Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host David
Pereda and his new book, “Freaking Fast”!
For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with David
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
Freaking Fast
by David Pereda
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GENRE: Futuristic YA Action/Adventure
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BLURB:
The
city is Asheville, North Carolina, and the year is 2066. As renowned
mathematician Alexandra Martin travels in her self-driving car to assassinate
the love of her life, she reminisces about how they met and fell in love fifty
years earlier in middle school when she was a thirteen year old poor math whiz
and he a wealthy teenager. Alex recounts her struggles to be admitted to the
best private school in the county, her happy teenage years running track, and
her close relationship with three handsome and charming boys: Xavier, the
intellectual; Andrew, the golden boy; and Vitali, the suave foreigner. One by
one, she visits the three boys of her youth, now successful professionals in
their sixties, one of whom is her intended victim.
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EXCERPT TWO:
13-14 Girls 200m Race, Raleigh, North Carolina
2016 State Championships
I
turn for home and here I am, behind the KK twins again, like a piece of bologna
in a sandwich. Katosha is two meters ahead to my right, and Kashandra is half a
step behind her to my left. I don’t notice any of the other runners; I figure
they are all eating our dust.
My
heart sinks. I prepared so hard for this moment, eating the right foods,
controlling my weight, forcing myself to train every day, giving up all sweets,
even my favorite raspberry-filled chocolates, and for what? I’m going to lose.
My
stride slows, caused by my despair, and the KK twins gain a little more on me.
My dad’s voice booms inside my head. ‘Keep those legs pumping, Alexandra! Don’t
decelerate. You’re still in the race!’ My dad only calls me Alexandra when he’s
angry with me. His
words
give me a new surge of energy, and I pick up maybe a foot on the twins. We are
about ninety meters from the end. People in the stands are waving and
screaming. The sun is a ball of fire overhead, and the temperature is close to
one hundred degrees in Raleigh, but I don’t care. The three of us are breathing
hard. Katosha sounds like a tractor, full of energy and power.
My
father’s voice screams inside my head again. ‘Stride length and turnover rate,
Alex. Your stride is good. Your turnover rate is not. Move those legs faster!’
I
make a superhuman effort and try to move my legs faster. Kashandra and Katosha
do the same. I can hear the click-click-click of our spikes beating on the
steaming orange track like machine gun fire.
Down
we go: click-click-click. The finish line looms ahead. I can’t lose this race.
I will not lose this race. My immediate future depends on me crossing the
finish line ahead of everyone else, and that means Katosha and Kashandra, my
arch-enemies. They are also
competing
for the same prize I am.
Seventy
meters, sixty-five meters, sixty meters, the click-clickclick is even.
My
thighs are numb. I can’t move my legs any faster. I’ve reached my limit. I have
a stitch on my side, and my ribcage hurts…
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REVIEW:
Dolce also "helped” write this review lol (as she laid on my review notes while I tried to type this review up having to rely on memory instead lol)
This
book was unlike anything I’ve read before!
This
book is about Alex, a 63-year-old, renowned mathematician, who decides that
today she is going to visit the love of her life and kill him. This book takes place in the future, 2066, in
Asheville, North Carolina. Over the
course of the book, Alex reminisces about her teen years and reflects back on
how she got to where she is today. Alex
visits three former lovers from her past, one of them being her intended
victim, and plans to pull off their premediated murder.
This
book was just so different from the usual books I read – and I do mean that in
a good way. It was complex, unique, and
thought provoking.
This
book screams with teen anger and angst while Alex works out her rage throughout
the book. Alex was an awkward math geek
during her teen years and struggled with depression, rejection, and
discouragement until she joined the track team, which became a big part of her life.
I was
very intrigued by all the technology advances that were skillfully thought
out. Such as, the DNA Detection System,
that allows your gun to sniff up DNA and then program that gun to target that
specific person; unlike in today’s technology of aiming and shooting. This was very fascinating and terrifying at
the same time. I thought about how
wonderful this technology would be in the hands of the police and military and
how it could really help make a positive difference on making the world a safer
place. However, then I thought about how
this technology would fare in the hands of criminals and how people wouldn’t
have a fighting chance against it.
