The Shot of Forever: A Bio Tech SciFi Short Story (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798277583722)

Adrian Harper is forty-something, camera-facing, and one bad lighting setup away from career extinction. When biotech darling Vitalisis offers him a "next-gen immune optimization shot" that promises more energy, clearer skin, and a tighter jawline, he signs the consent forms and doesn't look too hard at the fine print. Overnight, the aches fade, his reflection sharpens, and the likes roll in.

Then his rescue mutt Daisy starts preferring his water glass to her bowl. Her paw twitches. Spreads. Learns. And Adrian realizes the miracle in his veins didn't stop at him.

As videos of "mutant" animals explode across social media, Vitalisis scrambles to spin the story-and to get their enhanced poster boy back under control. Caught between a ruthless corporation, a government that wants weaponized solutions, and a vet-researcher he's falling for, Adrian is forced into an impossible choice: keep the forever-youth they sold him, or become the test case for shutting the whole thing down... even if it costs him the body he thought he needed to survive.

The Shot of Forever is a biotech thriller about vanity, consent, and what still counts as human when the line between man, animal, and asset starts to blur.

The Shot of Forever launches a sharp, unnervingly plausible biotech thriller through the lens of queer midlife anxiety. Adrian, a forty-three-year-old gay marketing professional terrified of aging out of desirability, turns to a luxury "immune optimization" clinic that infuses him with engineered bio-symbionts. The early chapters excel at blending sleek, believable medical science with deeply embodied experience: the infusion, the brutal fever that follows, and the eerie, almost sacramental sense that something new is moving through his blood.

When the treatment's benefits kick in-better skin, more energy, sharpened focus, renewed attention from coworkers and men in bars-the book captures both the giddy relief and the queasy knowledge that this glow has a cost. Daisy, the dog who adores him, becomes the story's emotional center and an early signal that the symbionts may be more transmissible and transformative than anyone admits. A metallic smell, odd changes in her saliva, and a fleetingly "wrong" paw keep the tension taut without cheap jump scares.

The voice is witty, contemporary, and grounded in real queer social dynamics, from Instagram thirst traps to the age hierarchy in gay bars. Readers who want a character-driven, slow-burn sci-fi thriller-with strong LGBTQ+ representation, believable biotech, and mounting unease-will find plenty to latch onto here. Those who prefer straightforward action over introspection may find the early focus on body, mood, and social perception more deliberate than they expect, but for readers who like their thrillers thoughtful and unsettling, this is a compelling start.
- True Voice Review