Broken Mirror

By Cody Sisco

A mentally ill young man searches for his grandfather's killer.

Someone killed Grandfather Jefferson. Victor is sure of it. But he’s the only one.

Diagnosed with mirror resonance syndrome and shunned by Semiautonomous California society, Victor suffers from “blank outs,” hallucinations, and vivid nightmares. He violently overreacts to even minor confrontations.

Victor’s grandfather devoted his life to researching and curing mentally ill Broken Mirrors like Victor, but now that he’s gone, Victor must walk a narrow path between sanity and reclassification—a fate that all but guarantees he’ll lose his freedom.

Victor is determined to uncover the truth about his grandfather’s death and grows increasingly suspicious of the medicine he must take to help manage his “symptoms.” As he tries to sort his allies from his enemies, a conspiracy with global implications emerges.

Can he trust his Aunt Circe, the only person in his family who’s even somewhat sympathetic to his plight? His former classmate-turned-brainhacker Ozie, who wields information as damaging as any weapon and who seems intent on luring Victor away from his home? What about his old friend Elena, who reappears in his life abruptly, claiming to have miraculously overcome a devastating addiction?

With its self-driving cars, global firearms ban, and a cure for cancer, the world of Broken Mirror may sound utopic, but history has taken a few wrong turns. The American Union is a weak and fractious alliance of nations in decline. Europe, a superpower, manipulates its citizens through technology. And Asia is reeling from decades of war. Amid shifting geopolitical sands, Broken Mirrors like Victor find themselves at a crossroads: evolve or go extinct.

Broken Mirror is the first novel in a sci-fi detective saga tailor-made for fans of Isaac Asimov, Haruki Murakami, and Neal Stephenson.