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Expiration Date
If you thought Duane Swierczynski's The Blonde and Severance Package were page turners, hold on to your seat. Expiration Date is a detective novel with a time-travel twist that will leave readers gasping.In this neighborhood, make a wrong turn… and you're history. Mickey Wade is a recently-unemployed journalist who lucked into a rent-free apartment—his sick grandfather's place. The only it's in a lousy neighborhood—the one where Mickey grew up, in fact. The one he was so desperate to escape. But now he's back. Dead broke. And just when he thinks he's reached rock bottom, Mickey wakes up in the past. Literally. At first he thinks it's a dream. All of the stores he remembered from his childhood, the cars, the rumble of the elevated train. But as he digs deeper into the past, searching for answers about the grandfather he hardly knows, Mickey meets the twelve-year-old kid who lives in the apartment below. The kid who will grow up to someday murder Mickey's father.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2010
13 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Duane Swierczynski
523 books917 followersDuane Swierczynski is an American crime writer who has written a number of non-fiction books, novels and also writes for comic books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
June 24, 2014
A decent little pulp tale of time travel and revenge that's all a bit obvious if intricately plotted, you've surely read or seen this story before but the setting is different and the characters have had their names changed. That's not a criticism of Swierczynski, modern pulp authors have as much right to churn one out on an interesting subject as much as the guys who worked by the word during the golden age of pulps but there's no way you can then legitimately qualify the work as a highlight of their career either. We know Swierczynski is a talented writer who has already given us half a dozen modern noir tales to cherish and none of that talent is missing here, Expiration Date flies past like a fun episode of your favourite TV show and even though there's not a huge amount of depth to the characters there is at least something to cling to as he weaves his time travel rug of inevitability, making a subject that seems to positively bamboozle 99.9% of Hollywood appear to be the most uncomplicated thing in the world to read as he effortlessly closes his loop.
May 5, 2010
The pills in this book should have this warning sticker on the bottle: Side effects may include drowsiness, headache, and traveling through time. Use only as directed.
Mickey Wade is a reporter who just lost his job due to downsizing at his paper. Since his grandfather is in a coma in the hospital, Mickey moves into his apartment to save money, but he hates returning to the neighborhood he grew up in because it’s decayed into a slum.
When Mickey takes a couple of pills he thinks are aspirin out of his grandfather’s medicine cabinet, he travels through time to the year he was born, 1972. He can walk around and interact with the environment, but most people can’t see him. Light also has a horrible effect on him when he’s in the past.
Mickey becomes obsessed with time traveling and starts popping more pills than Marilyn Monroe. At first, he’s just trying to figure out what’s happening, then he tries to figure out a way to make money with his journeys, but he eventually finds out that his trips have brought him to face-to-face with a young boy who will grow up to murder Mickey’s father.
Swierczynski has blended elements of sci-fi and crime novels together before in The Blonde, and this a decent time travel story with an interesting hook.
Mickey Wade is a reporter who just lost his job due to downsizing at his paper. Since his grandfather is in a coma in the hospital, Mickey moves into his apartment to save money, but he hates returning to the neighborhood he grew up in because it’s decayed into a slum.
When Mickey takes a couple of pills he thinks are aspirin out of his grandfather’s medicine cabinet, he travels through time to the year he was born, 1972. He can walk around and interact with the environment, but most people can’t see him. Light also has a horrible effect on him when he’s in the past.
Mickey becomes obsessed with time traveling and starts popping more pills than Marilyn Monroe. At first, he’s just trying to figure out what’s happening, then he tries to figure out a way to make money with his journeys, but he eventually finds out that his trips have brought him to face-to-face with a young boy who will grow up to murder Mickey’s father.
Swierczynski has blended elements of sci-fi and crime novels together before in The Blonde, and this a decent time travel story with an interesting hook.
May 21, 2018
Easy, fast paced book with the feel of a great Rod Serling novel. I have not read anything else by this author but if this is an indication of his style I want to read more of his books.
December 29, 2010
I'd never heard of Duane Swierzynski before I saw Expiration Date as one of the Early Reviewer books on LibraryThing. I didn't win a copy, so I purchased one based on the summary of the title and the enthusiastic responses I found to the author's previous novels.
