He lost everything. His dad, his best friend, and the woman he loves.
Ugene and the other test subjects escaped Paragon. They thought they were finally safe. But the battle for freedom is far from over.
When a rouge group calling themselves the Protectorate offers to help Ugene, he worries that his friends are falling into another dangerous trap. The struggle for freedom becomes a desperate fight for survival. Ugene is determined to stand up for what’s right and save the oppressed citizens of Elpis from persecution by Paragon and the Directorate.
The deeper Ugene digs, the more he uncovers about the Directorate’s sinister secrets, the Protectorate’s true goals . . . and the dangerous game he is about to play.
It’s time for the deception to end. It’s time for the truth to finally come to the surface. And it’s time for everyone to finally learn that being Powerless isn’t weakness.
Fans of Powerless, The Testing, Hunger Games and the Maze Runner will crave this world of iniquitous secrets, intrigue, and desire to find a place in society.
Divinic. Somatic. Psionic. Naturalist. Who will you be?
Having a superpower is ordinary. Your Power determines your job, social class, and future success.
But Ugene doesn’t have a Power. The only thing special about him is that he isn’t special at all. Ugene is Powerless.
So when the most prominent biomedical research company in the city offers Ugene a solution, he jumps at the possibility to be ordinary. All he has to do is agree to allow them to use him in their research. But the longer he stays at the research facility, the more he realizes something isn’t right.
Friendships are forged. Trust is broken built and broken. And everything Ugene thought he understood and believed is called into question.
Who can Ugene trust in his search for answers? What is he willing to sacrifice for Powers?
5 F U N F A C T S A B O U T S T A R R Z . D A V I E S
1 /Starr is short for Starrburst, her given Native American name.
2 / Starr is a big fan of cheesy puns and 5th grade humor and will often laugh at her own jokes before anyone else. Ex: What’s ET short for? Cuz he’s got small legs!
3 / Starr’s favorite quote is from Batman Begins (of course, a superhero!): “It’s not who you are, but what you do that defines you.” She tries to live by this ideology.
4 / Starr loves to fantasize about who would star in a film as her characters. In fact, she sometimes “casts” actors on her social media feeds by posting pictures. After seeing Detective Pikachu, no one else but Justice Smith would satisfy her as Ugene.
5 / If she were to choose a superhero whose personality is most like her own, Starr would be Spiderman—nerdy, awkward, and witty, but always eager to do the right thing to help others.
STARR Z. DAVIES is a Midwesterner at heart, and lives in Wisconsin with her husband and kids. From a young age, Starr has been obsessed with superheroes like Batman and Captain America, which inspired her novel, ORDINARY. If Starr had a superpower, she would be an Empath, because she is an emotional sponge and easily relates to how others feel.
While pursuing a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, Starr gained a reputation as the “Character Assassin” because she has a habit of utterly destroying her characters both emotionally and physically.
In her free time, Starr loves watching Doctor Who or anything with superheroes, reading books (duh!), writing about her favorite fantasy stories (Song of Ice and Fire, Mistborn, The Wheel of Time), and staring out the window as she dreams up more stories. Oh, and sometimes she steps out the door.
SHANNON MUIR will be appearing at the LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS April 23rd, 2023, from 2 to 4 PM. Come meet her at the Sisters in Crime/LA Booth #360, where limited copies of DOC AND SALLY as well as past […]
From the publisher’s description… In July of 1955, JUSTICE Magazine printed a story by Charles Boeckman called “A Hot Lick for Doc,” featuring a skid row bum named Jim “Doc” DeFord and a woman whom he befriends named Sally Garcia set in […]
Shannon Muir appeared as one of the special media guests at VOLTCON 2022, where she co-presented several panels on the animated series with LET’S VOLTRON PODCAST co-host Greg Tyler. These panels were recorded by Pete White and available on his YouTube channel. […]
