, a new treat from Jeremy Robinson.” —Steve Alten, New York Times bestselling author

“A harrowing, edge of your seat thriller told by a master storyteller, Jeremy Robinson's Secondworld is an amazing, globetrotting tale that will truly leave breathless.” —Richard Doestch, international bestselling author

“Robinson blends myth, science, and terminal velocity action like no one else.” —Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author

From the Publisher

Instinct is a jungle fever of raw adrenaline that goes straight for the jugular.

New York Times bestselling author of The Atlantis Thomas Greanias

Jeremy Robinson is a fresh new face in adventure writing and will make a mark in suspense for years to come.

New York Times bestselling author of Ancients and David L. Golemon

Jeremy Robinson is the next James Rollins.

New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Thro Chris Kuzneski

Threshold is a blisteringly original tale that blends the thriller and horror genres in a smooth and satisfying hybrid mix. With his new entry in the Jack Sigler series, Jeremy Robinson plants his feet firmly on territory blazed by David Morrell and James Rollins. The perfect blend of mysticism and monsters, both human and otherwise, make Threshold as groundbreaking as it is riveting.

New York Times bestselling author of Strong Enough Jon Land

With Threshold Jeremy Robinson goes pedal to the metal into very dark territory. Fast-paced, action-packed and wonderfully creepy! Highly recommended!

New York Times bestselling author of The King of P Jonathan Maberry

Jeremy Robinson's Threshold is one hell of a thriller, wildly imaginative and diabolical, which combines ancient legends and modern science into a non-stop action ride that will keep you turning the pages until the wee hours. Relentlessly gripping from start to finish, don't turn your back on this book!

New York Times bestselling author of Impact and Bl Douglas Preston

Another crisply plotted tale from the fertile imagination of Jeremy Robinson. This one has it all, frozen Nazis, UFO crashes, Antarctica, and some really cool science. Plan to hunker down for all-nighter with this one. I did.

New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Steve Berry

One of the only survivors of a bizarre holocaust in Miami caused by lethal red flakes falling from the sky, NCIS agent Lincoln Miller must defuse a late-developing plot hatched by the Nazis to reboot the planet with Aryans by killing everyone else. In the initial attacks, Tokyo and Tel Aviv also lose millions of people to the ghastly storms, which deplete the target areas of oxygen and poison anyone who comes into contact with the deposits. Miller, a former SEAL who was underwater when Miami receives its lethal rainfall, becomes the president's go-to guy to save the world. Before he can take on the bad guys, he has to figure out how to keep breathing (he collects abandoned SCUBA tanks). Then he has to evade grim-faced snipers and assassins and survive an assortment of gunshots, car crashes and blows to the head. With sidekicks including a German female Interpol agent whose grandparents were among the scientists participating in hideous Nazi experiments, Miller discovers that thousands of stealth antigravity satellites are hovering up above to capture refined iron and shoot it downward as toxic ammo. His desperate efforts take him from New Hampshire to Europe to Antarctica, and from abject fear to wisecracks. Has he really turned his cell phone into a targeting device for a nuclear missile, he's asked. "That a problem?" he replies. A brisk thriller with neatly timed action sequences, snappy dialogue and the ultimate sympathetic figure in a badly burned little girl with a fighting spirit, this novel doesn't waste time addressing such matters as why the fate of the world rests in the hands of one man. The Nazis are determined to have the last gruesome laugh in this efficient doomsday thriller.

Kirkus Reviews