A dystopian Earth. A lunar colony. Mandatory medication controls reality. Two men on opposite sides of the truth will decide the fate of both worlds.
Title: Worlds Apart
Author: R. Morello
Series: Worlds Apart Series (book 1)
Publisher: Cathedral Rocks Publishing
ISBN: 9798882860416
Format: Ebook and Paperback
Pages: 172
Word Count: 44,420
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Multiverse
Set across a dystopian Earth and its lunar colony, two men, a resistance member seeing through mandatory medication and a detective searching for his wife, converge on opposite sides of a conflict that could decide the fate of both worlds.
Worlds Apart is a dystopian science fiction novel set across Earth and the moon. In a world governed by mandatory medication laws, Peter begins to see through the controlled reality around him and is drawn into an underground resistance. Parallel to his story, investigator Marsh Flusty searches for his missing wife, Ellen, uncovering crime networks, lunar colonies, and the ruthless influence of the enigmatic Robbins. As Peter and Marsh converge on the moon and the truth comes to light, they find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict that could decide the fate of both worlds.
Worlds Apart opens in the institutional ward of a dystopian Earth where every citizen is required to take government issued medication designed to suppress emotional instability, and control perception itself. Jay, a psychiatric patient, experiences bizarre visions and delivers cryptic messages intended for Peter Cross, a staff member who quietly suffers under the medication’s numbing side effects.
Peter, desperate to feel human again, stops taking his injections despite warnings from Dr. Filmore, the facility’s director. What begins as withdrawal quickly becomes revelation: Peter starts seeing the same surreal phenomena as the patients blurred entities, physical “messages,” and impossible coincidences. As deadly, age accelerating “radio rain” falls across the city, he encounters a homeless man and several patients who all repeat the same phrase: they will contact you.
His breaking point arrives when he witnesses a woman age to dust in the toxic rain. Peter demands the truth from Dr. Filmore, who reveals a secret kept since Peter’s childhood, his schizophrenia was treated with a stronger medication than the general population, saving his life but binding him deeper to the system. Refusing to return to the medicated haze, Peter escapes the institution with the unexpected help of Jay and the patients. Now a fugitive, he is hunted by police officers and explosive detection droids.
His escape leads to the most shocking revelation of all, Peter’s wife, Ali, long classified as “dead,” is alive and part of an underground resistance composed of the “pursued”: people who stopped their medication and were never caught. Brought into their hidden bunker, Peter begins to understand their mission, to undermine the government’s psychological control and protect those who see through the illusion.
But not all forces in the shadows are allies.
Parallel to Peter’s awakening, investigator Marsh Flusty searches relentlessly for his missing wife, Ellen. Every lead points toward Robbins, an enigmatic figure connected to crime syndicates and off world operations. Marsh’s pursuit drags him into underground networks, violent confrontations, and ultimately, the lunar colonies lawless, dangerous, and controlled by the same forces manipulating Earth.
When Peter and Marsh reunite briefly, their alliance fractures as each uncovers different pieces of the truth. Both are drawn to the moon for separate reasons, Marsh to find Ellen, Peter to support Ali’s growing resistance. Once there, they are attacked, forced underground, and confronted with evidence that Robbins’ power stretches across worlds.
As conflict escalates throughout the lunar colonies, the truth behind the medication, the resistance, and the government’s hidden agenda emerges. Loyalties shift. The fate of two worlds tightens. And ultimately, Peter and Marsh, once allies, find themselves standing on opposite sides of a conflict that will define the future of Earth and its struggling lunar frontier.
Worlds Apart is a dystopian science fiction thriller about control, perception, rebellion, and the painful cost of seeking truth in a world built on lies.
Mind Control and Medication: Explores the ethical and societal impact of government enforced mandatory medication to maintain a controlled reality.
Earth vs. Lunar Colony: Discusses the political and social divide between the tightly controlled Earth and its developing, crime ridden lunar colony.
The Price of Truth: Focuses on the characters’ journey to uncover a hidden, uncomfortable truth, and the sacrifices required to reveal it.
Dual Narrative: Features two compelling story lines, one of resistance and one of investigation, that converge for a high stakes climax.
A high concept dystopian setting that spans two locations: a medicated Earth and a frontier moon.
Features compelling dual protagonists whose narratives intertwine and collide.
Combines elements of a sci fi conspiracy thriller with a personal search and a resistance movement.
The start of the exciting Worlds Apart Series.
Fans of dystopian fiction that deals with themes of control, surveillance, and rebellion (e.g., 1984, Brave New World).
Readers who enjoy science fiction that explores life in space colonies.
Anyone who loves thrillers with complex, intertwining plots and moral ambiguity.
R. Morello writes psychological and surreal science fiction that explores grief, identity, memory, and the hidden emotional worlds people carry inside them. Shaped by New England roots, his work blends speculative concepts with deeply human storytelling.
R. Morello is a speculative fiction author whose work blends psychological tension, cinematic surrealism, and deeply human emotional arcs. His novels and novellas, including Upside Down, Fractured Echoes, and the Simulation trilogy, explore grief, identity, and the unseen internal worlds we rarely reveal.
His stories often feature “dual selves,” mirrored identities, looping realities, and emotional architectures made literal.
He writes for readers who want more than escapism stories that feel uncomfortably true, beautifully painful, and haunting long after the final page.
ISBN: 979-8882860416
Author photos (on request)
R. Morello
Cathedral Rocks Publishing
