by Gwenda Bond
First published 2019
Terry Ives sits in a college classroom in Indiana during the summer of 1969, watching the world change around her. While protests rage in Washington and war consumes Vietnam, she refuses to remain on the sidelines. When she learns about a government experiment in nearby Hawkins, she volunteers as a test subject for the project called MKUltra. Unmarked vehicles transport her to a remote laboratory hidden in the woods, where Dr. Martin Brenner administers mind-altering drugs and conducts psychological tests. Terry discovers she's not alone among the test subjects. She meets other volunteers, including a mysterious young girl known only by a number: 008. This girl possesses inexplicable superhuman abilities that defy understanding. As Terry digs deeper into the laboratory's true purpose, she uncovers a conspiracy that extends far beyond simple government research. Dr. Brenner's experiments aim to weaponize the human mind itself. Terry must ally with her fellow subjects to expose the truth and protect those trapped within Brenner's web. The battle she faces will determine not just her own survival, but the fate of children like 008 who have become prisoners of science.
Genres: science-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, action, alternate-history
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: conspiracy, found-family, superhuman-abilities
Setting: Hawkins, Indiana, Vietnam
Period: 1969, Vietnam War
305 pages · Hardcover · Random House Worlds
Content warnings: abuse, medical-trauma, violence