After Dark is the story of Sebastian Pereira, an impetuous teenager who decided to become what he always dreamed of being…a superhero!
The world that Sebastian lives in is different from our own, yet recognizable. He lives in Pittsburgh, a city still transformed by the Martian invasion (a la ‘War of the Worlds’) more than a century ago. The United States has been dead for more than 100 years; North America is broken up into dozens of small states, confederations, anarchic alliances, and free cities. Pittsburgh itself is a city of block governments, neighborhood associations, subscription patrol companies, and rights enforcement agencies trying to establish a better way of doing things in the face of a withering city government. Society is in many ways freer and more advanced than our own, and culturally much different as well. There are even personal aircraft!
But this parallel universe is no utopia of perpetual sunshine and flowers. There is still crime, corruption, and racial tension, especially between radical talents (people with superpowers) and the existing order. As the costumed crimefighter known as Torrent, Sebastian runs up against werecats, mad gassers, corrupt police, supernatural vandals, and seductive radicals in the Global Parahuman Revolutionary Army. His challenges are ethical as often as they are physical, and his toughest opponent may be his fallen nature. Can he really serve justice as a vigilante, or is he only serving his own ego?
I’d love to hear what you thought of the book, our characters, and our setting.
Awesome! Thanks for giving us all this book, Mike!