thrum

by Jon Chaiim McConnell

The tenuous infrastructure of a society fueled by liquid electricity is on the verge of collapsing. thrum is the story of a city in a state of aneurysm, told by a man who believes he's fortunate enough to have escaped to the countryside, a woman without the means to, and the long history of obsessive excavation that, for centuries, has invited ruin.

Praise for thrum

"A nightmarish image-blasting assault on the senses, McConnell's thrum evokes the early visions of J.G. Ballard in a new and beautiful way."



- Shane Jones, author of Light Boxes and Vincent and Alice and Alice



"In thrum, Jon Chaiim McConnell achieves that rare thing, a concise and hypnotizing speculative novella whose innovative, futuristic content mirrors and matches its language. A current of electricity blazes, literally and figuratively, through this brief but unforgettable debut."



- John Keene, National Book Award winner, and author of Counternarratives



"This is a live wire of a book, a language-driven, searing and startling picture of a not quite apocalyptic society on the verge, a world rotted differently but just as crumbling as ours."



- Amber Sparks, author of Happy People Don't Live Here and And I Do Not Forgive You

122 pages, Paperback

Expected publication November 11, 2026