Book Title: Bethlehem

Subtitle: A city by design

Author: Bernadette Cooper

Book Description: It's the year 2038; Inglewood, California, once a prominent African American and Hispanic city, has been overthrown and reclassified as a sovereign nation—now a haven for gentrification. Attracting highly technological and innovative individuals through a selective invitation process, this newly erected utopia is surrounded by enclosed boundaries that make it inaccessible to outsiders. The futuristic town is now under the control of a tyrannical mayor, the son of a preacher man, who has renamed the city Bethlehem. Paranoid about being overthrown, the mayor enlists a roboticist to create the prototype of Bethlehem’s future defenders. The clandestine operation fuses the fierce Cleopatra Jones from Blaxploitation films with the Bionic Woman, a bionically enhanced science fiction character. However, from the making of this seemingly perfect demigod emerges a twisted and psychopathic heroine. During her evolution and dress rehearsals for destruction, the sole blueprint of the mayor’s sinister invention escapes the torture of her confinement. Now a renegade diva in hiding, the afro-wearing female cyborg—possessing the heart of a soldier and superhuman strength—begins to find her human identity. Over time, she reveals a complex duality: by day, she is a warrior who saves women and children; by night, she transforms into a vigilante—a homicidal maniac who seductively hunts and derives pleasure from killing her male foes. Unbeknownst to the citizens of Bethlehem, a black femme fatale cyborg, who is also a serial killer, is on the loose, seeking revenge from within the very comfort of their establishment. Her name is Honey Brown!