Book Description:
When technology fulfills every
dream, reality becomes a nightmare.
Below the streets of New State,
the undergrounders fight to remain free of the technological control of the
world above. Every night, Yara risks her life fighting New State’s deadliest
weapons, the drones. Half human and half machine, their living half tortured
until everything human is gone, the drones have only one objective. Kill. And
they do it with exacting precision.
Yara is good at her job and
committed to her raids on New State. Until one of those raids brings her
face-to-face with Joshua, a New State citizen who doesn’t quite fit her
preconceived expectations. After a couple of awkward encounters, he shows her
the meaning of hooking up—a computer simulation that allows people to live out
their fantasies—without the complication of emotional entanglements or physical
reality. But what Yara feels for Joshua is very real. And it’s punishable by
law.
As she and Joshua grow closer,
she convinces him to leave New State for her underground cause. But as the
unrest between New State and the underground escalates, and the drones move in
to destroy her world, nothing goes as planned. Families are arrested, loyalties
are strained, and Yara’s forced to choose between her people and her feelings.
The wrong choice could mean the end of her people, and reality could slip
away—forever...
Excerpt
“Hi,” he called out.
Yara’s heart hammered, and
adrenaline coursed through her limbs. She turned to run.
“Wait,” the stranger whispered.
“I won’t turn you in. I’m out here too.” He obviously didn’t realize that Yara
was a rebel. He might not know it yet, but he would soon. Still, he didn’t
sound dangerous. Maybe Yara could take care of him. She had never had to kill
anyone totally human, but she had trained to do so. At this point, she didn’t
think she would need to. The skinny boy didn’t look like a real threat, either.
She turned back toward him and
attempted what she hoped was a look of death and destruction.
Instead of being scared, he
smiled at her and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Even in the shadowy street,
Yara could see the color was a beautiful emerald green. She had a hard time
looking away, until his voice jarred her back to reality.
“I’m Joshua15111,” he said
robotically. “What are you doing out here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Enjoying the night sky,” he
replied, each word clipped and succinct. Unable to make prolonged eye contact,
he looked toward the stars.
“Aren’t you supposed to be hooked
up to an alternate universe, enjoying battle, boobs, or whatever perverted
fantasy you want to conquer tonight?” Yara asked, and then instantly regretted
her words.
“Hey, it’s not like that. You
know how it is.” For the first time, his voice took on a more humanistic
quality. He sounded peeved.
She grunted in response. She
didn’t know anything of the sort.
Joshua15111 looked at her
briefly, quizzically. “Wait, do you know that? Are you one of them? The
rebels?”
Oh no. “What rebels?”
“Are you for real? Everyone knows
about the rebels. You must be one. Are you a rebel? That’s so cool.”
Me and my big mouth. Fear finally
overtook her. Vague ideas about running away from or fighting the stranger
flitted by, but Yara’s feet felt like concrete blocks. She wasn’t even sure
she’d be able to form a coherent sentence if he asked her something about the
underground.
About the Author:
Find out more about Lisa Acerbo here:
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