Kingdom by Anderson O'Donnell

Genre: Sci Fi / Dystopia
Series: Tiber City #1
Publisher: Tiber City Press
Buy the book: Amazon
Source: I received an ecopy from the author

In a secret laboratory hidden under the desert, a covert bioengineering project—codename “Exodus”—has discovered the gene responsible for the human soul.
Somewhere in the neon sprawl outside the nation’s collapsing economic core, a group of renegade monks are on the verge of uncovering a secret that has eluded mankind for centuries.
In a glittering tower high above the urban decay, an ascendant U.S. Senator is found dead—an apparent, yet inexplicable, suicide.
And in the streets below, a young man races through an ultra modern metropolis on the verge of a violent revolution....closing in on the terrible truth behind Exodus—and one man’s dark vision for the future of mankind.
Welcome to Tiber City

Kingdom is a debut by Anderson O’Donnell en with Tiber City he has created a gritty disturbing world set in the near future.

The story is told from different point of views and this makes sure you get to see the whole thing from all the different angles this world has to offer.

Phantom Universe

Sold into slavery to pirates at the young age of four, Summer learns to survive the rough seas of subterfuge and thieves through silence. When the boat she’s lived on most of her life is destroyed, Summer finds herself washed up on the shore of a new world, a phantom universe full of the bizarre and extraordinary. She meets Gage, the one boy who understands the girl with no speech. But when their lives are put on the line, will Summer finally call out? Or will all be lost in the fathomless depth of silence? (blurb)

This story is about a sixteen year old girl named Summer who doesn't speak. But her thoughts and actions speak for themselves and even though I don't like stories where there isn't much conversation from the main character it didn't bother me at all. Summer is a very likeable character. With all the things that have happened to her over the course of years in slavery she stopped speaking and doesn't trust anyone except Landon, a fellow slave on the ship, he protects her and is her only friend. When a fellow slave from Summers past Jaden comes to tell her that there are people after her, the three of them escape. They lose sight of each other but ones on land Summer and Jaden find each other again then Summer gets ill and passes out. When she awakes we meet Gage and discover that things are quite different in the world. And one of those reasons is that it is now 200 years later. It seems that around 200 million people just suddenly appeared in the future and they are called 'Outlanders'. Since Summer is very ill she is send to a hospital and Jaden is send to an outlander camp. After Summer gets better she is also send to the outlander camp and this is where she finds Landon again. The one thing in this story that I liked was her relationship she is building with Gage. She doesn't know what to think of this man who rescues and helps her, keeps visiting her in the hospital, but also keeps pulling back. But somehow she knows that she can trust him.