First published 2023
Loretta Thurwar grips her hammer and counts the matches left before freedom. She competes in Chain-Gang All-Stars, America's most watched and divisive entertainment program. Private prisons stage gladiator battles where inmates fight each other while millions watch via live stream. Winners move closer to release. Losers face death or worse sentences. Thurwar and her teammate Hurricane Staxxx have become crowd favorites through their skill and relationship. Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker fights alongside Thurwar as both partner and lover. Victory means survival and another step toward liberation. Thurwar needs only a few more wins to walk free, but each match demands a terrible cost. The program generates massive profits while prisoners pay with blood and lives. Thurwar must decide whether freedom justifies the violence she commits and witnesses, and whether the system will actually honor its promises to those who survive.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, survival
Setting: America
Period: 21st-century
384 pages · ebook · Vintage
Content warnings: graphic-violence, violence