There
were several technological progressions listed in this book and obviously by
2066 it’s clear things would be dramatically different. I really liked that the author made many of
those advancements actually realistic and logical. For example, some of those improvements in
the book include robots, DNA collection from air, DNA Detection System (DNA
targeted guns), interstellar travel, flying cars; plus, many advancements in
plastic surgery and medical technology.
We are already moving at warp speed with technological and medical
advancements that many of those things we are currently doing, working on, or
are within reach of – especially within fifty years.
This
book uses math in a unique and beautiful way showing the symmetry and relations
that math plays in our everyday lives.
This
book has several mathematical equations featured throughout the book,
especially since the main character, Alex, is a renowned mathematician. For instance, Alex, even has her own
sprinting formula:
“I move my arms as fast as I can and my
legs follow. It’s still amazing to me how sprinting works: the
faster you move your arms, the faster your legs move. It’s like a
linear equation in two variables, x and y, where x – the arm motion--is the
independent variable, and y – the leg motion--is the dependent
variable. When x moves, y has to move. (Pereda 64).”
I
found it quite interesting seeing all the math connections that interweaved
throughout the story and how they related to real life. I loved math as a kid, but then somewhere
around the teen years it become my worst enemy.
Now as an adult, my job as a financial/compliance auditor is, well,
completely math based lol. As an adult I
see math pretty much everywhere and it surprises me how much we end up using it
every day. Although, I remember so many
times thinking in school, “when are we ever going to use this in real life?!”
and I think back to, “I don’t need to know how fast those trains where going to
get to x,” lol. Yet, there really is so
much that I do use and am thankful for my all my math teachers putting up with
me lol. And, “YES, Mr. Brown, I do too
have a calculator with me everywhere I go LOL!!!”
The
author’s writing is strong and vividly detailed. There were a few times I found myself caught
up in the story. One particular passage
really stuck with me:
“I glance down at the woods streaking
below me. They mirror exactly what I’m feeling – serenity and
peacefulness on the outside, and a raging chaos inside. In that dense
foliage, the struggle for survival goes on. (Pereda 158).”
It
just gave me chills reading that passage.
It beautifully described a feeling that I think many of us have felt but
may not have been able to put into words – or at least any words like that. A motion of trying to look and remain calm
while screaming inside. It just captured
the sensation perfectly.
I
really liked that the author kept throwing out thought provoking questions and
making you think of the big picture.
Unfortunately,
there are a bit of confusing passages during all the time travel jolts. It gets complicated going between the current
time setting of the book, 2066, and when Alex is reflecting back to her teenage
years, fifty years previously, in 2016.
This caused me to have to reread some sections which got a bit
frustrating at times.
This
book has so much to offer its readers and it’s not just for young adults. This book is full is action, adventure, intrigue,
mystery, suspense, excitement, adrenaline, fantasy, futurism, technological
advances, love, romance, friendship, second chances, forgiveness, new
beginnings, and so much more.
There
are some exciting twists and turns and unexpected moments that will keep you
guessing!
All
in all, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone interested
in reading an exciting, intriguing, interesting, futuristic, young adult, action,
adventure book!
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R19UOCQESHJSMA
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AUTHOR BIO:
David Pereda is
the award-winning author of nine novels, including Havana Blues and However
Long the Night, as well as the Havana Series of thrillers featuring the dashing
Doctor Raymond Peters and the beautiful but deadly Cuban assassin Marcela. He
has traveled to more than thirty countries and speaks four languages. Before
devoting his time solely to writing and teaching, David had a successful
international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he
worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru and Qatar, among others.
A
member of MENSA, David earned his MBA from Pepperdine University in California.
He earned bachelor degrees in English literature and mathematics at the
University of South Florida in Tampa.
He
lives in artistic Asheville, North Carolina, with his youngest daughter Sophia,
where he teaches mathematics and English at the Asheville-Buncombe Community
College. He loves sports and is an accomplished competitor in track and
show-jumping equestrian events.
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CONNECT WITH DAVID:
Website:
Email:
davidpereda@aol.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
The Book Depository:
BAM! Books-A-Million:
Smashwords:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
David will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to
a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
