Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America's private prison system. In packed arenas, live-streamed by millions, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme's corporate owners stack the odds against her - will the price be simply too high?
About the Author
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is the New York Times bestselling author of Friday Black. He is a National Book Foundation's '5 Under 35' honoree, a winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book and the Dylan Thomas Prize, among many other accolades. Raised in Spring Valley, New York, he now lives in the Bronx.