First published 2025
Army CID Special Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor arrive at Camp Hayden, a classified facility buried in the Mojave Desert. Their mission: investigate the killing of Major Roger Ames, chief scientist overseeing experimental combat trials between Army Rangers and autonomous killing machines. The isolated base conducts secret war games that pit human soldiers against lethal robot weapons. Brodie and Taylor discover a community fractured by pressure and paranoia. The camp commander drives his personnel beyond breaking points. Rangers crack under desert isolation and drug abuse. Research scientists harbor competing loyalties. Everyone becomes a suspect in a place severed from outside contact. The agents must decode layers of lies to identify who murdered Major Ames and why. They uncover that Camp Hayden serves purposes far beyond its stated mission. The facility's true agenda involves next generation weapons that could reshape modern combat. As Brodie and Taylor dig deeper, they confront questions about artificial intelligence in warfare and the human cost of technological progress.
Genres: science-fiction, military-fiction, mystery, thriller, action, artificial-intelligence
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Camp Hayden, Mojave Desert
Period: Contemporary
384 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: violence