A thought-provoking speculative thriller, set in a dystopian corporate nightmare.
The Gap
It’s all in your mind…
The gap is the place where our intentions meet our actions.
The gap is the place where our failings are exposed.
All humanity exists in the gap.
The gap is the next global battlefield, and the war has already begun.
Two organisations are locked in battle to control the mysterious gap.
Schelldhardt, the largest company in the world, is using its powerful online reach to divide the global population.
The Friary is a secretive institution aiming to stop them.
Lana Carter is a young woman searching for her sister, Grace. Grace was working for Schelldhardt before her sudden disappearance. Enlisting the help of another former Schelldhardt employee, Joe Massey, Lana must unravel Grace’s fate and shape the ultimate destiny of the gap.
A new sci-fi thriller and sequel to The Path of Good Response. For fans of blurred-reality stories like Inception, The Matrix, and The Truman Show.
(The Schelldhardt Series Book 2)
Release date 17th July 2026
Love Severance? You’ll love The Gap.
Ananke, Schelldhardt’s corporate headquarters at sea - the ultimate offshore company. Schelldhardt will do anything to grow. Grace was working aboard Ananke on a confidential project, the gap, before her disappearance. When Grace came home, she was totally different: thin, distant and confused. Now Lana Carter, her sister, knows that only Doctor Sharma can help her find Grace.
The Friary: a secretive organisation aiming to stop Schelldhardt…
Lana’s search for Grace leads her to The Friary, a remote and covert organisation that aims to stop Schelldhardt from controlling the gap. The ancient clifftop friary has been repurposed as a secure location for their work. What Lana does not anticipate is that, having located The Friary, the institution will insist that she stay…
Are you wearing your Sleep Buddy?
Schelldhardt operate a system called Total Time. There is no concept of a working day or week, requiring constant availability from their workforce. There are no public holidays, and all religious festivals are simply known by their calendar date. The only respite from Total Time is when the Sleep Buddy, a device worn a night, calculates that a longer break is needed.
Welcome to our classroom…
“Think of Schelldhardt as an influencer . No, think of Schelldhardt as the ultimate influencer.”
Miles Brooke, Schelldhardt CEO.
Using their vast online influence, Schelldhardt is bombarding the global population with binary questions, targeting their audience in their individual echo chambers.
To what end?
The Island
The ‘big house’ on a remote tropical island. The island also houses the world’s largest complex of factories, manufacturing electronic goods.
The business has grown exponentially since becoming a preferred partner for Schelldhardt. The workforce on the island does not see the benefit, pushed to extraordinary lengths to increase efficiency and growth.
Lana must face difficult truths if she is to find Grace.
The Gap. It’s all in your mind…
The gap is the point where we expose our failings. That inner conversation we hold with ourselves. If we hit the snooze button on our alarm when we know that we should get up. When we don’t exercise when we know that it’s good for us.
This vulnerability is our inherent weakness, and Schelldhardt intend to exploit it for their own purposes, unless Lana can find Grace and stop it all…