Ram Carnes was told he had 24 hours to live.
That was over seven hours ago.
As he’d say, “Any way you crunch those numbers, they don’t add up too good for me.”
Before Ram got his own death notice in the first volume, he was a just a low-level process server, a reaper, for the Death Notification Agency—the DNA—now the biggest government organization in the world thanks to a mystifying, highly-guarded technology known as The Machine that can determine the time of anyone's demise, right down to the minute.
But now Ram’s the one whose life about to go belly up, and as everyone knows, The Machine is never wrong when it comes to predicting deaths.
But maybe it is this time.
At least that’s what Ram’s hoping after discovering that his boss in District 598.4A—Hollywood, Florida—was scheming to game the system by offering up Ram’s life instead of his own, along with a handsome bribe, to the shadowy figurehead of the DNA… Moirai.
Volume Two: The Gauntlet picks up right where the electrifying first volume (The Reaper) of the six-part DNA series left off—with Ram heading out for New York City to confront the mysterious Moirai and get to the bottom of this unraveling conspiracy before his clock runs out…
But this time, Ram’s not going at it alone. He’s got an angel riding with him in the form of Camille, Mr. Dukes’ receptionist turned unlikely sidekick. But even with Camille’s help, the next few hours are about to get a whole lot worse for Ram Carnes on this desperate crusade to save his own skin.
Julian Oliver Meiojas's DNA series, illustrated by Mad Dog Jones, hurtles forward into another adrenaline-fueled, hardboiled hellride from NeoText, inspired by the classic illustrated novels of the golden age of action-adventure science fiction.
About the author
JULIAN OLIVER MEIOJAS is an electric film and television writer/producer and author who specializes in crime, thriller and science fiction. He’s currently writing and co-executive producing Amazon’s award-winning JACK RYAN. Prior to that, he wrote and co-executive produced HBO MAX’s series Raised by Wolves for director Ridley Scott (Alien, Bladerunner) and creator Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners) while also developing an original real-time thriller with HULU for director David Leith (Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde) and a crime drama series for filmmaker David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury). Julian is a first-generation American who taps into his multicultural background to find unique points of view for his fast-paced genre storytelling. He has been involved in the writing and production of over 100 episodes of television across all major outlets. Julian lives with his wife, daughter, and terrier in Los Angeles. Death Notification Agency, Volume One: The Reaper and its five subsequent volumes will collectively be his first published novel.
About the illustrator
Canadian-born visual artist launched his artistic career as MAD DOG JONES in 2017. His works, presented at his world premiere show “Afterl-ife World” in Tokyo and via Instagram where their popularity spread quickly. MAD DOG JONES’ works deftly interweave cyberpunk elements with the beauty and freedom of nature. As a lover of the wilderness, which was ever present where he grew up, he brings a fresh thematic to the metropolitan aesthetic, done up in citrus and neon tones of technology somehow rendered as a space naturally human. Having grown up around Thunder Bay, MAD DOG JONES draws constant inspiration from the Canadian wilderness, as well as from Japanese animation, SF films, and cyberpunk, pulling together a rare and powerful fusion of two worlds sometimes deemed irreconcilable. His dual affinities with music and art have led him to create cover art and other works for Maroon 5, Jabbawockeez, Chromeo and more.
