Blog Blast: Giveaway & Excerpt - The Zone by Stu Jones

The Zone by Stu Jones

Series: The Zone #1
Publisher: Dropship Publishing
Publication Date:  July 11, 2023

 

BARNES & NOBLE 

About the Book

Blade Runner meets Judge Dread and The Running Man in this no-holds-barred cyberpunk thriller from Dragon Award Nominee Stu Jones. Start this neon-soaked thrill ride today!

In a tech-addicted dystopia, a young cop struggling to survive is forced into a high-octane gladiatorial grudge match, where sinister corporate overlords pull the strings and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance.

ONE WAY IN. NO WAY OUT

In the super-city of Neo Terminus, millions of tech-addicted fans surround a walled-off inner-city wasteland to watch nano-boosted gladiators called Enforcers fight to the death in the Conglomerate-controlled event known as The Zone. Enforcers are promised wealth and celebrity—if they survive.

Officer Chance Griffin fights to clean up the mean streets of Neo Terminus, and scrape together enough money for his infant son’s vital surgery. Driven by his family’s need, Chance signs on as an Enforcer for The Conglomerate.

As Chance rises to the top of the Enforcer ranks, The Glom’s mysterious Founders coerce him into competing in the greatest Zone trial ever conceived. Chance knows he’s the favorite to win. He believes his family is safe. He believes his son will get the medical care he urgently needs.

Chance is wrong.

Too late, he uncovers a plot by The Glom to rig the trial and enslave the citizens of Neo Terminus, ensuring obedience—forever.

Blinded by fame and fortune, and used as a pawn by the corporate machine, Chance resists. But he is about to discover that every deal with the devil has its price…

THE ZONE BY STU JONES EXCERPT

Up the covered stairs, Chance ran his wrist chip under the domed scan-droid and trudged onto a platform littered with garbage and a handful of people with nowhere else to sleep. Dirty and unmoving, they lay under piles of trash in the deepening cool of night. Could be worse. I could be them, Chance thought. He checked his watch—10:45 p.m. Another sigh escaped him.

“Got any Feels?” A bum sat up regarding Chance with a purple-veined face, smelling of cheap wine. “Or Krystal?”

“No, sir. I don’t do drugs.” Chance eyed the man.

“What about T’s?” the bum said.

“Nope.”

“Thasa jakkin’ lie,” the bum slurred. “I know you got T’s.”

Chance scowled, flicking his eyes at the man. With a whine, the train eased into the station behind him, colored graffiti twisted in ropy bands down the length of the segmented cars.

“What do you want me to say?” Chance said. “Of course, I’ve got T’s. Just none to spare. Get lost.”

“You don’t hafta be an azzole about it,” the bum grumbled.

“Yeah? Well, here’s a tip—Panhandling 101. Don’t insult the people you’re begging from—it’s bad form.” Chance stepped onto the mostly empty train. The bum gave him the finger as the doors closed. Chance shook his head and found a seat. NTPD wasn’t even running off the bums anymore. Not high enough on the list of priorities.

The light rail shoved forward, picking up speed with an electric whine.

Chance leaned back into the smooth plastic bench seat, deep in thought. The clouded windows of the rail car streaked with droplets of rain, and the massive breadth of his city opened up before him. Steam rose in hazy pillars above moldering buildings, run-down apartment towers, the bars, cafés, and clubs with their flashing video signs and holographic displays touting Girls, Guns, Feels, and Sony’s Latest in Cybernetic Enhancements. Ahead, a giant holographic billboard with digital exploding fireworks showcased a recent win by one of The Zone’s Enforcers—a powerful woman in sleek purple and gold tactical armor marked by the call sign Takedown.

Chance gave a cynical chuckle. The opium of the masses.

He scanned the fetid neon cityscape. A darkness, a murky desperation, hung in the air, the atmosphere stale with poverty, oppression, and regret. Chance loved his city. It was all he’d ever known. But he’d grown weary, disillusioned by the sheer unending squalor that wormed its way into every good thing.

How is it possible to find hope in a place like this?

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About the Author

A veteran law enforcement officer, Stu Jones has served in patrol, narcotics, criminal investigations, as an instructor of firearms and police defensive tactics and as a team leader of a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is trained and qualified as a law enforcement SWAT sniper, as well as in hostage rescue and high-risk entry tactics. Recently, Jones served for three years with a U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force - hunting the worst of the worst.​

A Dragon Award Nominee, Jones is the author of multiple sci-fi/action/thriller novels, including the multi-award-winning It Takes Death To Reach A Star duology and Condition Black, written with co-author Gareth Worthington (Children of the Fifth Sun, A Time for Monsters).

Known for his infectious storytelling and blistering action, Jones strives to create thought-provoking reading experiences that challenge the status quo. When he’s not chasing bad guys or writing epic stories, he can be found planning his next adventure to some remote or exotic place.

Jones is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain literary. He lives in Alabama with his wife, two children, and a golden-doodle who thinks he's human.

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