Chain Gang All Stars is a work of speculative fiction about the carceral system in the United States, in which inmates can enroll in the CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) program. CAPE participating prisoners may be either High or Low Freed (released or killed, respectively) through surviving a number of years as members of a futuristic version of a
chain gang called a “Chain,” where each prisoner serves as a “Link.” They travel the states competing in gladiator matches. As part of the CAPE program, inmates are under constant, publicly-broadcast surveillance that serves as a popular form of entertainment across the nation. Many join after enduring harsh conditions while incarcerated, such as
forced silence,
solitary confinement, and prison brutality. The novel follows the Angola-Hammond Chain, composed of Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, Loretta "Blood Mama" Thurwar, Randy Mac, and other Links including the recently deceased Sunset Harkless. It opens with Hurricane Staxxx and Loretta Thurwar, the novel’s romantically-involved main protagonists, as they defeat their respective opponents in battle. We briefly meet eventual members of another Chain, Hendrix Young and Simon J. Craft. The battles draw a large crowd, including a couple that voyeuristically consumes all Chain Gang content and a group of protestors that oppose the CAPE program. The second act opens with Simon J. Craft held in solitary confinement and subjected to a futuristic form of
police brutality through the use of the Influencer. We then go back to the activist Mari, Sunset Harkless’s daughter, who is in a meeting with the
abolitionist group Coalition to End Neo-Slavery to decide if they should support the broadcaster Tracy Lasser who protested CAPE on the air. It is then revealed when we get back to the primary chain that Thurwar has a bad knee, just as the chain is brought into a “Melee” with another chain. After a short discussion and before the fight can begin, a man from the other chain commits suicide so that the two Chains do not need to come to blows and risk Thurwar being injured. We are taken to a boardroom where the board votes in favor of a new rule for season 33 that means Staxxx and Thurwar will fight each other. We are then taken back to Simon J. Craft, whose mental state has deteriorated due to solitary confinement and influencing and is pressured into murdering a man in a staged brawl. A flashback takes us through the life of the inventor of the influencer device, a device whose origins lie in attempting to eradicate pain but instead amplifies it. The inventor burns down the lab she works in and is imprisoned. Hendrix is then introduced to his chain, where he is accepted by Bells, Razor, and Eighty, and racially mocked by the
white supremacist Eraser triplets. Simon is introduced to this chain where he kills all the links except Hendrix, who does not retaliate. Thurwar and Staxxx spar, seeing each other as opponents for the first time. The A-Hamm chain marches to Old Taperville, Staxxx’s hometown, to give a
sports presser and participate in a farmer’s market as part of
community service. A protest overwhelms the market and causes Staxxx and Thurwar to reveal personal secrets to one another. Staxxx recounts a night where Sunset Harkless addresses the rest of the A-Hamm chain off camera. He tells them to forgive themselves and be better people. After the meeting, Sunset removes himself from the rest of the group, bringing Staxxx with him away from the others so that they remain unseen. He informs Staxxx of the upcoming rule change for Season 33 and subsequently asks her to help him commit suicide because he cannot forgive himself. The book then transitions to the development of Hendrix and Craft as a duo, establishing their dynamic as warden and ward. Thurwar and Staxxx prepare Randy Mac for his fight, which they expect will end with his demise. It is revealed that Mari is attending the battle, where she sees Randy Mac’s death. Before the doubles match, Mari storms the field with a sign that reads “Where Life Is Precious, Life Is Precious.” Guards seize her and use the Influencer on her before she is taken off the field. In the battle, Singer is slain first, causing Craft to rush over to his body. This allows Staxxx to finish the fight by killing Craft. Before the first fight of Season 33, Thurwar and Staxx have a heart to heart during another night off camera, leaving both uneasy about their upcoming fight. During their match, Thurwar addresses the crowd for the first time in months. Thurwar ultimately becomes High Freed by killing Staxxx, her lover. == Development ==