Meta Man: Mars 900 C: A Meta Man Time Travel Thriller

By Vincent Zandri

 

Travel to Mars is Becoming a Reality! But there are Dangerous Alien Creatures Who Will Kill Us if We Try!

When Casey Smith wakes up from the dead, he finds himself aboard a spacecraft that's bound for Mars. This new metaverse play has him cast in the role of the Security Officer. Soon he finds himself battling an evil force that's a cross between The Thing and the Alien. A nail biter of a serial thriller by New York Times bestselling Thriller Award winner, Vincent Zandri.

Grab your pulse-pounding time-travel copy now!!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vincent Zandri
• Release date: Jul 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223967729

Vincent Zandri

"Vincent Zandri hails from the future." --The New York Times “Sensational . . . masterful . . . brilliant.” --New York Post "Gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting." --Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of Six Years "Tough, stylish, heartbreaking." --Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of Savages and Cartel. Winner of the 2015 PWA Shamus Award and the 2015 ITW Thriller Award for Best Original Paperback Novel for MOONLIGHT WEEPS, Vincent Zandri is the NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and AMAZON KINDLE OVERALL NO.1 bestselling author of more than 60 novels and novellas including THE REMAINS, EVERYTHING BURNS, ORCHARD GROVE, THE SHROUD KEY and THE GIRL WHO WASN'T THERE. His list of domestic publishers include Delacorte, Dell, Down & Out Books, Thomas & Mercer, Polis Books, Suspense Publishing, Blackstone Audio, and Oceanview Publishing. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, his work is translated in the Dutch, Russian, French, Italian, and Japanese. Having sold close to 1 million editions of his books, Zandri has been the subject of major features by the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Business Insider. He has also made appearances on Bloomberg TV and the FOX News network. In December 2014, Suspense Magazine named Zandri's, THE SHROUD KEY, as one of the "Best Books of 2014." Suspense Magazine selected WHEN SHADOWS COME as one of the "Best Books of 2016". He was also a finalist for the 2019 Derringer Award for Best Novelette. A freelance photojournalist, freelance writer, and the author of the popular "lit blog," The Vincent Zandri Vox, Zandri has written for Living Ready Magazine, RT, New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, The Times Union (Albany), Game & Fish Magazine, CrimeReads, Altcoin Magazine, The Jerusalem Post, Market Business News, Duke University, Colgate University, and many more. He also writes for Scalefluence. An Active Member of MWA and ITW, he lives in New York and Florence, Italy. For more go to VINZANDRI.COM

Book preview

Begin your Moonlight journey today with a FREE copy of MOONLIGHT FALLS, the first novel in the Thriller and Shamus Award winning series.

Or visit http://WWW.VINZANDRI.COM to join Vincent’s For your eyes only newsletter today.

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PRAISE FOR VINCENT ZANDRI

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Sensational . . . masterful . . . brilliant.

—New York Post

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(A) chilling tale of obsessive love from Thriller Award–winner Zandri (Moonlight Weeps) . . . Riveting.

—Publishers Weekly

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. . . Oh, what a story it is . . . Riveting . . . A terrific old school thriller.

—Booklist Starred Review

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"Zandri does a fantastic job with this story. Not only does he scare the reader, but the horror 

Show he presents also scares the man who is the definition of the word tough.

—Suspense Magazine

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I very highly recommend this book . . . It's a great crime drama that is full of action and intense suspense, along with some great twists . . . Vincent Zandri has become a huge name and just keeps pouring out one best seller after another.

—Life in Review

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(The Innocent) is a thriller that has depth and substance, wickedness and compassion.

—The Times-Union (Albany)

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The action never wanes.

—Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

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Gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting.

—Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of Six Years

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Tough, stylish, heartbreaking.

—Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of Savages and Cartel.

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A tightly crafted, smart, disturbing, elegantly crafted complex thriller . . . I dare you to start it and not keep reading.

—MJ Rose, New York Times bestselling author of Halo Effect and Closure

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A classic slice of raw pulp noir...

—William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob

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Zandri (is) a veteran wordsmith who executes quality and quantity at superlative levels.

—Book Reporter

Meta Man: Mars 900C 

A Thriller

Vincent Zandri

We will (kill it) and then we will blow it the fuck out into space! – Ellen Ripley, ALIEN

1

Casey Smith is dead.

Correction.

