The Beam

When all of humanity is connected, the center of the Web is the seat of true power.

In a century, the world’s old political borders have dissolved. At the center of what remains of civilization sits the NAU, a nation ruled by two political parties: Enterprise, the sink-or-swim party where each party member has no one else to blame for their starvation or astronomical wealth, and Directorate, whose members have a guaranteed safety net but can never rise above their station.

Every six years, an election determines the course of the NAU’s future. The process is called Shift, and the next one is coming soon. With humanity intertwined by way of the Beam — a hyper-advanced version of the Internet that serves every whim and need — Shift is the be-all and the end-all. More than an electoral method, it is the future’s political discourse..

In the midst of the country’s tumultuous politics, certain players are making their own moves. Doc, a black-market nanoenhancement vendor, has caught wind of a disturbing trend of enhancements among his clientele. Nicolai, political speechwriter for the head of Directorate, struggles to find his independence in a life that is supposed to be devoted to the Party, all the while unaware of his own terrifying connection to the Beam. And Kai, an escort and assassin as lethal as she is flexible, becomes embroiled in the machinations of her top clients — because after all, the political elite choose only the best to warm their sheets at night.

And through it all, a shadowy group is pulling strings behind the scenes, guiding Shift exactly where they want it to go. Their identities are unknown to all but a few, and anyone who stumbles upon them by accident — or, worse, learns their true goal — is swiftly disposed of. But if their power goes unchecked, their cloak-and-dagger actions will shape the fate of millions for years to come …

Plug your mind into The Beam. It’s been waiting for you.

See how deep deception goes … in the sci-fi political thriller that has readers screaming for more.

Two weeks after the end of The Beam’s first groundbreaking season, one thing is abundantly clear: the more the world changes, the harder those in power work behind the curtain to keep it all the same.

With Shift, the NAU’s national election, now just days away, the country’s political parties fight even harder to win the citizen’s minds — minds that are almost all permanently connected to The Beam, addicted to connectivity more deeply than any drug. Only those with the courage to think for themselves can work to change what seems like a certain future.

Meanwhile, using the screaming pundits on ubiquitous viewscreens as cover, an organization advances human enhancements further than they were ever meant to go — further than the struggling, crumbling NAU can hope to survive.

Doc is still on the run after his near-fatal case of mistaken identity. Kai wants to help him, but not as much as she wants to protect herself — a job that’s becoming harder and harder.. Leah is stuck with old man Crumb, who has emerged from madness into lucidity with sudden, almost frightening speed. And Nicolai wants nothing more than to cut ties with the Ryans, who have controlled his life since long before he knew their true purpose … but politics is a dirty game, and no one gets away clean.

Shift is heating up. All the petty games played around it have had their stakes raised to lethal levels. And in the face of its relentless, implacable advance, not everyone will make it out alive.

In a future as bright as nuclear fire, even the puppet masters dance on strings.

The battle over Shift — the electoral process that will decide the nation’s fate — is heating up, and both sides are fighting dirty. Micah and Isaac Ryan, the brothers sitting at each political party’s head, resort to tooth-and-nail tactics to eke out as many votes as possible. The Beau Monde observes everything, sticking their fingers in the pie only to change the flavor to their personal tastes. Everyone else has one simple goal: surviving the battle.

Kai struggles with a job bigger than she’s ever faced, against a foe she can’t hope to outwit. Dominic, his law enforcement job precarious after betraying the drug runners he once smuggled for, must keep his head down even as he pokes his nose into the game of higher politics. And Nicolai, the unwitting harbinger of the Beam itself, concocts his own plots to overthrow the arrogant Ryans once and for all.

Yet all their efforts — great and small alike — will pale in comparison to the oncoming storm, the cataclysmic return of one of history’s greatest figures. Someone from the Beam’s very conception is about to appear anew, and with humanity interconnected like never before, their footsteps will rock the NAU like a meteor strike.

Shift is finally here. But even those who think they control its sway are not prepared for what happens next.