Aftermath
Authors: Joanne Clancy
Aftermath
By Joanne Clancy
The second
book of The Secrets and Lies Trilogy
Copyright 2012
Joanne Clancy
. All rights reserved.
Kindle Edition
Discover other titles by Joanne Clancy at Amazon:
The Wedding Day
Unfaithfully Yours
Unforgettable Embrace
My Love
And
The Secrets & Lies Trilogy:
Secrets & Lies
, Book 1(Available June 2012)
Aftermath
, Book 2 (Available August
2012)
Redemption
, Book 3 (Available Winter 2012)
Praise for Secre
ts and Lies, the first book of
T
he Secrets and Lies Trilogy
Having read a few previous books by this
author, which I'd also enjoyed,
I have to say that Joanne Clancy just gets better and better every time and as a result this is a polished and well thought-out, intriguing story. It follows the lives of a couple of female main characters. Kerry who's married to Conor and Hope who's married to Niall and it sure makes you wonder how these two, very different ladies are connected and I don't want to spoil anything, but could it be their husbands? The sex scenes were handled really well as I've come to expect, for Joanne Clancy has a knack of making them downright sexy without being 'cringey' which is a major skill in itself. I got stuck into this novel right from the start and raced to finish it, seeing as I was carried away on a simple basis of wanting to find out what happens next. In fact, it's such a page-turner that I nearly missed my doctor
’
s appointment when they'd called out my name, but I was so engrossed in reading it that I didn't hear them until the nurse tapped me on the shoulder and I nearly dropped my Kindle. I can't wait for the second book in this trilogy to be produced and if you read it too then you'll understand, why!
~ Maureen Reil, Amazon
Kerry Darcy is not just "settled" - she is blissfully settled. She has two children, plenty of disposable income and a thriving career as an author to keep her busy while the love of her life, her husband, Conor, is off on business trip after business trip, only able to stay h
ome for short periods of time.
It appears, then, that she would have little in common with young, bubbly Hope Kennedy who is a childless, aspiring actress. But, Hope understands the loneliness Kerry feels because her husband, Niall, is also only able to stay home for short periods of time while he takes busi
ness trip after business trip.
Fortunately, in March of 2011 the Darcys finally manage time for a family vacation on the fascinating island of Japan. On March 11, Conor goes off for a little sightseeing when an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Tohoku. From the moment the size of the 9.0 earthquake was recognized, it took Japan only three minutes to issue a tsunami warning. However it took only 29 minutes for the first waves to reach Japan. Ultimately, over 15,000 were killed, with several thousand more injured. As Kerry and her daughter, Saoirse, fight frantically to escape their crashing hotel, fear mounts as Hope Kennedy cannot reach her husband, who coincidentally is in Japan
for yet another business trip.
As an avid reader, even though this book was superbly written, I actually found the plot a little predictable. However, the characters were so well-crafted that I felt drawn into their lives - their families. Author Joanne Clancy did a superb job of making me care what happened to these women and I anxiously await the second book to discover if Kerry and Saoirse are all right. Even more, I am impatient to discover how Connor and Niall have fared. This is one book where you'll be eager to get your hands on the sequel!
~ M. Walker~ Amazon
Table of Contents
Kerry
Darcy
would never forget the ear-piercing screams that filled the air all around her. There were hideous shrieks as everyone ran for their lives. Men, women and children were dashing everywhere, some even jumped into the pool! There was no concept of running in one direction.
The air resounded with
the
steady, ear-splitting, cracking thunderclaps of frightening noise as
the
buildings began to crumble before the onslaught of the flooding water. One minute Kerry had been enjoying a peaceful, afternoon nap, the next minute she was fighting for her life; that's how fast it all happened.
Suddenly, there was a rush of water that rose up the winding stairs, chasing mother and daughter. Kerry didn't even have a chance to call Saoirse's name. An overwhelming torrent of water came from all directions, engulfing everything and hurtling them out into the furious current. For one split second, before the water separated them, Kerry caught a brief glimpse of her beloved daughter's precious face. Then she lost sight of her...
Nobody could ever have imagined the enormity of the catastrophic
Japanese
tsunami. Kerry had no idea that she was only one of thousands of people who were desperately battling the tsunami's punishing waves and that within a very short time more than fifteen thousand people would be dead and many more would be injured.