Casey Smith is dead again. He was shot in the chest three times with three bullets that came from a .30-30 rifle that belonged to the famous Old West lawman, Wyatt Earp. When Casey died, he saw something that convinced him a man made of flesh and bone but who lived inside the metaverse as an avatar controlled by artificial intelligence could die a legitimate death and enter into an equally legitimate heaven or hell.

As he lay dying on the hardwood church floor, his ex-wife and one-time love of his life standing over him, a sly grin planted on her face from having double-crossed him yet again, he felt his heart cease to beat, and his brain cease to function. What he witnessed then was none other than a bright white light that gave off not only bright illumination, but also a warmth, and a love so absolute he was convinced that it didn’t come from God, but that it was God incarnate.

Yes, he whispered to himself as he floated toward the light and into God’s hands, it is indeed possible to die in the Metaverse.

But then something else happened instead. Casey Smith, former writer, former bank robber, former killer, and presently a wanted man by both the laws of the physical earth and the pixel-filled world of the digital metaverse, woke up inside a cryo-pod. When the translucent cover that has shielded him and sealed in the gasses that allowed him to enjoy a slumber of more than six solid months automatically opened, the first thought that entered his groggy brain was that bright white light.

It was all a dream, he whispered to himself, his mouth dry, his voice hoarse, his eyes stinging from lack of moisture. Nothing was real.

He heard voices. One or two male voices and one most definitely belonging to a woman. The side of the thick plastic pod dropped, and two or three rubber hoses that were attached to ports that had been medically inserted into his torso and abdomen disconnected. This allowed Casey to swing his legs around and for him to sit up.

He felt the blood circulating in his veins and his body coming back to life. His head hurt a little. When he attempted to stand, he found himself having to stretch his arm out and steady himself against the U.S.S. Explorer’s solid wall. Inhaling a breath, he felt his heart beginning to pump at a normal pace, and his pulse picks up.

He glanced down the short, narrow corridor, and he viewed three people who were dressed just like him. A white jumpsuit outfitted with pockets on the legs and two on the chest. The suits also contained little slits that would access his three ports. Somehow, he knew enough to zip these up. 

Also, like Casey, the others were wearing lace-up combat boots that were not constructed of leather, but instead, a kind of sturdy cloth combined with hard plastic. How he knew so much about his boot construction, he had no idea. Only that somehow, the knowledge must have been downloaded into his brain. 

Captain Bates, Casey said. You feeling okay to fly today?

The fifty-something U.S. Space Force Captain Michael Bates formed a grin.

He said, Not bad for a middle-aged guy who’s been asleep for half a year and has to take a piss that would make a racehorse proud. We’d better make a check on the catheter systems.

This somehow elicited a laugh from Lieutenant Mellissa Fitch.

I don’t care if it’s the year 2135, she said. I get to go first. Lady’s first is still a solid core value in my lexicon.

You would have been laughed out of the Space Force academy more than a century ago, chimed in the barrel-chested, African American Technical Sergeant, Jack Gable. My grandparents are old enough to remember when America went through some sort of crazy period where men were considered women and women were considered men, and whites identified as blacks, and men could even get pregnant. They called it being woke if that makes any sense.

Thank God we got our act back in order, Security Officer Casey said. I’m good with the Lieutenant using the facility first, then the Captain, since he’s got some flying and instrument checking to do, then you, Jack. And yes, make a quick check on the catheter system so that next time we engage in long-term sleep we don’t wake up in puddles of our own pee. He waved everyone on. Hurry up now. Hopefully, I won’t pee my pants in the meantime.

The forty-something Lt. Fitch ran her hands through her short-cropped blonde hair and headed to the single lavatory that serviced the cross-shaped craft.

You’re not going to bother checking our IDs are you, Casey? the tall Captain Bates posed. Because I don’t think the metaverse altered any of our avatars during the flight. Nor do I think anyone would have been capable of sneaking on board while we were cruising through space at close to the speed of light. ‘Course, you’re the security officer in charge, so it’s all up to you.

You really believe that bullshit about this being the metaverse, Captain? Jack said stretching his big arms toward the metal ceiling. Because I think that’s just a stupid ass rumor. Those nuclear machines I maintain downstairs are as real as rain, and if they were to malfunction and explode, our flesh and blood bodies would disintegrate immediately. And trust me, we’d all be real, real dead.

Can’t say I don’t disagree with Jack, Captain, Casey said while opening