“Mackenzie Beaumont fights for freedom and justice in a world that seeks to control her every move. Despite her low ranking in the Republic of Westphalia, she’s not one to play by the rules. As a relentless rebel, artist, and ingenious inventor, she navigates a dystopian society with unparalleled cunning. I’d like to think that I would behave in a similar fashion if confronted with such authoritarianism.”
–Natasha Bajema
Westphalia
A choice between certain death or life without your loved ones… what would you choose?
Separated from her mother and sister since before the war, seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Beaumont lives in a post-apocalyptic society founded upon the ashes of the United States. In exchange for receiving a basic income, housing, food, and clothing, citizens must give up their right to privacy and are held accountable to strict rules under the watchful eye of the Palisades supercomputer.
Frustrated by her lack of freedom, Mackenzie invents signal blockers designed to prevent Palisades from tracking her extracurricular activities. When she inadvertently helps an underground movement called the Resistance, Mackenzie is confronted with a terrible choice. She could take her chances in Westphalia and pray the supercomputer fails to detect her crimes. Or she could accept the Resistance’s offer to help her escape and risk her life to cross the Dead Zone, leaving her family behind forever.
Will Mackenzie risk everything to win back her freedom? Or will she try playing the game of Westphalia in the hopes of seeing her family again?