Expiration Date is a fast-paced, twisty time-travel mystery written in a first-person hardboiled crime pulp style, and featuring occasional B&W ink illustrations by comic book artist Lawrence Campbell (this is a novel, not a graphic novel). Mickey Wade lost his job and his grandfather is comatose in the hospital, so Mickey moves into his grandfather's apartment and accidentally discovers that the pills in the old Tylenol bottle from his grandfather's medicine cabinet aren't meant for headaches. Oh, and they also happen to cause him to travel back to around the year of his birth in 1972. Now, this could present some interesting opportunities...if Mickey wasn't invisible and allergic to light while in the past.
I'd hate to give too much away, but Wade is juggling problems in both times, trying to piece together family mysteries in the past while convincing his best friend that all that time he spends passed out on the floor has nothing to do with being a drug addict. The crux of time travel stories is usually how the past affects the future and the question of how will a particular author or movie treat the consequences of actions in the past.
Suffice it to say that I consider myself a new fan of Duane Swierczynski and look forward to reading his other novels (already picked up Severance Package and just got The Blonde from the library). The only complaint anyone should have is that it's only about 235 pages, and will be over before you know it. To be fair, though, the story was conceived as a weekly serial for New York Times Sunday Magazine, and you'll probably want to read it again anyway.
I'll leave you with part of the prologue:
"Time's arrow only seems to fly straight when you're alive. Dead is something else. Once you cross that invisible line, you see things how they really are. You see that every moment seems to happen at once.
"Which makes telling this story - or the most important parts of it, anyway - difficult. Usually, you start at the beginning. Or the middle, so the audience doesn't get bored.
"Problem is, I'm very hazy on the beginning and the middle, as I came in at the end. I can speculate, but it'd be nothing more than a wild guess. I guess I should start with the day I moved into the apartment and went back in time."
Expiration Date is a fast-paced, twisty time-travel mystery written in a first-person hardboiled crime pulp style, and featuring occasional B&W ink illustrations by comic book artist Lawrence Campbell (this is a novel, not a graphic novel). Mickey Wade lost his job and his grandfather is comatose in the hospital, so Mickey moves into his grandfather's apartment and accidentally discovers that the pills in the old Tylenol bottle from his grandfather's medicine cabinet aren't meant for headaches. Oh, and they also happen to cause him to travel back to around the year of his birth in 1972. Now, this could present some interesting opportunities...if Mickey wasn't invisible and allergic to light while in the past.
I'd hate to give too much away, but Wade is juggling problems in both times, trying to piece together family mysteries in the past while convincing his best friend that all that time he spends passed out on the floor has nothing to do with being a drug addict. The crux of time travel stories is usually how the past affects the future and the question of how will a particular author or movie treat the consequences of actions in the past.
Suffice it to say that I consider myself a new fan of Duane Swierczynski and look forward to reading his other novels (already picked up Severance Package and just got The Blonde from the library). The only complaint anyone should have is that it's only about 235 pages, and will be over before you know it. To be fair, though, the story was conceived as a weekly serial for New York Times Sunday Magazine, and you'll probably want to read it again anyway.
I'll leave you with part of the prologue:
"Time's arrow only seems to fly straight when you're alive. Dead is something else. Once you cross that invisible line, you see things how they really are. You see that every moment seems to happen at once.
"Which makes telling this story - or the most important parts of it, anyway - difficult. Usually, you start at the beginning. Or the middle, so the audience doesn't get bored.
"Problem is, I'm very hazy on the beginning and the middle, as I came in at the end. I can speculate, but it'd be nothing more than a wild guess. I guess I should start with the day I moved into the apartment and went back in time."
March 26, 2017
Das Buch hat mich jetzt nicht von den Socken gehauen. Es ist schon ziemlich verwirrend aber der Autor hat ein roten Faden den er nicht verliert und das Buch zu ende bringt. Die Geschichte erinnert mich an viele Filme wie Butterfly, In meinem Himmel und noch einer aber da fällt mir der Name nicht ein. Es hat was aber es war nichts für mich, ich dachte es wird bisschen brutaler aber fehlanzeige.
April 9, 2025
Another enjoyable and engaging read by this author..........this time with alot more "heart" than the other novels I've read.
January 22, 2011
Hey, dummy! You weren’t impressed by the last book you read by this guy, so why the heck would you try another of his titles? What were you thinking?
But...but this one’s got time travel! The blurbs all said it was kind of like Life on Mars! I love Life on Mars!
Since when do blurbs ever tell the truth?
Yeah, okay, that one turned out to be totally bogus. But...time travel?