Sharp, agonising, stab
bing pains wracked Kerry’s
entire body. It was an all-consuming pain
,
like nothing th
at she'd ever experienced
. She tried to keep her eyes closed, to block out the horror that was surrounding her and from which she didn't believe she could ever escape, but the brutal pain kept forcing her back to consciousness.
Finally, she willed herself to open her eyes, to face reality. She looked up at the sky. It was a perfect clear blue, untroubled by clouds and the sun was shining brightly. For a moment she almost believed that
she was dreaming, trapped in a
horrific nightmare, but then the pain stabbed at her again and she realised
that she was clinging to a tree. H
er bare arms were scratched and bleeding and aching from the iron grip that she had on the tree's solid trunk. Her survival instincts must have taken over because she wasn't even fully aware of the grip that she had on the tree. It was
as if she were
having some sort of bizarre out of body experience, like this horrific nightmare was happening to somebody else and not to her. Part of her was convinced that at any minute she'd wake up and all would be well again in her world, normality would be restored.
Black, oil-slicked muddy
water, choked with debris, swirled around her, engulfing most of her battered body. She felt dizzy and confused. What's happening? Where am I? Where's Saoirse? SAOIRSE!
She called her daughter’s name over and over again, but there was no answer.
Then she remembered running for her life up the hotel
stairs, clutching Saoirse’
s hand, while the powerful water rushed up the steps towards
them, chasing them. Suddenly, t
hey'd been engulfed by water and were brutally hurtled outside into the raging current. For one brief moment just before
the cruel wave separated them
Kerry saw her daughter's petrified face.
“Mom!” she screamed. “Mom! What's happening?”
Kerry couldn't answer her. She didn't know how to explain what was happening to them
. Then she lost sight of her
. Seconds later, Kerry glimpsed her again, whirling in the tumultuous water. They were a few metres apart and Kerry could see a rooftop sticking out of the water.
“Catch the roof! Catch the roof!” she shouted at her daughter, but then she disappeared. She prayed that her daughter had heard her over the roaring noise of the water and she willed her to have grabbed hold of that roof. Saoirse's only hope was that she was a strong swi
mmer. How thankful she was t
hat Conor had insisted on both their daughters learning to swim, in spite of their complaints about having to get up early at the weekends for practice.
“Please God let her be okay,” she prayed like she had never prayed before.
“Saoirse! Saoirse!” she screamed over and over again, but there was no answer. Then, mercifully, she passed out.
It was impossible to tell in which direction the water was streaming. Saoirse knew she needed to grab onto something or else she'd be swept away. The water had swept her past the first roof top that her mother had shouted at her to grab, but luckily, further downstream, she'd seen another one. She reached out her arms and using every last bit of stre
ngth that was left in her exhausted
body, she grabbed the roof's edges and held on tight. Instantly, her legs were sucked underneath by the tearing water, and everything accumulated by the raging torren
t; wood, metal objects,
rubbish, began slamming against her hips and legs. Still, Saoirse hung on, screaming in pain and fear. She was sure that she would be crushed at any moment and for the first time in her young life she really thought she might die.
Thankfully, the powerful pressure of the water began to subside and Saoirse managed to haul herself up onto the roof. She lay there for a few blissful moments, staring at the perfect blue sky and desperately trying to catch her breath. Finally, her breathing began to steady and her heart rate slowly returned to normal.
Out of nowhere,
as quickly as the first terrifying wave had struck, another tremendous wall of water rose up and poured over the roof top. Saoirse lost her grip and was pulled down under the wave. Frantically, she flailed her arms, trying desperately to escape from under the thick layer of filth and debris that lay between her and the surface. It was dark and cold and murky in the water and she couldn't see anything in the pitch blackness that surrounded her. She fought to get some air until she had no breath left in her lungs and she couldn't fight anymore.
Eventually, s
he stopped struggling and the dirty, inky water seeped into her mouth. A wonderful feeling of peacefulness immersed her. She surrendered to the calmness and the overwhelming tiredness.
Suddenly, without any effort on her part, she was flung through the barrier of debris and darkness to the blinding brightness of the surface. She threw back her head and gasped for air, letting each fresh breath fill her lungs. She'd never been so happy in her life to see the sun.
