Life First
by RJ Crayton
Genre: Dystopian thriller
Word count: ~90,000
Strong-willed Kelsey Reed must escape tonight or tomorrow her government will take her kidney and give it to someone else.
In this future forged by survivors of pandemics that wiped out 80 percent of the world’s population, life is valued above all else. The mentally ill are sterilized, abortions are illegal and those who refuse to donate an organ when told are sentenced to death.
Determined not to give up her kidney or die, Kelsey enlists the help of her boyfriend Luke and a dodgy doctor to escape. The trio must disable the tracking chip in her arm for her to flee undetected. If they fail, Kelsey will be stripped of everything.
This book is available from Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.
RJ, how did you come up with the title for your book? Does it have any special meaning?
The title is the philosophy of the government in the book. Having survived nearly civilization ending pandemics, the society has adopted the mantra “Life First.” Society’s goal in this book is to preserve and promote human life first and foremost.
Who was your favorite character and why?
It’s definitely the main character, Kelsey, though her boyfriend, Luke, is a close second. Kelsey is my favorite because she’s strong-willed, principled and really loves the people in her life. She’s also a flawed character who makes mistakes, and has to learn from them. I like that, because in real life, we’re all flawed.
Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
Like any dystopia, I think it shows any idea, even a noble one such as the preservation of a species (the human one, which I must admit is my favorite of all species), can go awry if taken too far.
What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
That the book constantly surprised them and they couldn’t put it down. The previous question was about themes, and while themes are nice, my goal is not to educate the world about an issue or create deep thought about a topic. Nice perks, of course. But, my goal is to create a book that the reader thoroughly enjoys, one they can’t put down until they get to THE END.
Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
“This novel was a poignant, riveting, thought provoking read that had me entranced from page one until the very end of the book. … I literally could not put it down.” – Griffin’s Honey Blog
Where can people learn more about your writing?
I’m online at http://rjcrayton.com.
