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Severance: Book 1 of the Last Regulator
In the perfect city, every emotion is a crime waiting to happen.
The year is 2747. The cities of Puget Sound have fused into a single regulated organism — the Metroplex — where every citizen wears a neural implant calibrated to keep feeling within sanctioned parameters. A flash of grief, a surge of anger, a moment of joy too sharp to be safe: the implant intervenes before the feeling fully forms, dampening the citizen back into compliance. Crime is nearly extinct. Stability is absolute. The system works.
The system is lying.
Detective Elias Reynor has spent nine years as the Neural Compliance Division's most exemplary officer. His emotional readings are perfect. His arrest record is unmatched. His promotion is a formality — until the day the Board denies it, and a routine call sends him into a Sector 7 apartment where nothing about the scene adds up.
The deeper Elias investigates, the more the inconsistencies multiply. Classified components in street-level technology. Surveillance gaps too precise to be accidents. A partner whose perfect control has begun to feel rehearsed. A doctor whose family history has been redacted by someone with the authority to do it.
What Elias is closing in on isn't a conspiracy against the system.
It is the system.
To find the truth, he'll have to reach for emotions the Metroplex has spent his entire adult life training out of him — and discover, too late, that what's been done to him cannot simply be undone.
Severance is Book One of The Last Regulator — a dystopian science-fiction trilogy about complicity, control, and the cost of becoming human again in a world that has engineered humanity out of its citizens.
Begin the trilogy today.
The year is 2747. The cities of Puget Sound have fused into a single regulated organism — the Metroplex — where every citizen wears a neural implant calibrated to keep feeling within sanctioned parameters. A flash of grief, a surge of anger, a moment of joy too sharp to be safe: the implant intervenes before the feeling fully forms, dampening the citizen back into compliance. Crime is nearly extinct. Stability is absolute. The system works.
The system is lying.
Detective Elias Reynor has spent nine years as the Neural Compliance Division's most exemplary officer. His emotional readings are perfect. His arrest record is unmatched. His promotion is a formality — until the day the Board denies it, and a routine call sends him into a Sector 7 apartment where nothing about the scene adds up.
The deeper Elias investigates, the more the inconsistencies multiply. Classified components in street-level technology. Surveillance gaps too precise to be accidents. A partner whose perfect control has begun to feel rehearsed. A doctor whose family history has been redacted by someone with the authority to do it.
What Elias is closing in on isn't a conspiracy against the system.
It is the system.
To find the truth, he'll have to reach for emotions the Metroplex has spent his entire adult life training out of him — and discover, too late, that what's been done to him cannot simply be undone.
Severance is Book One of The Last Regulator — a dystopian science-fiction trilogy about complicity, control, and the cost of becoming human again in a world that has engineered humanity out of its citizens.
Begin the trilogy today.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2026
About the author
Steven Nimocks
13 books156 followersSteven Nimocks is an award-winning author who skillfully crafts mesmerizing tales with an exquisite touch of refinement and precision. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of cultural encounters and life experiences, including residing in the picturesque landscapes of Germany and Austria, Steven's narratives are a captivating fusion of imagination and reality. Embark on an enchanting literary voyage with Steven Nimocks | Author and get ready to lose yourself in the captivating world of storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
Steven Nimocks’s Severance, Book 1 of The Last Regulator, drops readers into SoundCore, a future Puget Metroplex where emotional control is not a private discipline but the scaffolding of civilization. Elias Reynor, a near-perfect officer in the Neural Compliance Division, begins investigating a dead colleague, illegal emotion markets, sabotaged regulators, and a conspiracy threaded through the very institution he serves. What begins as a procedural investigation becomes a destabilizing journey into memory, obedience, and the dangerous possibility that feeling may be more human than hazardous.
I was drawn in by the book’s atmosphere immediately. SoundCore feels antiseptic and haunted at once, a city of clean corridors, monitored citizens, copper suppressants, and soft blue regulation lights. Nimocks gives the setting a polished menace; everything is orderly, but the order has a pulse under it, something coerced and febrile. Elias is a compelling guide through that world because his certainty erodes by degrees. His transformation is not a sudden rebellion but a slow internal weather change, and that makes the story’s philosophical tension more persuasive.
The novel is strongest when it lets suspicion accumulate like condensation. Juno’s too-perfect responses, Dr. Harven’s guarded knowledge, Alera’s unsettling calm, and the recurring evidence of institutional manipulation all build a pleasing sense of claustrophobia. The exposition and procedural language can feel heavy, but the density suits the book’s machinery-driven world. I appreciated how the action sequences are not merely spectacle; they expose the cruelty of systems that can weaponize protocol, compliance, and even a person’s own intellect against him.
