Rupture State was born from a simple observation of the blatant divisiveness we find pervading our society today. From its fictional setting it endeavors to then reflect back the implications of this antagonism. Along the way it tackles the intersecting themes of individuality versus community, and security versus fragility. Though the events it chronicles occur in the future, Rupture State is not science fiction as that genre has come to be known. It uses the progression of time as a mechanism to address the themes described above, but the characters remain relatable to our current day. The story is told through a new voice: the vulnerable voice of its over-thinking, self-doubting protagonist. It is a compelling voice, even for those readers who do not share an engineer’s thinking pattern. Otto Bonder searches for connection in a society evolved into disjointedness. The struggle of that search, however, becomes secondary when he is blindsided by the unforeseen tragedy of an otherwise idle Thursday. A restaurant he designed collapses, leaving hundreds dead. Banished from all that is familiar as penance for this calamity, Otto is thrust on an uncharted journey to a foreign land, accompanied by little more than the burden of his own guilt and doubt. Through the uncertainty of his voyage, Otto finds support where it is least expected. Samantha Justus and her brothers retrieve him from the clutches of an enemy he does not fully grasp. He finds himself an unknowing target in the midst of a strife much larger than his own tribulation. But buoyed by his newfound community—heretofore a foreign concept—Otto discovers a secret that holds in its fragile hand the survival of his homeland. He is left with the challenge of navigating a return to the scene of the crime in the hope of saving those who would convict him. It is not a mission he can accomplish alone. It will require the combined efforts of Sam, E.J., Benny, Marcos, Desmond, Bree, Hardy, and Tika—the tribe that has assembled along the way.