The Culling — Steven dos Santos

Who would you choose?

Lucian “Lucky” Spark has been recruited for training by the totalitarian government known as the Establishment. According to Establishment rules, if a recruit fails any level of the violent training competitions, a family member is brutally killed . . . and the recruit has to choose which one.

As the five recruits form uneasy alliances in the hellish wasteland that is the training ground, an undeniable attraction develops between Lucky and the rebellious Digory Tycho. But the rules of the training ensure that only one will survive -- the strongest recruits receive accolades, wealth, and power while the weakest receive death. With Cole -- Lucky's four-year-old brother -- being held as “incentive,” Lucky must marshal all his skills and use his wits to keep himself alive, no matter what the cost.