Recompense by Michelle Isenhoff

Born into Capernica’s lowest social tier, Jack Holloway refuses to pour out her life in the local fish cannery. She gambles on the one chance available to advance—the high school Exit Exam. In a nation that still keenly remembers its own violent birth, the smartest and strongest are richly rewarded in exchange for military service. Meanwhile, strings of abductions break out across the nation. Partnered with the handsome Captain Alston, Jack is recruited to aid the investigation—as bait. The evidence leads back 47 years to a series of high-profile cover-ups linked to Capernica’s formation, but nothing prepares her for the faces that emerge from the past. Blowing the whistle could have grave consequences, but holding her silence means history will likely repeat. Can Capernica survive a second reckoning? A startling tale where past and present intertwine, fusing at the point of revolution.