Nick Kolakowski's Blog - Posts Tagged "science-fiction"
"Maxine Unleashes Doomsday" Up for Pre-Order
My next book, a noir/sci-fi hybrid titled "Maxine Unleashes Doomsday," is now up for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as all the other (usual) venues.
Here's the summary for ya:
The United States has collapsed. Bandits stalk the highways, preying on the weak and unaware.
In order to transport goods between heavily fortified cities, companies hire convoy escorts. Maxine is the best of these new road warriors: tough, smart, and unbelievably fast. But she also has a secret: She's the niece of New York's most notorious outlaw, a man hunted by what's left of the nation's law enforcement.
Maxine wants to live a normal, upstanding life. But a bad incident on the road leaves her mauled, penniless...and fired. If she wants to survive, she's going to need to embrace her outlaw roots--and carry off the biggest heist that the post-apocalypse has ever seen. It's a journey that will take her through obstacle after obstacle to the edge of death itself--and beyond.
"Maxine Unleashes Doomsday" smashes the gritty frenzy of "Mad Max: Fury Road" with the top-notch suspense of a crime saga like "Heat." It's a brutal thriller that offers a terrifying glimpse of our future.
Praise for MAXINE UNLEASHES DOOMSDAY:
"Take one of Richard Stark's 'Parker' novels and throw it in the blender with DVDs of 'Mad Max' and 'The Warriors.' Guess what? You just broke your blender. Find solace in this book, which is what you should have done in the first place." --Rob Hart, author of 'The Warehouse' and 'New Yorked'
"'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' rolls in with bang-up premise and keeps on punching. This is a trip into the far future and then the near future, where the oceans have swallowed up the coasts, the United States has fractured, and people like Maxine are left in the dust. But Maxine is tough and she's got no patience for any crap and she will survive...one way or another. Filled with a terrific carnival cast of characters, cracker-jack scenes, and Kolakowski's witty prose, 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' is a fantastic read and definitely well worth your time." --Jen Conley, author of 'Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry' and 'Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens'
"Loaded with savvy world-building, memorable characters and precise, sharp plotting, I devoured Nick Kolakowski's latest. The post-apocalyptic and wonderfully bonkers 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' will keep you turning pages at a breakneck pace." --Alex Segura, author of 'Blackout' and 'Dangerous Ends'
"I don't know which is more terrifying: how wildly inventive this book is, or how close this fractured world is to ours. In 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday,' Kolakowski gives us the hero we need for the apocalypse we deserve." --Nik Korpon, author of 'Wear Your Home Like a Scar' and 'Old Ghosts'
"If George Miller ('Mad Max') and Sol Yurick ('The Warriors') had a bastard kid, there's a good chance it would be Nick Kolakowski's 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday.' White hot words and images of a crumbling society leap off the page giving the reader a scary look at a future which, in light of what's going on today, is not so far-fetched. Kolakowski is a master at creating fascinating, horrifying characters fighting for existence in a world gone wild." --Charles Salzberg, Shamus Award-nominated author of 'Swann's Last Song' and 'Second Story Man'
I've been working on this one for years, so I have quite a bit of personal pride in it. Hopefully the future portrayed in the book isn't the one that actually comes to pass.
Here's the summary for ya:
The United States has collapsed. Bandits stalk the highways, preying on the weak and unaware.
In order to transport goods between heavily fortified cities, companies hire convoy escorts. Maxine is the best of these new road warriors: tough, smart, and unbelievably fast. But she also has a secret: She's the niece of New York's most notorious outlaw, a man hunted by what's left of the nation's law enforcement.
Maxine wants to live a normal, upstanding life. But a bad incident on the road leaves her mauled, penniless...and fired. If she wants to survive, she's going to need to embrace her outlaw roots--and carry off the biggest heist that the post-apocalypse has ever seen. It's a journey that will take her through obstacle after obstacle to the edge of death itself--and beyond.
"Maxine Unleashes Doomsday" smashes the gritty frenzy of "Mad Max: Fury Road" with the top-notch suspense of a crime saga like "Heat." It's a brutal thriller that offers a terrifying glimpse of our future.
Praise for MAXINE UNLEASHES DOOMSDAY:
"Take one of Richard Stark's 'Parker' novels and throw it in the blender with DVDs of 'Mad Max' and 'The Warriors.' Guess what? You just broke your blender. Find solace in this book, which is what you should have done in the first place." --Rob Hart, author of 'The Warehouse' and 'New Yorked'
"'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' rolls in with bang-up premise and keeps on punching. This is a trip into the far future and then the near future, where the oceans have swallowed up the coasts, the United States has fractured, and people like Maxine are left in the dust. But Maxine is tough and she's got no patience for any crap and she will survive...one way or another. Filled with a terrific carnival cast of characters, cracker-jack scenes, and Kolakowski's witty prose, 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' is a fantastic read and definitely well worth your time." --Jen Conley, author of 'Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry' and 'Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens'
"Loaded with savvy world-building, memorable characters and precise, sharp plotting, I devoured Nick Kolakowski's latest. The post-apocalyptic and wonderfully bonkers 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday' will keep you turning pages at a breakneck pace." --Alex Segura, author of 'Blackout' and 'Dangerous Ends'
"I don't know which is more terrifying: how wildly inventive this book is, or how close this fractured world is to ours. In 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday,' Kolakowski gives us the hero we need for the apocalypse we deserve." --Nik Korpon, author of 'Wear Your Home Like a Scar' and 'Old Ghosts'
"If George Miller ('Mad Max') and Sol Yurick ('The Warriors') had a bastard kid, there's a good chance it would be Nick Kolakowski's 'Maxine Unleashes Doomsday.' White hot words and images of a crumbling society leap off the page giving the reader a scary look at a future which, in light of what's going on today, is not so far-fetched. Kolakowski is a master at creating fascinating, horrifying characters fighting for existence in a world gone wild." --Charles Salzberg, Shamus Award-nominated author of 'Swann's Last Song' and 'Second Story Man'
I've been working on this one for years, so I have quite a bit of personal pride in it. Hopefully the future portrayed in the book isn't the one that actually comes to pass.
