Dealbreaker

The plot leaps and swaggers… driven by joyful confidence that the reader—like the characters—will accept huge helpings of razzle-dazzle strangeness. The result is as delightful as it is mind-bending.Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review

Dealbreaker is available for preorder at Amazon (U.S. Store * Canada * UK), Barnes & Noble, Chapters IndigoPowell’s, and everywhere books are sold.

L.X. Beckett’s Dealbreaker is the thrilling sci-fi sequel to Gamechanger,
perfect for fans of Neuromancer and Star Trek. Read an excerpt here on Tor.com!
Or hear the author read it at their book launch, hosted by Bakka-Phoenix books!

Humans achieved the impossible in Gamechanger: proving that Earth’s sentient population deserves a seat at the galactic table… or at least a shot at one. To be accepted by offworlder races who might otherwise swallow the Sol system into expansionist colonial empires, humankind must fix the planet’s ecological problems, invent FTL, rapidly develop wormhole technology, and leap a number of other arbitrary hurdles, all to prove they have an advanced and civilized culture.

Frankie Barnes was nine when first contact changed everything—like, everything–for humanity. Two decades later, she has fought her way onto the test pilot leaderboard, placing herself on the cutting edge of the effort to kickstart a faster-than-light revolution, before the aliens change their minds. Nothing matters more than preserving her people’s independence… or it didn’t, until she fell in love and married into a pack of husbands and wives who know all too well that test pilots have a screamingly high mortality rate.But soon it’s clear that Earth’s problems are bigger than a few races arguing that humans are too toxic, greedy and backwards to be permitted free movement within
the galaxy.

Out at the most remote of Earth’s fragile space stations it becomes clear that would-be imperialist saboteurs are actively working to kneecap all Earth’s efforts to pull itself up. Set against the emerging threat of the foreclosure of Earth, even her family’s fears and the threat of heartbreak aren’t
quite enough to keep Frankie out of the pilot’s seat.“Amid this harrowing adventure is a good bit of humor, as well as speculation on the future of gender identity, family, and the evolution of AI. This story will appeal to readers who want to explore the next iteration of cyberpunk or crave an intricate and modern space opera.” Craig Clark, Booklist.