The Glass Box

“Echoes of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest reverberate through this cinematic tale…readers looking for an adrenaline-inducing resistance plot will find this worth their time.” —Publishers Weekly

From award-winning author J. Michael Straczynski, The Glass Box is a hard-hitting, fast-paced sci-fi novel about the choices we make and the ramifications we face.

Riley Diaz was born to fight back.

When she’s incarcerated under the authority of a shadowy new defense act, Riley is sent to one of a growing number of American Renewal Centers (ARCs)—institutions modeled after psychiatric facilities—for mandatory reeducation.

Forced therapy, involuntary medication, solitary confinement, restricted rations, and more are all in the ARC program’s bag of dirty tricks designed to break down dissidents. Give in, and you go free. Resist, and …

Riley declares a one-woman war against the gaslighting and manipulation in a struggle to take down the ARC program and its white-coated collaborators. Despite being isolated and resented by her fellow inmates, Riley eventually wins their trust, and forms a heartfelt, life-and-death bond with a mysterious patient known only as Frankenstein, who is as enigmatic as his namesake.

Sometimes breaking an unjust system starts with one person willing to stand up—when standing is the hardest thing in the world—and saying no. Riley Diaz is willing to stand behind that word, regardless of the cost, in order to put her fist through the Glass Box once and for all.

Acclaimed creator J. Michael Straczynski takes the reader on a mesmerizing journey inspired by pressing contemporary issues, including our right to protest and the threats designed to undermine that right. Told with drama and heart, The Glass Box is a moving story that features a colorful and often eccentric cast of characters readers will fall in love with.