Vita Aeterna by Jay Allan Storey

Alex Barret lives in ‘the Quarters’, an immense blight of broken-down slums surrounding a glittering walled-off city called the First Circle.

On his sixteenth birthday, Alex undergoes Appraisal, an unpredictable medical procedure with the potential to extend his lifespan. Appraisal is supposed to be a routine rite of passage. But no scenario he’s ever heard of has prepared Alex for his own experience – abducted, imprisoned, and subjected to brutal medical experiments in a high-tech lab.

He escapes and goes on the run, a heartbeat ahead of a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world. When he finally pieces together the clues behind his kidnapping, they lead to a treacherous plot that only he can derail.

But to succeed, he must penetrate the First Circle, the forbidden abode of the ruling class.

Category: Science Fiction – Dystopian