Kingmaker

Kingmaker (2013), published by 47North, is Cantrell's most fully realized dystopian work. The setting is a near-future Los Angeles that has evolved into an autonomous city-state under the dominance of Pearl Knight Holdings, a mega-corporation whose reach extends across global warfare and cultural economies. The novel's central mechanism is a legal one, a fictional 31st Amendment that has transferred voting rights from individuals to corporations. Democratic form survives, but democratic substance has been quietly revoked.

The protagonist, Alexei Drovosek, is a genetically modified former the FSB, Russia's federal security service, operative who betrayed his Russian handlers and disappeared into obscurity. He has resurfaced in Los Angeles, living quietly and raising a group of orphaned children with deliberate purpose, each one trained as a component of a long-term plan to dismantle the corporate oligarchy from within. His personal AI, Emma, serves as both operational support and something closer to a conscience. The plot unfolds over decades and across continents, moving more like a strategic game than a conventional thriller. Cantrell's background as a software developer at Adobe shows in the novel's attention to systems, logistics, and technical infrastructure.

Inscribed copy. Signed and inscribed by Cantrell on the half-title page.

Softcover. First Edition, Trade Paperback Original. Octavo, wrappers. Seattle: 47North, 2013. ISBN: 9781477807439. #10810.
Fine with touch of wear at corners.