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.

Shortly after his sixteenth birthday, Alex undergoes Appraisal, an unpredictable medical procedure with the potential to extend his lifespan. The procedure is supposed to be a routine right of passage. But no Appraisal scenario he’s ever heard of has prepared him for his own experience – he’s 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