There really aren’t any interesting time travel ideas in this book. It’s boring and pointlessly violent, just like Swierczynski’s last book. And he ends it with another bullshit attempt at a twist ending, more idiotic than even the equally hard to spell Shyamalan’s usual crap. It’s the literary equivalent of a B-movie that would close with a card that says, “The End...Or Is it?!”
Admittedly that kind of made me want to stab myself.
So are you going to learn your lesson finally? Please?
Yeah, if I could, I’d go back in time...and not read this book!
I am so, so ashamed that we are actually the same person.
But...but this one’s got time travel! The blurbs all said it was kind of like Life on Mars! I love Life on Mars!
Since when do blurbs ever tell the truth?
Yeah, okay, that one turned out to be totally bogus. But...time travel?
There really aren’t any interesting time travel ideas in this book. It’s boring and pointlessly violent, just like Swierczynski’s last book. And he ends it with another bullshit attempt at a twist ending, more idiotic than even the equally hard to spell Shyamalan’s usual crap. It’s the literary equivalent of a B-movie that would close with a card that says, “The End...Or Is it?!”
Admittedly that kind of made me want to stab myself.
So are you going to learn your lesson finally? Please?
Yeah, if I could, I’d go back in time...and not read this book!
I am so, so ashamed that we are actually the same person.
February 8, 2014
EXPIRATION DATE tells the tale of a down-on-his luck and out of work newspaper reporter who moves into his grand pop’s apartment in a downtrodden and seemingly dangerous part of town. There, Mickey Wade discovers an innocuous bottle of pills in the medicine cabinet which he greedily takes in hopes of them having some medicinal purpose as a means to pre-empt his impending hangover. Rather than take the edge off, they send Mickey back in time, to the date he was born. Being a reporter and naturally inquisitive, Mickey soon learns family secrets best left buried and confronts his father’s killer only to learn things aren’t quite what they seem.
Wow. EXPIRATION DATE is just as, if not more, impressive the second time round. Like with any reread I found myself noticing details that I didn’t take in before, such as the complexity associated with Wade’s predicament and the ‘butterfly effect’ his time travelling sojourns have on the present.
There are some great twists that complement the story, as well as an ending I didn’t envision (yes, despite having read it close to its original publication).
With EXPIRATION DATE, author Duane Swierczynski explores the cause and effect of actions of the more violent nature and how a split second decision, one that even seems right, can have dire consequences years down the track. I enjoyed every moment and will no doubt go back for yet another read.
Wow. EXPIRATION DATE is just as, if not more, impressive the second time round. Like with any reread I found myself noticing details that I didn’t take in before, such as the complexity associated with Wade’s predicament and the ‘butterfly effect’ his time travelling sojourns have on the present.
There are some great twists that complement the story, as well as an ending I didn’t envision (yes, despite having read it close to its original publication).
With EXPIRATION DATE, author Duane Swierczynski explores the cause and effect of actions of the more violent nature and how a split second decision, one that even seems right, can have dire consequences years down the track. I enjoyed every moment and will no doubt go back for yet another read.
July 6, 2015
Mickey Wade, a newly unemployed journalist moves into his grandfather's apartment in a run-down Philadelphia neighborhood. One night, after quaffing some aspirin he finds himself transported back in time to the year of his birth. Back and forth he goes, and then he decides to thwart the kid who would grow up to kill his father. Some fun weirdness ensues and it's a super-fast read. I'm putting more Duane Swierczynski books in my To Read List.
September 4, 2021
While on the hunt for The Punisher graphic novel he did I found this first and devoured it in one sitting. Chapter 1 is titled Thomas Jefferson Goes to a Porno which hit all the spots for my sense of humor, dark, inappropriate and a bit juvenile. It's a crime pulp with time travel and it pleased my inner nerd. Netflix needs to know about Duane Swierczynski and turn some of his books into movies.
September 22, 2013
An excellent try-to-wrap-your-head-around-this-time-travel story, complete with a whodunit and a surprise ending. Just when you think you've got it figured out, the author throws another twist in the story.
And make sure to read the background of this story and how it came to be published. Almost as fascinating as the story itself!
Highly recommended.
And make sure to read the background of this story and how it came to be published. Almost as fascinating as the story itself!
Highly recommended.
December 17, 2010
I read this book in one night. It was great. It went by so fast and I could imagine a movie in my head while I was reading it. I was not disappointed at all with the ending and I realized I had to get to it without waiting for another reading session.
