Blood Zero Sky

(Paperback)

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Unprofitables are banished to work camps to pay off their credit. Other tie-men and women look on apathetically. Fair is fair. Everyone knows you shouldn't use more credit than you are worth to the Company. They turn their attention to the next repackaged but highly coveted N-Corp product on the market, creatively advertised on the imager screens that adorn virtually every available flat surface. All the while, their mandatory cross-implants and wrist-worn "ICs" keep them focused on the endless cycle of work and consumption to which they are enslaved.

May Fields--the CEO's daughter--would like to believe she is above all that. Head of N-Corp's marketing team, the young woman who has almost everything anyone could want spends her days dreaming up ingenious ways to make workers buy more of what they already have and don't need. Even before May discovers that the Company is headed for its first loss in thirty years, she is feeling the stirrings of dissatisfaction with the system that has given her everything she's ever wanted . . . except the freedom to be herself.

When she is kidnapped by a member of the Protectorate--a secret order dating back to the American Revolution--May is suddenly faced with the frightening truth of what the Company's greed has done to our most basic human rights. Will she embrace who she is and join the battle to restore America's democratic freedom, or put her blinders back on and return to her safe and passionless life

More prediction than fiction, Blood Zero Sky is a riveting, nonstop, and suspenseful gaze into the looking glass, destined to rise with the zeitgeist of our times to become the anthem of a generation.

Reviews

" Blood Zero Sky by J Gabriel Gates surpasses your average dystopian novel - it is a deeply affecting story with a stirring and timely message."

----Joanne P "bookloverbookreviews.com "

"An intense thriller with a great cast of characters. In my opinion, this is an author to watch out for."

--Krista, CubicleBlindness

"I recommend this book highly to readers that enjoy the works of Max Barry, as I felt a lot of the themes really spoke to my memories of his book Machine Man. When you get frustrated at a lack of world building in other dystopias, you can come revel in Blood Zero Sky."

----Christina "readeroffictions.blogspot.com "

Blood Zero Sky
J. Gabriel Gates. HCI (www.hcibooks.com), $14.95 trade paper (376p) ISBN 978-0-7573-1610-4

Gates (The Sleepwalkers) creates a dystopian nightmare setting of technology and greed for this story, which strongly recalls Patty Hearst's experiences with the Symbionese Liberation Army. The world has been privatized and is owned by N-Corp, often simply called the Company. People are judged on their financial credit scores and workloads, and 'unprofitables' are sent to work camps. May Fields, the daughter of the Company's CEO, is disillusioned with her current life; when she is kidnapped by the secret order known as the Protectorate, she's tempted by their democratic goals. Deeply conflicted as she learns the truth about the Company's motives, May must choose between freedom and slavery. This sometimes preachy social commentary on a society's obsession with technology and possessions is a Brave New World with a consumerist edge. A few places where suspension of disbelief falters only serve to balance the evocative, too-close-to-comfort portrayal of corrupt capitalism. (Oct.)

Reviewed on: 08/13/2012
Publishers Weekly--Publishers Weekly "Publishers Weekly "

"Blood Zero Sky reads like the 21st Century bastard child of Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as directed by Sir Ridley Scott. Set in a very near future, it starkly warns of an all-too-possible future where rampant capitalism and unbridled consumerism have allowed a single corporation to amass all the power in the world... Gates makes you believe this world is not only possible, but [that] it's almost here. [T]his is a human story. A tale of self-discovery, personal transformation, and the sacrifices one can be willing to make when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. This is not a happy book, but it tells a story which is important to tell and is also entertaining. I give it four stars." ----James C Femmer "http: //jamescfemmer.com/2012/09/ "
"Gates's world of corporate corruption and his feisty, unlikely protagonist bring this story to life in the way books should be. It's lively and truthful without placing blame unduly. Wonderful craftsmanship of language with a good plot, this book should be read by all."
----Claire Hirsch "Shelfari "

Author Bio

J. Gabriel Gates is the nationally acclaimed coauthor of Dark Territory, Book 1 in The Tracks series, and the author of the horror novel The Sleepwalkers. A native of Marshall, Michigan, Gates is an advocate for social justice and participated in the Occupy Detroit and Occupy Lansing protests in 2011. His lives with his dog and faithful writing companion, Tommy. Visit him online at www.jgabrielgates.com.