Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding by Cynthia Fridsma - horror/thriller/urban fantasy - Since the pandemic, she stayed home. Then they kidnapped her friend.
by Cynthia Fridsma
Genre: horror/thriller/urban fantasy
Publisher: CynhiaFridsma.COM
Date of Publication: November 24, 2021
ISBN Paperback: 979-8773139225
ISBN Hardcover: 979-8779427166
ISBN Audiobook: 978-1669614173
ASIN: B09MJXPCMY
Number of pages: 280
Word Count: 67,415
Cover Artist: Cynthia Fridsma
Since the pandemic, she stayed home. Then they kidnapped her friend.
Since the pandemic, Sybil Crewes hasn’t left home. She stopped her duties as an ATU agent (Anti-Terrorism Unit). But then, she got a disturbing phone call. Her friend, Harry Brown, has been kidnapped, and this forces Sybil out of her house.
While doing so, she uncovers an illegal lab where they created a deadly COVID-19 variant that turns its victims into skinned zombies. She contacts the ATU to resume her duties as an ATU agent to stop the new threat and save the world from its undoing.
Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding is a fast-paced modern horror/thriller novel, and partly based on true events.
An Interview with Cynthia Fridsma
Welcome to JB’s Bookworms with Brandy MulderThanks for having me.
Tell us about your newest book.
Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding tells the story of Sybil Crewes—a former ATU (Anti-Terrorism Unit) agent, living in Boston who hasn’t left her home since the pandemic.
The news is dominated by dirty politics and COVID-19. Businesses are forced to close their doors due to COVID-19. The attack on the capitol—it’s just too much. And then there’s this fear of getting ill. An invisible enemy dominates the world. Places, once filled with laughter are empty. Turning Boston, and so many other cities worldwide into ghost towns. So, Sybil stays in. Until she receives a disturbing phone call. Her best friend, and lover, Harry Brown is kidnapped. This forces Sybil out of her home and resume her duties as an ATU agent to save his life.
Writing isn’t easy. What was the most difficult thing you dealt with when writing your newest book?
Every story starts with research and my book, Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding, is no exception. I collected intel about the pandemic, fake news, and how it affects our daily life. It’s frustrating to find out how many people actually prefer fake news rather than solid information. Or like the time the former president suggested using bleach to kill the Coronavirus. And then the attack on the capitol on January 6, 2021. Shocking news. Still, there are people saying it was staged by the FBI. Really? The most difficult thing for me to deal with is fake news and collecting articles of eyewitnesses dealing with their loved ones ending up in ICU and dying alone anonymously.
Tell us a little bit about your writing career.
My writing career started after a handicap in 2014—I have a tremor in my right hand, numbness in the fingers and pain in my wrist. Before 2014, I was a freelance programmer. Specialized in backend PHP applications (including frameworks) and in Windows programming. Because of my tremor, I had to give up on programming and focused on the things I could do rather than what I couldn’t do.
So, I started to write stories. My first book was published on January 11, 2015.
They say Hind-sight is 20/20. If you could give advice to the writer you were the first time you sat down to write, what would it be?
Hire a professional editor rather than a student.
What was your most difficult scene to write?
That’s a great question. The most difficult scene? To be honest, I didn’t have a difficult scene to write. After collecting intel from news sites and putting all pieces together (fiction and reality) it took thirty-two days to finish my manuscript and send it to my editor, Lee Ann. Though I missed my personal deadline. I wanted to finish the story on Halloween but ended up a day later.
Perhaps, the most difficult scene—when looking at it from the main character, Sybil Crewes—is the betrayal she faced after her debriefing at the ATU.
Are themes a big part of your stories, or not so much?
Yes, themes are a big part of all my stories.
My first book, Hotel of Death (horror/thriller), was the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and a curse that turned the main character Sybil Crewes into a vampire.
My book, The Black Widow (horror/thriller), was the Boston Marathon Bombings on April 15, 2013.
My book, Help (horror/thriller), was about the Holocaust. The genocide of European Jews during World War II and illegal, brutal, unhuman, medical experiments in Nazi death camps.
My book, Vanished (techno-thriller), was a deadly computer virus.
My book, The Lost Planet (Science Fiction), was the pollution and an alien invasion.
My book, Trauma: I hope he rots in hell (a psychological thriller) was about domestic abuse.
And in my book, Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding, it’s the pandemic, COVID-19, and fake news.
What are you working on now?
I’m collecting data for my next book, Pandemic: It’s a Madhouse, a sequel of my current book, Pandemic: Chaos is Bleeding.
In the sequel, Sybil is no longer a vampire. You’d think this will make her happy. But the people she killed back in the days when she drank human blood haunts her. They appear as shadow people before she can see their ghostly presence with blood-gushing wounds from their necks. This new curse drives her nuts.
Meanwhile, Boston is plagued by distrust among its own citizens. Fueled by COVID-19 misinformation and crazy QAnon conspiracy theories to divide people into two groups. The anti-vaxxers, and people who got their vaccinations.
Terrorists stir things up, using cyberattacks and organizing riots throughout the country.
It’s up to Sybil and her friends from the ATU to stop the terrorists in time before they succeed to encourage people to grab their guns to take down the government while Sybil has to face her own demons.
Is there a release date planned?
Not yet. First, I’ve to collect information.
Who is your favorite character from your own stories, and why?
