You carry no metal.

You keep within hollering distance.

You stay out of the dark places.

These are the rules Gabriel lives by.

There are no exceptions.

It has been ten years since the iron virus laid waste to the land, and still the children huddle deep inside the mountain, waiting for the day it will be safe to venture out again. But through the long winters the ash-storms continue to rage, and supplies are running low. Kane says it will be okay, but Gabriel isn’t so sure. Gabriel’s their scavenger. He’s seen what it’s like out there.

Then one day Gabriel finds a bloodstained map. The blood’s not a problem, nor are the long-dried remains of the person it once belonged to. Gabriel’s used to seeing dead bodies; there’s worse waiting in any Walmart or Piggly Wiggly you care to wander into. Except this one he recognizes, and it shouldn’t be all the way out here. Now all Gabriel can think is how he’s going to make it back to the bunker to let the others know what he’s found.

But the map Gabriel has stumbled on is the key to a secret, one that has lain buried for a decade. Gabriel’s about to learn that inside the mountain not everything is as it seems. And if he can’t get Mags and the others out, a fate worse than death awaits them all.

His ego is big, but his problems just got bigger. Can a thirteen-year-old hacker learn to be a hero, or is his talent meant for evil?

The United Kingdom. Ryan Jacobs is too smart for his own good. So the young genius thinks it would be a grand lark to prove he can break into the army’s maximum-security system. But the born-to-be-a-rebel teenager never expected soldiers to storm his house and arrest him, taking away his freedom… forever.

Surprised to be whisked off to a mysterious academy for gifted kids, Ryan’s competitive streak is challenged by strict teachers, global crises, and the unexplored skill of making friends. But when his new bestie is kidnapped and a dark organization demands his compliance, the juvenile lawbreaker faces a complex choice between life and death.

Can he save his classmate before they’re both permanently deleted?

The Rules is the fast-paced first book in the Ryan Jacobs YA techno-thriller series. If you like heroes with an attitude, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and gritty themes, then you’ll love Paul Orton’s action-packed adventure.