Prisoner 374215

An ESTO Universe Story

By: Angel Martinez

Narrated by: Bill Hare

The cracks had opened wide one day, let the monsters out, and swallowed every bright thing.

While the cell is sparse and cold, at least this one has a bed. The figure resting there is too thin; too still, the prominent bones the result of long starvation, the stillness the product of too much anguish and abuse. He watches, though. An anxious, intelligent mind still occupies this frail and failing body, one that watches and wonders about the new guard occupying his cell each night.

ESTO Universe

A Matter of Faces

Gravitational Attraction

Vassily the Beautiful

Sub Zero

Prisoner 374215

By Imperial Decree

©2013 Angel Martinez (P)2020 Angel Martinez

Stellar.

Already among my favorite authors, Martinez exceeds my admittedly high exoectations in this work. Story, characterization, and world-building here are all above and beyond the ordinary. With excellent narration bringing the best to light, I highly recommend this brief but significant tale.

I'm still reeling from the feeling evoked by this!

I'm still shaking here! This is such a POWERFUL story! Angel Martinez shows us a sliver of the life of a prisoner of war who was captured as a result of his own hubris. The life of a hero whose spirit was more broken by the deaths resulting from his overconfidence than the almost daily torture he has endured. But prisoner 374215's conditioning begins to be weakened by the presence of the guard that is assigned to him in the evenings. A guard that, surprising to the prisoner, seems capable of a level of compassion he finds surprising and suspicious yet comforting. The audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Bill Hare and well worth the asking price.