Gamer Army - Trent Reedy

In this timely and thrilling novel, Ender's Game meets Ready Player One and several terabytes of fast-paced video game action as five gamers are recruited into a tech giant's secret program.

After Rogan Webber levels up yet again on his favorite video game, Laser Viper, the world-famous creator of the game invites him to join the five best players in the country for an exclusive tournament. The gamers are flown to the tech mogul's headquarters, where they stay in luxury dorms and test out cutting edge virtual-reality gaming equipment, doing digital battle as powerful fighting robots. It's the ultimate gaming experience.

But as the contest continues, the missions become harder, losing gamers are eliminated, and the remaining contestants face the growing suspicion that the game may not be what it seems. Why do the soldiers and robots they fight in Laser Viper act so weird? What's behind the strange game glitches? And why does the game feel so... real?

Rogan and his gamer rivals must come together, summoning the collective power of their Gamer Army to discover the truth and make things right... in a dangerous world where video games have invaded reality.