A Select Group

Divorced, broke, and jobless, Caleb believes he's found a reprieve from a life on the streets when he answers an ad calling for volunteers in an extended university study. Along with a dozen others, he trades his clothes for a simple uniform and boards a bus for an undisclosed destination. As the driver takes them higher and higher into the remote California mountains, the hapless volunteers debate what exactly they've signed up for. Just before their phones are confiscated, they find a paper published by the study's sponsor professor, predicting the effects on groups when confronted with dire dangers. As Caleb watches miles of wilderness glide past, he wonders if he should have settled for a life under a city overpass. A Select Group is a taught thriller that explores the tribal tendency within us all--and the dark potential of a few--when groups are threatened. Against the doomed us-versus-them defense, stands one woman determined that people can rise above primal instincts to cooperate and persevere against those that seek to capitalize on human frailties.

"Enormously clever and very fun to read. Unique and inventive, the ensemble of characters and their transgressions are both riveting and amusing. The book is well-crafted and tonally consistent, with Readler effectively adding some apt,but unobtrusive, social notes. A Select Group is a solidly entertaining read from start to finish, with well-drawn characters, a quick-moving plot, and a number of surprises, which characterize Readler's fiction."
                                                                             --SPR

5 stars
"Entertaining and inspiring, A Select Group by Blaine C.Readler explores what is intrinsically embedded in human nature, the sentimentmost of us wish we never had, but which we must live with and learn to faceevery day. . . A Select Group took me by surprise, plunging me headlong into anadventure that I never expected, a story that explores human nature and what ittakes to transcend it."
               --Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

"a Divergent meets TheHunger Games story of survival by not just the fittest but the smartest.. . The struggles and outcomes of the characters (and their dynamics together)are a mystery throughout the novel, leading up to an unexpected ending thatwill leave the reader shocked and cheering all at the same time."
                                           -- Jennifer Hartman, RECOMMENDED by the US Review of Books

5stars
". . . a story that reaches into the heart of everyone whohas always harboured a longing to try something different, perhaps a new,simpler lifestyle. This story puts everything into perspective as man'soverwhelming desire to survive crushes the values of relationships, friendship,teamwork and consideration for others. A visual story ideal for furtherdiscussion and with the potential for becoming a memorable classic."
                                            -- Jane Finch for Readers' Favorite