Kindle Customer

After his parents' separation uproots him from everyone and everything he's ever known, Spencer tries to bury himself in video games. That's easier said than done when his game systems are miles away, and the only game shop in town doubles as a smoke den. Ready to give up, Spencer is introduced to Monster Gear—an augmented reality, geocaching, monster-taming RPG for his phone. Thinking it's just another mobile game, Spencer is ready to try it and toss it aside. There's only one problem: the monsters are real.

I guess you could call my latest job interview a success. I got hired, and it's way beyond my wildest dreams. The pay isn't great. And the hours are pretty much 24/7. But there's magic. And a portal to a fantasy world. Those kind of outweigh the negatives. At first, I thought I was just testing the latest VR survival RPG, but I'm starting to think this might not be a game after all. The monsters are definitely life-like and capable of carving me apart on their worst days. But on their best days, I make them mine.