Sybil Crewes. She hates being a vampire, trying to be human. She uses a pincer to clip her fangs and is hooked on liquid silver so she can be more human. She has a pet rabbit named Max, and she drives in a Ford Mustang!
Most writers were readers as children. What was your favorite book in grade school?
Journey to the center of the world.
What are your plans for future projects?
Keep writing, and work on 3D animations (it’s a hobby).
Is there anything you would like to add before we finish?
Yes. I love to read reviews, good or bad. So, if you read one of my books and you liked it, or even if you didn’t, just share it on Amazon or Goodreads. I read all reviews and respect your opinion and learn from them.
Good luck with your newest release, and thank you for being with us today.
Thank you so much for your time. It was great to be here.
Book Trailer:
Excerpt
It felt weird to go unarmed, on a mission unknown, while the navigation calculated the best route from her current location. Whoever captured Harry held all the cards. At the moment, she had no other choice but to follow up on their instructions. She started the car and drove off. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic on her way to the mansion.
Since the pandemic, life was slow. People had more time on their hands, working from home, distracted by their kids and spouse. Eating more comfort food—watching TV all day, or in Sybil’s case, spending time with her pet rabbit, Max, and trying to avoid the news. She didn’t have a TV. Well, she did, but she used her 70-inch display as a monitor. It was connected to a Windows 10 laptop with an external soundcard attached to a Dolby digital surround set. Felicity installed the equipment and showed Sybil how to use her dinosaur cell phone as a remote control for the laptop.
The laptop offered her a safe window to the world. She had online meetings once a week, on Sunday night at eight, and sometimes she watched the news on CNN. Most of the time, she used the laptop to binge-watch streaming media. Prime video, Netflix, Disney Plus, and reruns of her favorite TV shows: Body of Proof, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she loved movies starring Denzel Washington. My life during the pandemic.
She wanted to floor the gas pedal, but then she noticed a police car and she slowed down considerably. The police vehicle turned left at the intersection. She glanced over her shoulder. A truck came into sight, and a few more cars appeared on the street ahead of her. Morning rush hour was about to begin, even though she hadn’t expected it.
Sybil reached her destination in twenty-six minutes after she floored the gas pedal when she reached the outskirts of Boston. She had some time to kill, but she didn’t want to waste it by sitting in her car. So, she explored the area. The mansion didn’t stand out by itself. It was a wooden, two-story building, Victorian architecture style, late 1800s, set in a rural landscape outside Boston, normally a thirty-five-minute drive if she hadn’t gone way above all posted speed limits. Its shingles used to be white at some point.
She exhaled and contacted Vanessa Dogscape—an ATU data analyst, and currently married to her friend and coworker Felicity Walker. Perhaps Vanessa could help her—off the record. She didn’t want to involve the ATU. It took a while before Vanessa answered the phone.
“Sybil. You know what time it is?”
“I’m aware of what time it is. Look, I need your help. Harry’s been kidnapped by—I don’t know who. Anyway, they want me to do some errands.”
“My God!” Vanessa replied in a worried voice.
“I need you on this. But please, keep it off the record. I don’t want to endanger Harry’s life.”
“Sure. How can I help?”
“Perhaps you can pinpoint them somehow and get their location so I can kick some ass?”
“I need more intel before I can do anything,” Vanessa said.
“They contacted me via my cell phone and sent me a text message. Oh, and a picture of Harry’s battered face.” She gritted her teeth at the thought.
“Send the text message and the picture to me. And please activate the ATU app Felicity programmed three years ago for your Windows Phone, so I can tap into each conversation and perhaps ping their location while you talk to them. Are you sure you want me to help you off the record? It’s better to make this an official ATU investigation. At least, let me inform Jack.”
Sybil closed her eyes for a moment. If the criminals found out she had informed the ATU, it’d complicate things. Perhaps endanger Harry’s life. But then again, she sure could use all the help she could get. Otherwise, she wouldn’t bother Vanessa with it. Taking that into consideration, and the knowledge that Jack was a professional, Sybil agreed to Vanessa’s suggestion.
Despite the sun in a clear, blue sky, her body responded with a shiver that ran down her spine. She did not know what to expect as she stood near the abandoned mansion with its weather-beaten, cracked walls covered in pointless graffiti. But she knew she had to go inside as she sat down on her haunches, studying the rusty sword lying in the mud. She took a deep breath before she carefully touched its sticky handle. Blood! Clotted blood.
Her stomach gnawed at the sight. She smelled. It wasn’t human. She stared at the mansion as she heard a strange sound she couldn’t identify. Immediately, her old instincts kicked in—weird sounds coming from an abandoned mansion equals danger. She grabbed the sword in both hands, jumped up, kicked the battered door wide open and ran inside. It was time to act; this was no time to be cautious. Lives were at stake. The wooden planks creaked under her feet as she rushed into the dark hallway. The sound of rasping breathing reached her eardrums when she entered a dark room with just enough light to see the overturned furniture and the bloodstained, fractured walls …
About the Author:
As far back as she can remember, Cynthia Fridsma has been listening to exciting stories told by her mother. She grew up reading books by Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and Philip K. Dick, among others. It was Cynthia’s mother who inspired her to start telling—and writing—her own stories.
Cynthia lives with her husband and pet bunny, Max, in Amsterdam.
Website: https://www.cynthiafridsma.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cynthia_fridsma
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.fridsma
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthiafridsma2534
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