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MAX BEETLE AND THE MAGNIFICENT MUTANTS

edited by JoJo Zawawi CHAPTER 1 begins BUG KILLING The xenomorph took a direct hit and exploded into globs of baby poop yellow and slime green that splatted onto the padded walls of the transit tunnel. Max spun around and let loose at another giant bug coming at him with blinding speed, scrabbling along the ceiling. It burst as it took the hit. Max dove down the access tube tumbling to the deck below, where he rolled up into a kneeling position and steadied his aim at a spider the size of an armored tank. He waited until the very last moment, until it was so close he could see the bristling hairs on its legs. It rose up for the attack, exposing the blood red mark on its belly. It aimed its beak at Max’s heart. Max imagined it driving into his chest to release the deadly venom. He pulled the trigger but nothing happened. He was out of time. He could smell the thing as it dropped on him and the room erupted with alarm bells. “Max Beetle, I told you to get yourself down here for breakfast." "Coming.” "I can hear that game, Max. I asked you—” "Sorry, Mom. Coming.” It killed him to leave the enemy in the lead. Now all day he’d have to think about lying under that huge hairy radioactive wiggling squiggling suffocating body. His only consolation was that his mom had made bacon for breakfast.		Max Beetle is 12, short and has never won a fight. There is every possibility he won’t survive long enough to reach eighth grade. He is the most unlikely of heroes. He lives with his mom and dad and his baby sister Charlie. He is a decent gamer and loves anything that has to do with aliens, outer space, giant spiders, robo crabs and landscape devouring rhinos from Nonedar. His best friend is Frankie Bone, the grandest girl that ever sucked air and an all-conference soccer star. With only two more weeks left to the end of school suddenly things get weird. A stranger has appeared in the neighborhood. When he abducts Frankie, Max and an unlikely band of losers set out to rescue her. MAX is available on Kindle and Amazon. Copyright 2011 Suzanne Kehde