Tuesdays For The Taking + Excerpt Tour and Giveaway - The Taking by Kimberly Derting

Welcome to our stop on "Tuesdays For The Taking!" Today we will share an excerpt for The Taking by Kimberly Derting, and a giveaway!

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The Taking
The Taking #1
Author: Kimberly Derting
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction | Paranormal
Released: April 29, 2014

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

EXCERPT FROM THE TAKING:

    I glanced back, but they were gone, the curtains fallen back in place. The only reminder that they’d been there at all was the outline of the boy’s hand. I felt sick, still dizzy, when I heard the door.

    I glanced up just as it opened, and I found myself staring into the man’s intense brown eyes. He didn’t say anything, just gave me that look that people give you when they answer their doors. The look that says, Can I help you?

    Suddenly indignant, I took a step forward, reaching for a door handle I’d turned a million times before. “Are my parents here?” I’d meant to sound forceful, but my voice had a wavering quality that made me sound nervous instead.

    I’m not sure it would have mattered, though. He’d stopped me anyway. “Who are your parents?” he asked, and that uneasy feeling settled deeper.

    I looked once more at the numbers, double-checking, triple-checking them. “This is my house.”

    The little boy appeared between the man’s knees. He had messy blond hair and round cheeks covered in what I could only imagine was jelly. He reminded me of a smaller version of the boy from the gas station, except that this boy didn’t have freckles. Or pants. His chubby legs were white, and his bare feet were wide, looking vaguely like flippers.

    The man moved, pushing the boy back inside and positioning himself between me and the toddler. Like I was a danger, a threat. “Who are your parents?” he asked, his voice slower now.

    His patronizing tone rubbed me wrong. I pursed my lips. “What are you doing here?” I asked, unwilling to give him too much information, and suddenly worried that there was a strange man in my home. Where were my parents anyway?

    The man’s eyes narrowed, and I couldn’t decide if he was studying me, or suspicious, or both. I saw him reaching for his pocket, and my stomach tightened. Behind him, the boy was clamoring to get around his legs. “Me see . . . me see . . . me see . . . ,” he kept repeating.

    When the man’s hand emerged, he was holding a cell phone. “Do you need me to call someone for you?”

    This time when I reached for the handle, I was faster than he was. “No!” I was nearly hysterical now as I managed to push my way past him. The little boy jumped out of the way of the swinging door. “I need you to tell me what you’re doing here!” I searched the entry frantically. “Mom!” I shouted. “Dad!”

The excerpt tour continues over at Cari's Book Blog. To catch up on the excerpt tour start over at Tales Of The Ravenous Reader. Don't forget to pre-order your copy of The Taking on Amazon or Barnes & Noble (links above).

Want a signed copy? The following bookshops are doing a pre-order campaign. Give them a call!

Books Of Wonder

Mysterious Galaxy

The King's English

Blue Willow

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Kimberly is the author of the BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE trilogy, and THE TAKING (coming Summer 2014 from HarperTeen). She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the ideal place to write anything dark or creepy...a gloomy day can set the perfect mood. She lives with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children who provide an endless source of inspiration

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GIVEAWAY! Open to U.S. Residents only.

**Win an ARC of The Taking by Kimberly Derting!**

All you have to do is answer the following question by leaving a comment below, or tweeting using #TheTaking. Winner will be chosen after 24 hours and will be notified shortly after!

Question: Kyra's Dad uses the catch phrase "Go big or go home." What are some phrases that are common in your family? #TheTaking

Example: "A common phrase in my family is 'Where have you been all my life?' We say this to each other even if we've only been apart for several hours :) #TheTaking" (Don't forget the hashtag!)