Crime Fiction, Meet Science Fiction
Over at Mystery Tribune (which is an awesome magazine, BTW, if you're into everything mystery- and thriller-related), there's a great writeup by Tobias Carroll about how science fiction and crime fiction are colliding.
Carroll focuses on three books in particular: "Maxine Unleashes Doomsday," Rob Hart's "The Warehouse," and Alex DiFrancesco’s "All City." All three of these books deal with dystopia; all are pretty... pessimistic when it comes to our chances? In any case, Carroll writes:
If you're looking for holiday books with a sci-fi theme, these three should be at the top of your list (and I wrote one of 'em, which makes me biased... sue me). Here are the requisite links:
MAXINE UNLEASHES DOOMSDAY
THE WAREHOUSE
ALL CITY
Check 'em out!
Carroll focuses on three books in particular: "Maxine Unleashes Doomsday," Rob Hart's "The Warehouse," and Alex DiFrancesco’s "All City." All three of these books deal with dystopia; all are pretty... pessimistic when it comes to our chances? In any case, Carroll writes:
"These are books that get under your skin. The best crime fiction can do that — focusing in on the way people treat one another inhumanely or depicting societal corruption. These opt for similar themes, but do so in vividly rendered near-future settings. As you take in the sights, you almost miss the dangers laying in wait — and then it’s too late. Hopefully, in reading these novels, the same isn’t true for the world we live in now."
If you're looking for holiday books with a sci-fi theme, these three should be at the top of your list (and I wrote one of 'em, which makes me biased... sue me). Here are the requisite links:
MAXINE UNLEASHES DOOMSDAY
THE WAREHOUSE
ALL CITY
Check 'em out!
'Lockdown' Releases This Week!
For the past few months, I’ve been working alongside co-editor Steve Weddle and publisher Jason Pinter (of Polis Books) on a very special project: Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic, an anthology of 20 suspense, noir, and horror stories set against the background of a (fictional) pandemic. One hundred percent of the proceeds from “Lockdown” will go to support BINC, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, as it seeks to help booksellers recover from the devastating COVID-19 crisis.
Some background: This project came together super-fast by publishing standards, and I’m in awe of how quickly our authors turned around their uniformly excellent, mind-blowing stories—especially since everyone was also scrambling to figure out their self-imposed lockdowns. The pandemic in the book is fictional, which allowed them to play with all kinds of subgenres: heist, zombie, murder-mystery, even an incredible riff on “Peter Pan.” If you want to help booksellers through the pandemic while landing some enjoyable reading, check out “Lockdown” from the following bookstores:
• Bookshop.org
• Indiebound
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
The authors include:
• Hector Acosta
• Scott Adlerberg
• Ann Dávila Cardinal
• Gemma Amor
• V. Castro
• Angel Luis Colon
• Jen Conley
• Terri Lynn Coop
• S.A. Cosby
• Alex DiFrancesco
• Michelle Garza/Melissa Lason
• Rob Hart
• Gabino Iglesias
• Nick Kolakowski
• Richie Narvaez
• Cina Pelayo
• Renee Asher Pickup
• Eryk Pruitt
• Johnny Shaw
• Steve Weddle
We’re incredibly proud of this effort, and we hope you like it, too.
Some background: This project came together super-fast by publishing standards, and I’m in awe of how quickly our authors turned around their uniformly excellent, mind-blowing stories—especially since everyone was also scrambling to figure out their self-imposed lockdowns. The pandemic in the book is fictional, which allowed them to play with all kinds of subgenres: heist, zombie, murder-mystery, even an incredible riff on “Peter Pan.” If you want to help booksellers through the pandemic while landing some enjoyable reading, check out “Lockdown” from the following bookstores:
• Bookshop.org
• Indiebound
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
The authors include:
• Hector Acosta
• Scott Adlerberg
• Ann Dávila Cardinal
• Gemma Amor
• V. Castro
• Angel Luis Colon
• Jen Conley
• Terri Lynn Coop
• S.A. Cosby
• Alex DiFrancesco
• Michelle Garza/Melissa Lason
• Rob Hart
• Gabino Iglesias
• Nick Kolakowski
• Richie Narvaez
• Cina Pelayo
• Renee Asher Pickup
• Eryk Pruitt
• Johnny Shaw
• Steve Weddle
We’re incredibly proud of this effort, and we hope you like it, too.
