Book excerpt: ONCE UPON A TIME IN ATLANTA ... After losing his dad, a teenager gains the ability to hear the music inside each human soul, allowing him to sense their emotions, see their past memories, and even manipulate their moods. Using his new gift, he vows to carry on his father's legacy and bring his killer to justice. Stephen Kibwaa had a good life and good parents, even if they pushed him hard to do his best. As a gifted pianist, Stephen was sixteen when he was invited to the Georgia Dome to play the National Anthem—but after his show, a human trafficker only known as "The Marxman" murdered Stephen's dad during a failed kidnapping operation. At his father's funeral, Stephen, in his sadness and anger, was gifted with a strange new ability: Suddenly, he was able to hear the song of the souls around him. As 10 years passed by, Stephen worked hard to develop and refine his power, strengthening his body and stopping other human traffickers along the way as Atlanta's shadowed superhero, Dizchord. Now, the past comes back to taunt him as his father's killer, The Marxman, returns to Atlanta ... With themes of grief and loss, duty and honor, and love and sacrifice, Dizchord is an original story set in contemporary Atlanta that tackles issues surrounding family, human trafficking, and growing up from award-winning, genre-hopping author C. S. Johnson. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the light novelization of the comic, Dizchord #1. For more information on the comic, please visit C. S. Johnson's website.