VBT# XX - KH LeMoyne

Today's Author Spotlight is KH LeMoyne and the book XX - Which is Book #1 in a new Series titled "Phoenix". This is part of the Book Lovin Bitches Ebook Tours.

Synopsis: XX - Book #1 The Phoenix Series - KH LeMoyne- April 2011

2178AD – From the ashes of destruction rises the new rule of the Regents, leaders of mankind’s new evolution. And a reminder of man’s darkest instincts.

CODE NAME: PIPER.

Analena Maresco’s cyber-enhanced arm gives her an edge, a weapon to rescue children held as organ replacements for the governing Regent’s personal use. Supported by the renegade network and augmented by her unique skills, Analena straddles the line between rebellion and anarchy. To save the children, she risks both. With an extraction too difficult to handle, Piper needs more than remote assistance. She needs the presence of the shadow entity at her back.

CODE NAME: ONYX.

Trace Boden, a former Regent surgeon, hides in the city ruins beneath the New Delphi Capital super structure. Providing medical advice, instruction and supplies via the Down Below renegade cyber network, he operates in anonymity, slowly paying back the debt for his part in the Regent’s atrocities. Yet, Piper’s call is one Trace can’t refuse. Exposed to save a child, he risks everything in a confrontation with Analena Maresco, the woman who can destroy his life forever.

Nowhere to hide, will the secrets Analena and Trace share forge a bond to combat the Regents reign of terror or cripple them both?

XX is a book that combines a Dystopian World with CyberPunk and reminded me a tad of Equilibrium and Ultraviolet with a hint of Aeon Flux.

Author Bio:

KH LeMoyne writes romance: fantasy, futuristic and paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her wonderful husband. Much to her dismay, she rarely encounters a supernatural being other than on paper.

Scavenger Hunt:
For all those following the Scavenger Hunt Clues from Blog to Blog, The Ninth word to collect is :
Code

Guest Post:

What’s in a name?

My characters in XX: Phoenix Book 1 are named Analena Maresco and Trace Boden. No deep meaning there. However their codenames in this 2178 A.D. cyberpunk/ futuristic story are PIPER and ONYX. If you don’t like the names blame the characters. They picked the names out.

No seriously, I did pick out the names and with specific reasons. The reader finds out pretty quickly that PIPER uses the underground network of Down Below, beneath the city structure of New Delphi, to seek out children used in the Detention camps and rescue them. I admit that her loose connection to the Pied Piper is a little twisted around from the original tale. Analena’s reason for her dangerous missions are all about saving and nurturing her collection of orphaned and abused children. A depiction of her as the leader of her wayward group correlates fairly well with her objectives. I won’t even debate what happened to the original band of children led away by the Pied Piper of the fable. I’d like to believe they survived somewhere, safely, if missing their families.

The codename ONYX has a little deeper meaning, but Trace Boden has a darker past than Analena. They share the fact that neither of their fates were of their own making, but Trace’s whole existence is about reparation. According to superstition “wearing Onyx made one agreeable, persuasive, and prudent yet bold. It brought God's favor and bestowed the power to vanquish enemies and acquire riches.” Nothing defines Trace more than vanquishing the horrors of the past, one bold and painful mission at a time.

The other codenames in this story, and in the series, are definitely reflections of the characters as well. This is a society where people are at risk if they share too much of their personal lives. Unless you have the power status of a Regent, not even wealth will save your loved ones from the wrong kind of scrutiny. So all the members of the underground network operate under codenames and only a few of them ever have to interact in person or expose their true identities for their missions.

RADAR is the main contact for all the underground members. Also a no-brainer on why he picked that codename. He is keyed into everything going on in New Delphi and Down Below. Puppet master and spy, he is a background character in this story, though he becomes more prominent in book 2, SHEPHERD (coming out later this summer). Radar’s story will be the third in the series.

One of Analena’s oldest surviving kids is nineteen-year-old Aaron. He chooses BBW for his moniker from the stories Analena has recounted to the kids. Later events will just leave him with the codename WOLF, but for now the fairy tale version of the Big Bad Wolf sets the tone for his relative youth and innocence. And sixteen-year-old Hena, will ultimately take on the codename of ORCUS. The reason on that will have to wait for book 2. Don’t you hate when people do that? To be fair, book 2, is coming in one month not six, so it’s not really that cruel.

A final note on names comes from the title of the story: XX – Phoenix Book 1 – 0x7878. For those of you with some computer background, this is the hexadecimal representation of XX. Given that much of machine language is in hex, this is a tiny hint to the story line. The XX also depicts a brand that Analena and Trace bear, each for very different reasons.

I enjoy the layering of meanings and hints in stories, but ultimately the important thing isn’t whether readers can pick these things out. I’d much rather have them like the characters and enjoy the story even if they never make the connections. The names are just an added treat.

Buy XX (Phoenix Book 1): Amazon