Culpa Innata - The Novel

NEW YORK – It's the middle of the 21st century, and the world has been divided in half.

Ever since the Great Meltdown, the most devastating depression humanity has ever seen, the world has united into one people, one goal, one mighty global country: the World Union. Beyond that, lie the "Rogue States."

Here in the Union, there are no capital crimes, no poverty, no pollution – even disease has almost been eradicated. The World Union has ushered in an unprecedented era of self-interest and fulfillment. Prosperity is a science, self-interest is a new religion, sex is entertainment, peace is at hand, and the future has never looked brighter. But does this “perfect world” hide darker secrets?

Phoenix Wallis has just been promoted as Senior Agent of the Global Peace and Security Network, the dominant peace-keeping agency of the World Union. She's grown up inside the Union, and ever since she was a child, she's trusted its sanctums. But when she is assigned a high-profile murder just one week on her new position, she enters an investigation that compels her to question everything she's ever believed. Her grasp on reality is now being tested by some powerful forces – forces who may be manipulating her mind. As she struggles for her sanity and survival, a deeply buried inner strength emerges. While she may not realize, Phoenix possesses the key to the single biggest threat to the Union.

B. Barmanbek's Culpa Innata (October 2012, trade paper and Kindle), the original story behind the cult video game of the same name and the first of a trilogy, is set in a world with haunting similarities to our own. Our protagonist moves among simulated humanoids, mind control weapons, memory-reflecting holograms, and 3-dimensional interactive ads: Everyday technologies of this futuristic vision.

"I've always had this deep urge to figure out the world, as a deeper urge tells me that as humanity we're up to no good," says Barmanbek. "Every major civilization attempts to control and shape the world to its own image. I often ask myself if we could create a system where its ultimate aim is truly humanity's development and not perpetuation of the system itself. In Culpa Innata, I have depicted that world, which I believe we are headed towards full speed. I want the reader to ask if the World Union is what she/he really wants. With this book, I hope to bring in a fresh perspective, and provoke the reader to think and question.”

With adventure and science fiction appeal – as well the protagonist's profound self-discovery – Culpa Innata is a book that will linger in the reader's mind long after the last page is turned.

Author B. BARMANBEK is creator, writer, and producer of Culpa Innata, a video game released in 2007 and hailed as the “adventure game of the decade” by reviewers. He is also the co-founder and chairman of Momentum, the company that developed the game. An electric & electronics engineer and an MBA graduate of Wright State University, Barmanbek is currently working on a sequel book to Culpa Innata, titled Chaos Rising. To learn more, visit culpainnata.com