June 20, 2018
“Expiration Date” is a mystery with a science fiction twist (or two) that repeatedly reminded me of a line from the TV show “Friends.” The witty Chandler and his less savvy friend Joey have discovered something, and Chandler immediately grasps the implications – but Joey is taking a while, to the point where Chandler shouts, “Get there faster!” That’s what I kept wanting to tell the narrator of this book, Mickey Wade.
Mickey has lost his job as a reporter and moved into his grandfather’s ratty apartment in a bad part of Philly. His grandfather is in a coma at a nearby hospital so someone needs to look out for the place. Mickey finds a bottle of Tylenol in the medicine cabinet, and takes a couple – and the next thing he knows, he’s wandering around this same neighborhood, but back in the 1970s, around the time he was born.
Aided by his friend and former neighbor Meghan, Mickey sets out to explore just want this new capability means. Learning the rules of transporting himself into the past takes about half of the book, which is waaaay too much. Finally Mickey figures out that the thing he should do while in the past is to stop the murder of his father. But when he learns who the culprit is, he has second thoughts.
The book has a clever concept at its core, but gives you both too much info and not enough about the time-traveling part of the story. The ending is nearly clever enough to redeem the whole enterprise.
I have read and admired two other Duane Swierczynski novels, “Severance Package” and “The Wheelman.” Both of those start with a bang and don’t let up on their breakneck pace until the very end. This book could have used some of that sense of urgency.
January 2, 2019
The best way to start off a new year is to do a book review. So, I searched long and hard to find a book that was New Years themed, very popular, and that I could offer a unique insight on. Then I got tired of looking and picked a book I like. Awesome!
A guy does pills and goes back in time. It's kind of like "Back to the Future," except the DeLorean is replaced by pills and the clever paradox of altering the past is also replaced by pills.
Despite my flippant attitude toward this book, I have to say it's one of the best I've read in a long time. There is no part of the book that is extraneous or can be considered filler. Every bit is important, for one reason or another. I know that shouldn't be a deal-breaker in a book, good stories have a lot of filler in it (I'm looking at you, "Harry Potter and the Filler of Fillers") but it is pretty damned refreshing. It does help that the story itself is interesting, and the characters are rooted in reality. Even the bleak environment (I want to say it's set in Philly, but that might be projection) adds to the overall experience.
As you can see, I'm being very careful not to offer any kind of spoilers. This is actually a hard book to review because the plot is so tightly coiled that if I talk about one aspect, I will have to talk about a billion other aspects. There's a blowjob, but it's one of those plot blowjobs. And the reason it's a plot blowjob is because at the end, you learn... see, it's happening! Before I fall down this book's rabbit hole, let me end on a positive note. This story is worth the read. If you pick it up, you will be hooked fairly quickly. Read this book! READ IT!
-Mark
A guy does pills and goes back in time. It's kind of like "Back to the Future," except the DeLorean is replaced by pills and the clever paradox of altering the past is also replaced by pills.
Despite my flippant attitude toward this book, I have to say it's one of the best I've read in a long time. There is no part of the book that is extraneous or can be considered filler. Every bit is important, for one reason or another. I know that shouldn't be a deal-breaker in a book, good stories have a lot of filler in it (I'm looking at you, "Harry Potter and the Filler of Fillers") but it is pretty damned refreshing. It does help that the story itself is interesting, and the characters are rooted in reality. Even the bleak environment (I want to say it's set in Philly, but that might be projection) adds to the overall experience.
As you can see, I'm being very careful not to offer any kind of spoilers. This is actually a hard book to review because the plot is so tightly coiled that if I talk about one aspect, I will have to talk about a billion other aspects. There's a blowjob, but it's one of those plot blowjobs. And the reason it's a plot blowjob is because at the end, you learn... see, it's happening! Before I fall down this book's rabbit hole, let me end on a positive note. This story is worth the read. If you pick it up, you will be hooked fairly quickly. Read this book! READ IT!
-Mark
August 14, 2022
Although I had read the blurb for this one, it still surprised me. I was thinking it would be a mystery with a little time travel thrown in. Actually, I felt it was the opposite: a time travel book with some mystery thrown in!
When out-of-work journalist Mickey Wade accidentally takes the wrong "Tylenol" in his grandfather's apartment he finds himself wandering in the neighborhood he grew up in. Literally. This isn't the modern day neighborhood, but the one existing the year he was born. Old cars, familiar businesses... As he tries to figure out what happened and to replicate it, he realizes there is some odd connection to his father's death when Mickey was a child.
