First published 2025
The prison sits on cursed ground where enslaved people once died in agony. Built as a rehabilitation center in the wilderness, it has failed for decades to reform anyone. Now the facility prepares to close, but the warden introduces a final twisted experiment. When the full moon rises, guards unlock every cell and arm themselves with rifles. The inmates scatter into the night, each man desperate to reach freedom beyond the prison walls. Some will fall to bullets fired by their captors. Others will face the unknown terrors that lurk in the darkness outside. Every prisoner must choose between the familiar violence of guards who know their faces and the mysterious dangers of the wild. Ana Paula Maia crafts a stark tale of institutional brutality and the human capacity for cruelty that lives within systems designed to contain it.
Genres: dystopia, crime, horror, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: escape, survival
Setting: Africa
Period: 21st-Century
112 pages · Paperback · Charco Press
Content warnings: graphic-violence, violence