THE WAREHOUSE

This is a thriller set in a near-future America where gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the nation, and an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme.

Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront but a sort of global savior - their green energy initiatives cut down on carbon, and their massive warehouses keep more than half the country employed. But beneath that sunny exterior is a grinding, soul-sucking machine, where abuses of power go unchecked, arbitrary rating systems keep employees forever in motion, and no indignity is too great as long as it makes a buck. Think 1984 Meets James Patterson's THE STORE.

Paxton is an inventor whom Cloud put out of business with their aggressive discounting practices. With no other job prospects, he is forced to apply for a position with Cloud, at their flagship MotherCloud facility (picture a fusion of Amazon fulfillment center, Mall of America, the worst Marriott Marquis in the world, and Panopticon). Due to his brief stint as a prison guard, Paxton is assigned to MotherCloud's security team, where he is quickly tapped to crack a synthetic drug smuggling ring. Initially Paxton hopes his stay at MotherCloud is only temporary, but he grows used to Cloud's amenities and his bosses' approval - after all, it's better than living outside. To his confusion and terror, Paxton slowly finds himself not just tolerating his life at MotherCloud, but depending on it. And there's one more thing that keeps him increasingly tied to Cloud: Zinnia.

Zinnia is, as far as Paxton knows, a former teacher driven to work for Cloud by budget cuts. After meeting on the bus to MotherCloud, they click and quickly fall into bed. But Zinnia isn't a teacher at all, but a spy hired to steal Cloud's secrets. This time, her job is to slip into MotherCloud's underground level and find out what the company is hiding there. Despite her efforts to game Cloud's hiring algorithm, Zinnia lands in a position with virtually no access: a warehouse picker. Instead of penetrating MotherCloud's secrets, Zinnia spends her days jogging around a giant warehouse, searching the shelves for assorted knickknacks, and dodging the predations of a male supervisor. Paxton's security access, she knows, is the key to breaking Cloud wide open, but using Paxton only gets harder as she starts to genuinely fall for him.

These two storylines collide as Gibson Wells, Cloud's ailing founder, visits MotherCloud on his goodbye tour. Paxton's successes land him a spot on Wells' personal security detail, while Zinnia's mysterious employer sends her a new order: kill Gibson Wells.

Rob Hart is the author of New Yorked, nominated for an Anthony Award for Best First Novel, as well as City of Rose, South Village, and The Woman from Prague (All published by Polis). He also co-wrote Scott Free with James Patterson. Short fiction has appeared in publications like Thuglit, Needle, and Joyland. Non-fiction has appeared at Slate, The Daily Beast, and Electric Literature. Rob is the publisher at MysteriousPress.com and the class director at LitReactor. Previously, he has been a political reporter, the communications director for a politician, and a commissioner for the city of New York.