Description:
Humankind rose from the carcass of a dead world. Lifetimes later, billions of people live in superstructures constructed atop the only habitable lands left, the Hawaiian Islands. Kilohana "Kilo" Ressler lives in Hawai'i City (known to the people as Big City) along with his illegal Digital Psychological Manifestation (DPM), EO, a pseudo-twin only perceptible to the host, designed during the rebuilding years to provide companionship in a world of horrors. Kilo has managed to keep EO a secret for most of his life, but when his skills are required for a diplomatic mission in Kaua'i City, Kilo and EO find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens to expose EO's existence and endanger the fragile balance of power between the island cities. The only place left for answers is in the depths of the superstructure the Below. As the walls close in, Kilo must undertake the impossible task of protecting his friend, facing his past, and holding a crumbling city together.
Brief description:
Scott T. Miller is an author, researcher, and educator. He comes from a long line of teachers and didn't stand much of a chance of doing anything but working in education. He received his PhD in Global and International Education from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and his MEd in counseling from Northern Arizona University. Scott grew up in San Diego and has lived in South Dakota, Arizona, California, and Hawai'i. He recently moved from Oahu back to California with his wife, Bell, and dogs, Hiro and Pebble. Scott bleeds science fiction and, at every opportunity, is writing, reading, and watching science fiction stories. Scott has authored several academic works on identity, globalism, and socio-political stratification. The themes and theories explored in his publications have influenced his fiction as he's worked to craft relevant and immersive stories that speak to the heart of societal and human experiences. Scott has a deep reverence for dystopian stories that explore the outer reaches of human capabilities and dysfunction and has been influenced by the immense wake of authors such as Phillip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan.
Review Quotes:
"An investigator faces personal demons when his work takes him into dystopian subterranean slums... A compelling dystopian detective story with a unique setting that keeps its secrets close to the vest."
--KIRKUS REVIEWS
"In Scott T. Miller's haunting dystopian novel The Below, emotional scars and social divisions define both the human conscience and control... The prose is deliberate and cinematic."
--FOREWORD CLARION REVIEWS
"Set in the far future in an unrecognizable Hawai'i, Miller's The Below is dark, inventive cyberpunk noir that is a perfect blend of frantic action and slow burn mystery combined with heaps of heart."
--CHRIS MCKINNEY, AUTHOR OF THE WATER CITY TRILOGY