Daeios: 140 Feet Down
by Colleen Eccles Penor
Genre: Dystopian Thriller
They believed Daeios would be a safe haven.
They were wrong.
Fleeing apocalyptic weather, a young survivalist woman and her family seek safety deep underground. But a new danger awaits them.
When the leaders of the shelter announce their plans to repopulate the earth using all fertile females, Shea knows she will be forced to become a breeder. Horrified at her impending fate, Shea must make the gut-wrenching decision whether to breed with an elderly, sadistic man and bear his child, or to fight the breeding, knowing that defiance will endanger her life and that of those she loves most.
A dystopian thriller with overtones of The Handmaid’s Tale, Shea’s chilling story will appeal to readers with an interest in family and survival.
Contains mature situations and language.
The
sisters assemble behind me to observe the results in the mirror, looking only
at me, as if their reflections weren’t showing in the looking glass. They
exclaim at my beauty and declare my makeover a success. I see a deranged Barbie
doll with small boobs. Maybe they’re too flat to be called boobs. They turn me
in the chair with a small mirror in my hands so I can see the back of my
hair—it’s pretty in curls, and has grown a few inches since we came here. They
beam at me, they caress me, they play with my hair, they gloat over the
results. All except Mother. I catch one glimpse of her face in the mirror.
She’s not elated or disapproving of my appearance—her face is etched with
angst. She disappears again behind the bevy of women, but I’m reassured that she’s
here.
The
women seat me in a plush, high-backed white chair that reminds me of a throne.
I’m facing a mirrored door opposite the one through which we arrived. It surely
contains the Breeding Room. Has my seed-bearer, or perhaps all of the Elders,
been watching the entire time? The sisters form a ring around me, holding
hands, their eyes closed, with peaceful smiles on their faces. I wish I could
see Mother.
The
ladies begin a prayer, in unison, that I’ll be fruitful, that my womb will be
accepting of the seed-bearer’s sperm, that I may have many babies in the name
of God and Daeios. That I’ll maintain my health and that of my children. They
repeat themselves and repeat themselves, and after a while, the prayer becomes
more of a musical chant filled with resonant voices. The sisters sway from side
to side, and it’s as though they will transport me from the throne to the other
side of the door with their voices alone.
The
chanting stops abruptly, and two women drop from the circle to take my hands
and help me rise from the throne. Robe Lady slips in to remove the robe. The
women get behind me and drive me toward the door, giving me a moment to admire
my lithe body in the full-length
mirror one last time
before it becomes distorted with pregnancy. I look prepubescent with my labia
shaved and my almost nonexistent boobs. I drink up every line of my face and
body. When will I see my reflection again?
“Off
you go,” Sister Leah says as she scans a key card to open the mirrored door. As
she holds it open for me, the women exclaim, “Bless you, Sister Shea! Bless
you!”
They
push me through the door with soft hands on my back and ease the door closed
behind me.
Daeios: 140 Feet Down is one of the best books I think I
have ever read. It pulled me in from the first page and I don’t think it let go
when I turned the last page. No this is one book that will stay with me for a
very long time. I will not forget it for many years to come. Daeios: 140 Feet
Down kept me on my toes as I followed Shea and her family as they fought the
weather that was trying to destroy the world and them with it.
Daeios: 140 Feet Down opens with a young girl in college
living on her own when her mother calls her for help in locating her brother
Jace. Jace is hooked on a drug called gloss and is out in the rain. Shea’s
mother, father and sister Maya are on their way to safety a 140 feet down to a
place called Daeios. Daeios is a placed created by the church where people who
had brought their place could go to be safe from the weather.
In Daeios things are not as they appear and it doesn’t take
Shea and her mother long to figure out that things seem suspicious and not
quite right especially when people are banished and start to die under
suspicious reasons. They are hiding something in Daeios but what?
When the breeding farm starts Shea is not sure how she is
going to deal with it when it becomes her time to breed. Will she comply to the
elders rules or will she fight back and put her families lives in danger and
even cause herself to be banished or punished?
Daeios: 140 Feet Down is an intense and fast paced read that
is filled with suspense, deception and betrayal to keep the pages rolling. It
also has rape and torture for those who are unable to read this. Daeios: 140
Feet Down is a story that shows just how easy it would be to bring people into
the fold and brainwash them into believing whatever they choice to make them
believe.
Daeios: 140 Feet Down is a story that I would love to see on
the big screen one day as it reminds me so much of The Handmaid’s Tale. If you
like books, TV shows or movies like The Handmaid’s Tale then I highly recommend
Daeios: 140 Feet Down. One click yourself a copy today!
Colleen Eccles Penor wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, The Rubber Ducky, when she was seven, and sold it for 25 cents, keeping 100% of her royalties. She's a United States Army veteran who served as a military police officer, where she learned survival skills and the use of multiple weapons, skills needed by the characters in DAEIOS: 140 FEET DOWN. This is her debut novel.
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1 comments:
Thank you so much for your positive and thoughtful review! May I quote it, or parts of it, giving you credit for the review?
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