TITLE: ADULT
GENRE: SECRET
Damon looked down from the rooftop into the alley below. Shadows were spreading over the ground as the sun fell behind the tall buildings all around him. He listened intently; sure that he had heard something unusual. This close to the City, its sounds drifted into the Ruins in a never-ending hum, but he had trained his ears to ignore the incessant droning and focus on particular sounds. There – just around the corner. Something is going down, Damon thought as he tried to move quickly yet quietly.
He threaded his way over the rooftop between piles of garbage, broken down machines, discarded trash, and other detritus. Mindful of his training, he could hear his mentor’s voice in his head:
Keep focused on your target, but never forget that threats are everywhere, do NOT let someone get the drop on you because you were preoccupied.
Damon smiled as he thought of Andrea and her oft-repeated admonishments.
Thriller? Maybe. The capitalization of "City" and "Ruins" throws me a little and then I'm leaning toward fantasy or something dystopian.
ReplyDeleteUrban Fantasy
ReplyDeleteThe foreboding about the ruins close to the city makes me think fantasy
Fantasy
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I don't say urban fantasy is because of City and Ruins -- capitalization like that reminds me of traditional fantasy.
Sci Fi?
ReplyDeletecapitalized "City", "Ruins", his training
Dystopian
ReplyDeleteThe Ruins and City are capitalized and the trash and machines mentioned made me think this might be a post-apocalyptic setting.
Scifi.
ReplyDeleteThe first paragraph has a distinctly fantasy feel to it, but the presence of broken machines on the rooftop swayed me to scifi. Probably dystopian.
Dystonpian
ReplyDeleteRuins outside the city.
Superhero? Waiting for people who might get the drop on him on a rooftop.
ReplyDeleteSci fi.
ReplyDeleteDystopian
ReplyDeleteThe Ruins out side the City, the shadows of tall buildings, the garbage piled up. I don't know if it is Sci Fi or fantasy dystopian.
I am intrigued and would keep reading.
I'm going with dystopian because of the ruins and the City references.
ReplyDeleteDystopian
ReplyDeleteThe mention of threats and training says something bad is going to happen soon, so I expect it to be a thriller, but the Ruins push it into a dystopian arena.
Dystopian
ReplyDeleteBetween City of Ruins and the discarded machinery, this seemed like a dystopian sci-fi.
Dystopian, but I had a hard time putting myself in the scene. If garbage is stacked so high it reaches the rooftops, that's a lot of trash. I can't picture it. Good luck, Sarah
ReplyDeletescience fiction
ReplyDeletepossible dystopian because of all the discard garbage everywhere, but mainly scifi because he seems scientifically enhanced to me.
Post-Apocalyptic Thriller--
ReplyDeleteThe names are familiar/common, so they seemed connected to this world. But, the world has been 'trashed' and divided into 'City' and 'Ruins,' which points to futuristic/post-apocalyptic.
Dystopian. Mention of City and Ruins and the menacing tone/setting. Could also be Sci-fi but nothing confirms that yet.
ReplyDeleteDystopian
ReplyDeleteYou mention the city, ruins and piles of garbage. The abandoned machinery feels dystopian.
Science Fiction.
ReplyDeleteDystopian
ReplyDeleteThe city and the ruins. As a name, Damon might suggest paranormal, but he does nothing supernatural in this sample.
Dystopian/post-apocalyptic. Really curious about this. It's labeled Adult, but since the main character has a mentor it feels more YA, and the language is very adventurous. Could also be paranormal, because of the focus on shadows and alleys and keen hearing, but that could fit into Dystopian just as easily. Definitely curious about where this goes.
ReplyDeleteScience fiction.
ReplyDeleteMore internal sensation would help: heart beating faster, muscle tension or the lack of it, etc. And this sound--what does it sound like?
fantasy - "something unusual happening near the ruins" made me think magic.
ReplyDeleteDYSTOPIAN/POST-APOCALYPTIC
ReplyDeleteThe Ruins, the piles of garbage, the broken down machines, and the watchfulness hinting at danger. It could be something-punk or another type of sci-fi as well, but post-apocalyptic is my first guess.
POST-APOCALYPTIC
ReplyDeleteIt felt like fantasy for a while there. I'm slightly skeptical about the world-building (mostly because of turns of phrase like "going down" which are decidedly modern), but intrigued enough to keep reading.
Urban fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI was on the fence on this one, because the landscape sounds very dystopian. But 'Damon' sounds so much like demon, and the idea of some kind of trained group led me to think more urban fantasy.
Science Fiction
ReplyDeleteI was going to say Dystopian because he mentions th "City" rather than just "city" or Manhattan or something. There are "Ruins," also capitalized. But then, there are broken-down machines among the garbage... makes me picture an industrial future.
Apocalyptic SF/F
ReplyDeleteWhich probably really isn't a genre. I'm thinking it's the future after the apocalypse, and he's some kind of superhero, who'll battle the bad guys, who may be people, but who could just as easily be werewolves and vampires and zombies.
DYSTOPIAN
ReplyDeleteI settled on DYSTOPIAN but also debated urban fantasy. Tough call. He does have a superhero vibe as well.
Dystopia
ReplyDeleteruins, running across rooftops toward a target, piles of garbage and broken down machines, and a female mentor among other clues.
Nice opening. I'd keep reading.
Thank you all for your comments, I didn't realize how much fun this would be!
ReplyDeleteThe genre is...SCIENCE FICTION!
If I may - this opening is deliberately dystopian, but it's misleading. The character lives in a "dystopian" place, but his world grows immeasurably when he discovers the rest of the world (and galaxy!). He becomes a super-soldier, so the superhero vibe is accurate as well.
If you're interested, the book is on Amazon: Shedding the Demon by Bill Denise