Readers who enjoy dystopian science fiction, cyberpunk thrillers, speculative noir, and books about surveillance, emotional suppression, and institutional rebellion will find plenty to admire here. Severance should appeal to fans of Philip K. Dick’s paranoia and Blake Crouch’s high-concept momentum, though Nimocks gives the material a more procedural, compliance-state edge. This is a sharp opening act for a larger saga, and its best moments ask a question that will leave you thinking: what remains of order when it has severed us from ourselves?
I was drawn in by the book’s atmosphere immediately. SoundCore feels antiseptic and haunted at once, a city of clean corridors, monitored citizens, copper suppressants, and soft blue regulation lights. Nimocks gives the setting a polished menace; everything is orderly, but the order has a pulse under it, something coerced and febrile. Elias is a compelling guide through that world because his certainty erodes by degrees. His transformation is not a sudden rebellion but a slow internal weather change, and that makes the story’s philosophical tension more persuasive.
The novel is strongest when it lets suspicion accumulate like condensation. Juno’s too-perfect responses, Dr. Harven’s guarded knowledge, Alera’s unsettling calm, and the recurring evidence of institutional manipulation all build a pleasing sense of claustrophobia. The exposition and procedural language can feel heavy, but the density suits the book’s machinery-driven world. I appreciated how the action sequences are not merely spectacle; they expose the cruelty of systems that can weaponize protocol, compliance, and even a person’s own intellect against him.
Readers who enjoy dystopian science fiction, cyberpunk thrillers, speculative noir, and books about surveillance, emotional suppression, and institutional rebellion will find plenty to admire here. Severance should appeal to fans of Philip K. Dick’s paranoia and Blake Crouch’s high-concept momentum, though Nimocks gives the material a more procedural, compliance-state edge. This is a sharp opening act for a larger saga, and its best moments ask a question that will leave you thinking: what remains of order when it has severed us from ourselves?
July 6, 2026
Steven Nimocks’ Severance delivers a compelling blend of science fiction, dystopian suspense, and philosophical inquiry. Set in a society built upon emotional regulation and control, the novel follows Elias Reynor as he begins to question the foundations of the system he has faithfully served. Nimocks creates an immersive world with strong technological detail, a believable social structure, and a narrative that steadily builds tension while exploring the cost of sacrificing humanity for order.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its character development. Elias’s gradual awakening to emotions he has long suppressed is handled with nuance and authenticity, allowing readers to experience his confusion, fear, and transformation alongside him. Supporting characters, particularly Alera Moraine, add depth and intrigue, serving as both catalysts for the story’s central conflict and voices for its larger ethical questions. The dialogue is purposeful, and the emotional stakes continue to rise as the plot unfolds.
Severance succeeds as both an entertaining thriller and a thoughtful examination of freedom, identity, and human emotion. Fans of dystopian science fiction in the tradition of Brave New World, 1984, and contemporary speculative fiction will find much to appreciate. With its engaging premise, strong pacing, and meaningful themes, this novel offers a memorable reading experience and leaves readers eager for the next installment.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its character development. Elias’s gradual awakening to emotions he has long suppressed is handled with nuance and authenticity, allowing readers to experience his confusion, fear, and transformation alongside him. Supporting characters, particularly Alera Moraine, add depth and intrigue, serving as both catalysts for the story’s central conflict and voices for its larger ethical questions. The dialogue is purposeful, and the emotional stakes continue to rise as the plot unfolds.
Severance succeeds as both an entertaining thriller and a thoughtful examination of freedom, identity, and human emotion. Fans of dystopian science fiction in the tradition of Brave New World, 1984, and contemporary speculative fiction will find much to appreciate. With its engaging premise, strong pacing, and meaningful themes, this novel offers a memorable reading experience and leaves readers eager for the next installment.
Review of advance copy received from Author
In Severance, Steven Nimocks creates a fully realized dystopian world where neural implants suppress emotions before they can surface, a concept that feels both chilling and disturbingly plausible. The worldbuilding is excellent: detailed, layered, and easy to follow without ever overwhelming the reader. Elias Reynor’s journey from perfect compliance to dangerous curiosity is gripping, especially as he uncovers evidence of emotional manipulation and corruption at the highest levels. Smooth pacing, strong atmosphere, and a detective‑story thread that ties everything together. A clean, compelling read for fans of 1984 and The Giver. ARC provided by the author; no compensation received.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Severance is a must-add for your reading collection. Steven Nimocks adds a new layer to the dystopian thriller with Severance. It is not enough for a Big Brother-style government to regulate your thoughts through propaganda and various other methods; it also regulates your physical emotions through implants. The story is amazingly detailed as it plots Elias' path from unquestioning enforcer of the system to fighting the very institution he is sworn to uphold and protect. Another awesome story by Steven Nimocks from Three-Notch.
July 3, 2026
This story takes the idea of the book 1984 ten steps further. Not only is Big Brother watching even emotions are regulated before they can get out of hand! Who are the ones who are for keeping this human control and who is against it? The investigation into corrupt officials keep us wondering. An interesting concept.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews