The Cathedral of Ash

In a city where human worth is measured in decimals, survival is bought with the blood of the condemned.

Welcome to Halcyon, a sterile, ash-choked metropolis ruled by the merciless mathematics of the Mercy Index. Dr. Calvin Zeller wears the pristine white coat of a senior hospice surgeon, but his true job is that of a polite executioner. When a citizen's score drops to zero, Calvin provides a painless, sedated end before the state's brutal organ harvesters can dismantle them. It is a solitary rebellion of quiet mercy, built to suppress the agonizing guilt of betraying his own brother.

But his fragile existence is shattered when Vespera Vale, an undocumented architect, infiltrates his secure ward. She brings impossible demands and devastating truths. Vespera is carving a massive sanctuary deep beneath the earth—the Cathedral of Ash—to hide the city's discarded. To build it, she needs medical supplies, untraceable currency, and a surgeon willing to forge death certificates right under the nose of the Ministry's relentless auditors. Forced to confront his own complicity, Calvin must descend into Halcyon's treacherous black market and orchestrate an impossible deception from the inside out.

Why you will love this: Fans of intense, claustrophobic Dystopian Fiction will be captivated by this thrilling tale of defiance. Packed with pulse-pounding tension, oppressive dystopian tropes, moral ambiguity, and the dark underbelly of a high-tech totalitarian regime, it is a masterclass in psychological suspense and underground rebellion.

John Newbill delivers a harrowing, cinematic experience with his uniquely sharp prose and masterful pacing, pulling listeners deep into a world where true mercy requires getting your hands irreversibly dirty.