Flight & Anchor

Two young operatives escape corporate imprisonment in Kornher-Stace’s captivating cyberpunk prequel to Firebreak. The unnamed Director of Stellaxis Innovations has been creating synthetic children with supernatural combat abilities. Her prized weapons, known only as 06 and 22, are “pair-bonded superpowered preteen killing machines” who manage to secretly break free from her grasp and escape headquarters. After being kidnapped, experimented on, and forced to fight, 06 and 22 want only to live a simple, honest life away from the bloodshed. But with the Director at their heels, desperate to get her intellectual property back before anyone at Headquarters notices the tweens are missing, this proves to be a near-impossible task. The Director will stop at nothing to lure them back, even if it means bringing 06 and 22 to the brink of death to remind them how good they have it back at the facility. The postapocalyptic worldbuilding and small cast won’t be inaccessible to new readers, but those already familiar with Firebreak will get the most out of this glimpse into its leads’ early lives. It’s a fast-paced game of cat and mouse that will leave readers wanting more. (June)