Synopsis:

A high octane, cyberpunk thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat!

 On the planet Nera, a world of towering metropolises powered by nano technology and controlled by corporations, Mr. Zan and his misfit crew have trained for five years to be Omegas, the greatest and most elusive assassins on the planet. However, disillusioned with their mission, they went rogue and killed their handler, Nancy. Now, they run guns to survive, while racing to stay one step ahead of the living Shadows that hunt them. After a tragic, traumatic attack, Zan and his crew find themselves on the outs with Dietrich Boateng, one of the most powerful men on the planet.

But when Dietrich suddenly risks everything to warn them of a new, dangerous threat, events are set in motion that threaten to spiral out of their control. To make matters worse, Deputy Marshal Akira Sudo is hot on their trail, after a coverup leads her to believe that there is more to this case than meets the eye.

If they can complete Dietrich’s mission, they might secure the tools they need to survive the next Omegas that show up to exact revenge. If they don’t, they might not survive to see tomorrow. For fans of Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and Altered Carbon, this action-packed, dystopian Sci-Fi romp will leave you breathless and wanting more!

Meet Justin Hale:

Justin Hale is an author who lives in the Bay Area of California with his wife, Candy, and crazy dog, Maya. He is originally from the small, coastal city of Brunswick, GA and is a diehard Georgia Bulldog football fan. After suffering a mental health crisis, Justin left his full-time job, using his recovery time to finish and release his debut novel, RUNNERS. In his free time, he enjoys video games, watching pro wrestling, and making his wife laugh.

Justin first wanted to be an author at seven years old. He participated in a class project to write letters to The Polar Express author Chris Van Allsburg. The project was to draw a picture of what the students thought Chris Van Allsburg looked like and to write him a small message. Justin drew a grey version of Frankenstein’s monster, writing “I didn’t know what you looked like, so I drew you as Frankenstein[‘s monster], because he is weird and so are you.” His teacher was not impressed, but the experience made him interested in becoming an author, even if it would take 30+ years to arrive at that goal.

Behind the Story:

“If there’s a book that you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” - Toni Morrison

RUNNERS is the story that Justin always wanted to read, but could never find. It morphed forms a few times, from a novel, to a movie, to a TV show, and finally back to a novel again. However, the story that started as “gunrunners in space” stayed largely intact. Work was initially very slow, due to a variety of factors, until the pandemic. With nothing to do but stay inside and go to Zoom meetings, Justin decided to finally stop editing the first few chapters he’d written and really give RUNNERS a go. By the end of lockdown, Justin had written over 50,000 additional words.

His soon-to-be wife’s emergent health issues at the end of 2020 and an increased work load at his job caused the progress to grind back down to a halt. Candy’s health issues led to a blood transfusion in March 2021 and major surgery in June 2021. Justin and Candy were married in between the two events and soon moved to the Bay for Candy to complete a master’s program. However, in July of 2021, a major complication to her surgery caused a life-threatening infection. Candy soon recovered and returned to school, but Justin was shaken by the event, leading to crippling panic attacks on a daily basis. Most days, he was unable to even leave his apartment.

Justin would take two separate leaves of absence from his job, but could not seem to recover. In March of 2022, he left his job permanently to focus on recovery full time. Depressed, anxious, and finding his life unmanageable, Justin considered suicide, before a chance encounter with an article by he Pro Wrestler he admired named Eddie Kingston. In the article, Eddie went into great detail about his battles with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Eddie stated that he was at one of his lowest points when he finally got his big break at 38 years old. Justin was 37 at the time and thought to himself “Eddie Kingston got his big break at 38. I’m four months away from 38. If I can make it four months, maybe I’ll get my big break, too.”

With this newfound resolve, Justin returned to work on RUNNERS. Within a month, he had finished the first draft and is now poised to release his novel a little over a year later. He credits RUNNERS for saving his life, as it gave him hope that the future he always wanted was a possibility.