So we have our murder (or more?) AND some sort of time travel. Although not a really accurate comparison, but, as I was writing this, I suddenly started thinking about the movie Inception. The plot of the novel does wind around itself and I'm not even sure how much I liked Mickey, but the narrative kept me interested in discovering what was going on.
When out-of-work journalist Mickey Wade accidentally takes the wrong "Tylenol" in his grandfather's apartment he finds himself wandering in the neighborhood he grew up in. Literally. This isn't the modern day neighborhood, but the one existing the year he was born. Old cars, familiar businesses... As he tries to figure out what happened and to replicate it, he realizes there is some odd connection to his father's death when Mickey was a child.
So we have our murder (or more?) AND some sort of time travel. Although not a really accurate comparison, but, as I was writing this, I suddenly started thinking about the movie Inception. The plot of the novel does wind around itself and I'm not even sure how much I liked Mickey, but the narrative kept me interested in discovering what was going on.
July 24, 2021
Definitely different! I finished this book faster than I have any book in recent memory! I have read some of Duane Swiercynski's comic book work, and his name on the spine drew me to the book. I will read more of his work!
This book really grabbed me and didn't let go. The concept that some pain pills cause you to time travel, which is kind of silly, is at least new. But Swiercynsky amps it up by adding the concept that the sun will wound or kill you in the past. If you get a finger exposed in the past, you can't use it in the present. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. What if a psychotic killer got his hands on the pills? Or, how many times would you go back in the past to try to fix something? There are lots of surprises, and so many concepts that really make you think!
This book really grabbed me and didn't let go. The concept that some pain pills cause you to time travel, which is kind of silly, is at least new. But Swiercynsky amps it up by adding the concept that the sun will wound or kill you in the past. If you get a finger exposed in the past, you can't use it in the present. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. What if a psychotic killer got his hands on the pills? Or, how many times would you go back in the past to try to fix something? There are lots of surprises, and so many concepts that really make you think!
July 26, 2017
Very different kind of book. Started out being written as a serial for a magazine then morphed into a fast-paced sci-if thriller. A quick but entertaining read about a laid-off journalist who moves to his grandfather's vacant apartment where he takes some Tylenol that transports him back in time to earlier parts of his life
April 1, 2025
An interesting book with a little bit of mystery and a little time-travel. If you're not paying attention to this one, I think would be easy to get lost and suddenly be going - "wait, what happened?" Can't say I really cared for / about any of the characters, but well plotted and fast paced enough that it didn't matter. Solid read.
October 21, 2018
A first person hard boiled sci-fi thriller that delivers. I've read this book almost in one sitting, and though the intricate plot meanders a little towards the end I still feel like it was well worth my time.
February 21, 2019
i'm intrigued by this writer and need explore more of his stuff. this is not a mystery in the traditional sense as this book contains some time traveling. i liked it and give it a solid 4 stars and think this guy has what it takes to write some great stuff, maybe he has - i'll explore more.
July 3, 2021
I'd probably say 3.5. It's sci-fi noir pulp fiction -- a quick and mostly entertaining read with elements of suspense, time travel, and romance. The main character is stubborn and distrusting of others AND he makes poor choices, which I guess is what you need for this kind of tale.
May 3, 2024
Got this from a blind date with a book library sale where the description just said “Pulpy!”
It is that, little book sale. It’s a time travel story about determinism that says nothing new. I did guffaw very loudly near the end, so I’m giving it another star for that.
It is that, little book sale. It’s a time travel story about determinism that says nothing new. I did guffaw very loudly near the end, so I’m giving it another star for that.
June 2, 2024
5 stars because I enjoyed it. It wasn’t earth-shattering or psychologically deep or anything, but it was fun. I’ve read an unreasonable number of time-travel books lately, and this one was easily the most fun read, even if it wasn’t the most involved. Good, easy, summer reading.
November 28, 2017
A solid, fun, quick read.
July 3, 2018
Had a good concept going but ultimately failed in making it intresting, a large chunk of this book seems like filler and the good parts seem rushed overall not very good
February 23, 2021
A fun time travel ghost story with interesting twists.
June 2, 2021
A fun, fast read - my first experience with this author. I’ve ordered The Wheelman now and am looking forward to it.
December 4, 2021
Shaky premise sputters out of gas in just a few pages. Terribly disappointing effort from a writer I like. Like the Philly history and locales though.
October 6, 2023
I found the book in the collection of my father and started reading without knowing anything about the book. It was very easy to read and the story was quite nice. 4 stars.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews