WHEN HEROES BECOME MONSTERS

In the ashes beneath Manhattan, a hero is born… and a monster awakens. Paramedic Elias Carter thought he understood trauma. War taught him how to survive pain. New York taught him how to ignore it. But after a catastrophic subway explosion leaves him buried beneath the city, Elias emerges changed by something impossible — a living cosmic force known only as the Astral Flame. Suddenly, bullets stop in midair around him. Wounds heal instantly. Strangers’ emotions scream inside his mind. And somewhere deep beneath America’s darkest secrets, powerful forces are watching. Investigative journalist Aurora Vale knows the government is lying about the “Manhattan Sinkhole Disaster.” What begins as a search for truth pulls her into a hidden war involving classified superhuman experiments, Cold War conspiracies, and an ancient energy capable of reshaping humanity itself. But the Astral Flame comes with a terrifying cost: The more Elias uses his power… the more his memories disappear. As New York descends into chaos and the world discovers that superhumans truly exist, Elias must choose between becoming something unstoppable… or remaining human long enough to save the people he loves.