After America’s controversial presidential election in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, several decades of escalating civil crises have ensued. The governments of many countries have conspired to develop the ultimate solution for controlling the lives of their citizens. The new society, forged in the secret Utopia Project, provides for all of your needs without cost, promotes recreational group sex, raises offspring without parents, and offers a life without stress. 

Every year, a lottery is held for the hard-working people of Lutum. The prize? Eternal life. And everyone wants it. Well, everyone except for 17-year-old Silverstasia Blackwood. She doesn't think it's fair that the rich get to live luxurious lives while the people of Lutum are enslaved, forced to work hard every day to support the immortals.

Eight kids, ages nine to 17, awaken to find that almost everything they have ever known has been stolen from them. They were ripped from their beds in the middle of the night and transported to an unfamiliar and unforgiving new world where there are strict rules, and they are punished if they refuse to obey. As the kids grapple with their mysterious new reality, they struggle with disconcerting questions. Where in the world are they? Why were they taken away from their families? Will they ever get to go back home? And will this be the place where they die?

Every year, 100 of the most dangerous convicted criminals from the impoverished Ward are given a chance to earn their freedom and to live a life of luxury in Nova Heights, the walled-in city of glass and steel estates built into the side of a mountain. All that’s standing between the Hopefuls and a full pardon are the Amnesty Games, a seven-day barrage of challenges, puzzles, mazes, traps, obstacles, contests, and competitions.

In a secret facility called the Processor, Kress and her fellow Recruits are subjected to endless weapons training, violent puzzles, dangerous war games, deadly escape rooms, and impossible Virtual Reality simulations. In the end, they’ll get answers to questions they’ll wish they never asked.