Hostile Takeover (Series)

Hostile Takeover is a series written by Andrew McInerney and the fourth series in the Fireside Universe. It tells the story of Benjamin Price, a teenager who becomes inspired to write and perform music, forms a music group, becomes famous, and then deals with life in the spotlight.

Hostile Takeover
Benjamin Price is a high school freshman who is notably unpopular. He has a talent for English class, specifically in poetry and in deciphering the deeper meanings of the many books his class reads. He has a caring and loving family, though the family fights a lot and is under constant financial stress. Ben translates his thoughts on his life into poetry, and after getting into rap music, begins writing his own raps over simple beats he downloads off the internet. He eventually makes a mix-tape, "Origins", and releases it anonymously under the name "Pri$". A teachers aid at the school Ben is friendly with, Myles, hears the tape and correctly identifies Ben based on his voice and the scenarios he raps about. Myles confronts Ben about his talent, and convinces Ben to perform, with Myles, down at a local community shelter, anonymously. Ben agrees, and though he struggles at first, is a huge hit with the crowd. Myles convinces Ben to further perform at the School's upcoming talent show with another student, a popular one named Jeremy James-Jones, or "Triple J", who is a known and fairly talented rapper at the school. Ben agrees, on the condition that he may remain anonymous. The show goes great, but Triple J, not wanting Ben's talent to go uncredited, reveals his identity during the show by pulling down the hood he was wearing during it. Though initially stunned, the cheers of his fellow students are encouraging to Ben, who decides to form a musical group with Triple J and Myles, the two of whom accept, but not before Ben reveals he wants to find more Members too.

Hostile Takeover II
Ben, wanting to give other students the same opportunity to show they're musical abilities that he got, begins tryouts for "The Hostile Takeover" music group, with the intention of having multiple different performers across multiple different genres. During and after tryouts, Ben, Triple J, and Myles begins planning "The Takeover", a day intended to "Takeover" the school with a music festival held out on the schools main field with all members of the Hostile Takeover being able to show their stuff. The takeover and subsequent show are a hit, and videos and recordings of the show go viral. Ben and company begin to do bigger and bigger local shows, with larger audiences everytime. They soon do another "Takeover", this time in Fireside Central, which makes them a huge hit. The book ends with Ben excited for what the future holds as the Hostile Takeover is seeing the beginnings of super stardom.

Hostile Takeover III
The Hostile Takeover is riding high on success, and opens the party house "Takeover Mansion" as a means to celebrate their luck, talent, and good fortune. During the performance however, Myles is shot and killed by a drunk and angered party guest. Feeling responsible for the death, Ben slips into a depression and ends up leaving the Hostile Takeover because of it. The group suffers as a result, both because they no longer have a true leader and because they are dealing with the tragedy in their own ways as well. The group disbands for the most part and stops doing shows and putting out music, though the group is still considered "active". Ben begins abusing drugs and alcohol, which is soon picked on by the media, worsening his mental state. He becomes violent and degenerate, and is only saved by the intervention of Triple JJJ and a young fan, Luke Stark. Ben records and releases a song about his experience and redemption, which encourages the group to comeback together and prepare for a comeback, even though the media treats the release as nothing more than a cash grab.

Hostile Takeover IV
The Final story, The Hostile Takeover performs a country wide tour as a tribute to Myles by not letting their dreams die with him. Ben's recovery and acceptance of who he his and the life he now leads is a main point of the story, though it is mostly a fun story and the plot isn't as heavy as in the previous three.

Trivia

 * In initial concepts of the series, the group performed popular music from a variety of genres including Rap, Rock, Pop, Electronic, and R&B. While they still perform the variety of genres, the songs are all original.