In the Hotel Zion

by Matthew H. Jones

Sixteen-year-old Jonah looks for someone important, someone he lost. Jonah tries to connect with someone important, someone divine. Jonah fights someone terrible, someone who can enslave gods.He lives in an inescapable hotel with only two years of reliable memory. He lives in an irradiated future where mankind is rare and being surpassed by a new species. He lives in a world wherein bad men murder and rape to prove the point: you can’t escape, you can’t win and even the gods belong to us. Jonah must prove them wrong or let everyone he loves to suffer.

453 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Matthew H. Jones writes—whether his work is good or bad, he leaves for the reader to decide, hoping they make the right choice. His fiction is contemplative, pulse-pounding, funny, stirring, and lyrical—or so he believes, though he admits he’s biased.
A devoted Stephen King fan, he studied the dark arts of horror at the Master’s knee. As a blind, Black writer, he carved out his place in the literary landscape of Lowell, Massachusetts, before making his way to Manchester, New Hampshire. These days, he spends his time weaving stories of terror, drinking far too much coffee, and marveling—often in sheer bewilderment—at the antics of his two white stepchildren.
Raised on ’80s comedies and casual fantasy like Warriors of Virtue, The NeverEnding Story, and The Pagemaster, he, like everyone else, devoured the Harry Potter series. But reading wasn’t always easy. Poor eyesight led to frequent headaches, and at twelve, he was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration—a condition usually reserved for the elderly. His vision sits at 20/400, meaning what the average person sees at four hundred feet, he can only make out at twenty. So, if you value your life, don’t ask him to drive.
His diagnosis came with a collection of magnifiers, countless eye specialist appointments, and a membership at the Perkins Talking Book Library. Twelve was also the year he lost interest in running the neighborhood with a pack of boys. Instead, he visited the school nurse, complaining of ailments that didn’t exist. He found solace in solitude, retreating with his talking books in their green plastic cases. At too young an age, he read Catch-22, 1984, Animal Farm, and Black Like Me.
Writing was always there, though never serious at first. But as his skills improved, so did his standards. Now, he believes he’s cleared the bar. Each novel he writes is the best he’s ever written. He’s proud of every word, every idea, and every character he creates. And he’s eager for readers to dive in because, in his mind, a book isn’t a book without a reader. Without them, he wouldn’t write a single word.
 
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Also by Matthew H. Jones:
📖 Fight Wizard – Available on Kindle and in paperback.
📖 Gun Girl – Available on Kindle and in paperback.
📖 No Magic for Luke Peters – Available on Kindle, in paperback, and on Audible.
📖 Wish I Could Love You: A Collection of Failed Love Stories – Available on Audible, Kindle, and in paperback.
📖 Somebody’s Monster – Available on Kindle, in paperback, and on Audible.
📖 Cheat Away, Idiot! An English Major's Essays from an Entire Semester – Available on Kindle, in paperback, and on Audible.
📖 Kid Silver: Alone – Available on Kindle, in paperback, and on Audible.
📖 In the Hotel Zion – Available on Kindle, in paperback, and on Audible.
He also collaborates with his writing group to publish a literary journal:
📝 Mill Pages Vol. 1
📝 Mill Pages Vol. 2
📝 Mill Pages Vol. 3

Reviews

[Owen Hayes]

This is dystopian fiction done right dark, philosophical, and unapologetically intense. In the Hotel Zion blends post-apocalyptic survival with bold speculative ideas about divinity, memory, and dominance. The world-building is ambitious and unsettling, and the stakes feel brutally real. Jones isn’t afraid to push boundaries or explore humanity at its worst to ask what, if anything, can still be saved. If you enjoy dystopian stories that challenge your morals instead of spoon-feeding hope, this book delivers.

[Avery Reese]

In the Hotel Zion is not an easy book and that’s exactly why it matters. Matthew H. Jones builds a world that feels suffocating, fractured, and painfully human. Jonah’s struggle with memory, faith, and survival mirrors the way trauma reshapes identity. This novel doesn’t rely on comfort or simplicity; it demands emotional participation. The prose is stark, sometimes brutal, but always intentional. Long after finishing the last page, the questions it raises about power, belief, and freedom linger. This is dystopian fiction with a soul.

[Emily Hayes]

What impressed me most about this novel is its thematic depth. Beneath the violence and bleak future lies a sharp examination of control over bodies, over belief, over gods themselves. Jonah’s limited memory is more than a plot device; it’s a metaphor for how power thrives on erasure. The writing is deliberate and heavy, but it suits the story’s purpose. This is a challenging read, but a rewarding one for readers who appreciate layered storytelling and moral complexity.

[Mike]

Gorgeous and evocative writing from a local author. The plot’s a little tough to piece together even by the end, but it doesn’t necessarily matter with Jones’s vivid and electric prose.

This edition also features an essay on the Red Summer of 1919 which was compelling and ties well to the story, plus a short story which I loved and am hoping is maybe part of something larger.