The World Next Door

By Maegan Cook

"This is the Way the World Ends..."

In a world so similar, yet different from our own, the year is 1947; and a war in Europe has been raging for over a decade...

In Silver City, Tanya Grey is facing the end of life as she knows it— her mother’s run off, the rent is due, and she has only one way to survive on her own... by selling herself to the highest bidder.

Leonard Stevens is also facing his own personal apocalypse, at the bottom of a bourbon glass. His life lays in shambles in the wake of his wife’s infidelity and abandonment.

Little do either of these sad souls know, that a real doomsday is actually right around the corner...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maegan Cook
• Release date: Feb 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310007231

Book preview

The World Next Door

By Maegan Cook

1: The Lamb

Tanya Grey rode in the plush backseat of a chauffeured town car, staring out the window at the passing bustle of the city her mother had dragged them to six years ago. Silver City, the City of Dreams… a melting pot of peoples and cultures that was the epicenter of society. It was the place to be, a sea of controlled chaos that either lifted you up to the highest ground or drowned you under its weight.

For Tanya, it was the latter. The City of Dreams had quickly turned into the city of nightmares as her mother traded in her job and their bright futures for a never-ending line of men and white powder. She sighed as she stared out the window, nervously twisting her fingers in her skirt.

She didn’t want to do this… but she had no choice. She couldn’t go on anymore without money to live on; soon she’d be out on the streets. She had to be brave, she had to be brave… it became an internal mantra as her fingers started turning blue in the tightly wound cotton of her skirt.

The driver shot her a glance in the rearview mirror. First time, kid?

She glanced away from the window, meeting his gaze in the mirror and nodded before looking away again.

Break open the champagne. It helps some.

Tanya’s eyes roamed over to where the bottle was chilling in the ice bucket built into the console. A shiver ran through her. She met the Driver’s gaze in the mirror again and offered a small smile, but did not move. There was no point; she was beyond help now. She exhaled and then resumed looking out the window. They were in uptown now, and it wouldn’t be long. Her life was about to change forever.

She leaned her forehead against the window glass, her breath fogging the blur of movement beyond. Leo… she felt the tears threatening again as her fingers sought the comforting feel of the smooth, round stud earring in her left ear. " I guess you don’t care about me after all. If