• For Want of a Spine

  • A Short Story
  • By: Jared Peterson
  • Narrated by: Virtual Voice
  • Length: 24 mins

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For Want of a Spine  By  cover art

For Want of a Spine

By: Jared Peterson
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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Publisher's summary

A widowed master sculptor, prisoner, truth-sayer. The only man who can fool an empire into believing a ruthless king’s greatest lie...

Hadrian must recreate the impossible: A spine—commissioned by New Alexander—to assure the rallying citizens that what the Anastas discovered, buried deep in the earth of their ancient estate, is nothing more than a harmless relic.

Harmless, of course. Which is why Hadrian must sculpt a model to take its place.

But Hadrian’s run out of time.

Now, in order to finish, he must find the original spine, kept behind a threshold with a terrible cost. And only brutal courage in the face of unwinnable odds can save Hadrian from being buried alive, like his husband before him.

For Want of a Spine blends science fiction and horror in a futuristic Greek Empire where dominance is valued above all else, including the truth. In 2022, it was chosen as an Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.

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