Death by Applause

When controversial comedian Luca Dorne collapses and dies on stage during a live global broadcast, the world sees a tragic accident. But investigative journalist Cassie Kwon sees the impossible: Dorne's death is an exact echo of the bizarre event that killed her brother four years earlier.

Driven by grief and a need for answers, Cassie's investigation plunges her into a conspiracy that stretches from the dawn of civilization to the darkest corners of the internet. She discovers the "Mara Protocol" is not a weapon, but an ancient law of cosmic justice that punishes cruel mockery with death, now weaponized and unleashed by a piece of sentient audio.

As the phenomenon spreads like a plague, Cassie becomes the target of a shadowy corporate-security team desperate to control the signal. Hunted and on the run, she must race to uncover the origin of the sound before the force she's chasing decides she is its next victim.