In 2042 Washington, D.C., the United States has fractured into two starkly divided worlds: Uplands, where the elite, wealthy, and predominantly white hold power, and Lowlands, where the marginalized are abandoned to fend for themselves.

Aria Petros, a fearless organizer for the underground resistance collective Expectus, must lead a desperate mission to protect her people as a catastrophic hurricane barrels toward the eastern seaboard. But the fight for survival is only the beginning—Aria soon realizes that the only way to dismantle the corrupt Upland regime is to infiltrate it from within.

Her best chance? Neil Rao, a high school flame she hasn’t seen in years—now the golden boy of Upland and son of the most powerful woman in government. Trusting him could mean salvation. Falling for him again could mean ruin.

As Hurricane Eamon tears through the Atlantic coast, Aria and Neil are thrust into a battle far greater than the storm itself—one that will determine the fate of a divided nation. In the wreckage, they must navigate treachery, desire, and the weight of revolution—before it’s too late.

Keya Chatterjee is executive director of Free DC and co-founder of Freedom Trainers. She is an avid reader, an author, and an activist for climate justice and democracy. Keya is committed to imagining and creating a thriving and inclusive future full of joy and caring. She started her career at NASA and was Executive Director of the US Climate Action Network for almost a decade, where she was a key voice in civil society for strengthening the Paris Climate Agreement and the Inflation Reduction Act. Keya also served two terms as a hyper local elected official in Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband and son. She previously published a nonfiction book, The Zero Footprint Baby: How to Save the Planet While Raising a Healthy Baby, and op-eds in many outlets including Newsweek, Reuters, and Huffington Post.

Nadine Bloch is an outside-the-box activist artist, political community organizer, strategic nonviolent actionista and the Training Director for Beautiful Trouble. Her work explores the potent intersection of art and politics, where creative cultural resistance is not only effective political action, but also a powerful way to reclaim agency over our own lives, fight oppressive systems, and invest in our communities — all while having more fun than the other side!

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