by Inez Ray
First published 2026
Mae Bastet administers medicine to young drone pilots at Buzzard, a private prison operated by Obsityan Corporation in the Sonoran Desert. The former midwife arrived here seven years ago after Arizona Territory authorities convicted her of infanticide for helping women obtain reproductive care. She takes mandatory hormone pills and treats minor injuries among her teenage patients while dreaming of reuniting with her sons. Strange pregnancies start appearing among the drone pilots under her care. Mae discovers that Obsityan has been conducting secret experiments that could bring down the entire corporation. She faces an impossible choice. She can stay silent about what she has learned and hope to see her children again. Or she can act on her medical training and moral beliefs, knowing it might cost her everything she has left to lose.
Genres: dystopia, medical, speculative-fiction, adult-fiction, thriller, social-justice
Vibes: dark, emotionally-charged, morally-complex, tense, thought-provoking
Tropes: impossible-choice, institutional-corruption, moral-dilemma, whistleblower
Setting: Buzzard, Sonoran Desert, Arizona Territory
Period: 21st-century
384 pages · Paperback · Bindery Books
Content warnings: abuse, medical-trauma