The Debt Collector: Lirium. Season One

The Debt Collector Complete #1

by Susan Kaye Quinn

What's your life worth on the open market?
In this sexy, gritty future-noir, debt collectors take your life energy and give it to someone more "worthy"... all while paying the price with black marks on their souls.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat and jackboots—he's just in it for his cut, ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, people who will make the world a better place with their work and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's girls keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone—a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

"Absolutely riveting!"
"Quinn has a way of writing heart-breaking characters."
"You'll be holding your breath, looking over your shoulder, and begging for more."

Originally written as a serial, LIRIUM is Season One of the Debt Collector series and contains the complete story of Lirium. Each season is told from the perspective of a different debt collector.

2015 Top SELF-ebook in Library Journal

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Paranormal

ebook

First published June 26, 2013

About the author

CLICK HERE for a FREE STORY

Susan Kaye Quinn has designed aircraft engines and researched global warming, but now she uses her PhD to invent cool stuff in books. Her works range from hopeful climate fiction to gritty cyberpunk. Sue believes being gentle and healing is radical and disruptive. Her short fiction can be found in Grist, Solarpunk Magazine, Reckoning, and all her novels and short stories can be found on her website. She is the host of the Bright Green Futures podcast.

SOLARPUNK
collections
Bright Green Futures: 2024 (edited by SKQ)
Halfway to Better

novels
Nothing is Promised series
When You Had Power
You Knew The Price
Of Kindness and Kilowatts
Yet You Cry When It Hurts

short stories
A Moon Goddess to Watch Over Me (Luna Station Quarterly) (hopepunk)
It's in the Blood (Reckoning 8)
Once and Future Kilowatts (Solarpunk Magazine)
Rewilding Indiana (Little Blue Marble)
Seven Sisters (Grist)
The Joy Fund (DreamForge Magazine)

SCI-FI
Singularity Novel Series
The Legacy Human
The Duality Bridge
The Illusory Prophet
The Last Mystic

Stories of Singularity
Restore
Containment
Augment
Awakening
Harvest
Defiance
Resistance

YA SF
Mindjack Series
Open Minds
Closed Hearts
Free Souls
Locked Tight
Cracked Open
Broken Wide
Mindjack Short Story Collection

WATCH the award-winning live-action Mindjack Book Trailer!

STEAMPUNK ROMANCE
Royals of Dharia
Third Daughter
Second Daughter
First Daughter

CYBERPUNK
Debt Collector
LIRIUM (Season One)
WRAITH (Season Two)

WATCH the Debt Collector Book Trailer

ANTHOLOGIES
Synchronic
Telepath Chronicles
AI Chronicles
Dark Beyond The Stars
Future Chronicles
Cyborg Chronicles
CLONES: The Anthology

MIDDLE GRADE FANTASY
Faery Swap

WATCH the Faery Swap Book Trailer

CONTACT SUSAN
Susan's Website | Sue on Bluesky | Sue on Mastodon
Susan's Email: sue@twistedspacepub.com

Reviews

[Tammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I wasn't expecting to like this nearly as much as I did. I picked up the first story, Delirium for 99 cents because it sounded interesting. I knew it would be dark and gritty, so I wasn't sure about it, but the dark, gritty, noir-like setting really pulled me in. This was a cool mash up of urban fantasy and cyberpunk (a genre I haven't had a lot of success with), and it worked so well for me. The story overall had a sexy feel to it, in the vein of noir type fiction. After I finished Delirium, I saw that all 9 books of Season One were free in this omnibus, so I downloaded it and kept reading. I believe this was originally published as a web serial, so each part is pretty short, with the whole season being around 430 pages.

I enjoyed the man character, Lirium a lot and also the side characters, especially Elena, or Apple Girl, as Lirium likes to call her. After Delirium, there is the second part called Agony where Lirium meets Ophelia. I thought the parts with Ophelia were good and I liked her character, but the feelings developed there felt unnecessary to the story arch. I think he thought he was falling in love with her, but I don't think he really was. I kept waiting for him to get back to Apple Girl, so I was a little impatient through these parts of the story.

Overall I enjoyed this, but I do feel like there were several flaws in the the story as a whole. I won't get into them because of spoilers, but honestly I didn't really care. I just went with it and, for the most part, enjoyed the ride.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.

[Coco.V]

FREE on Amazon today (10/30/2017)!

[Pippa DaCosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really, good. I bought the entire season (this boxset) after downloading the first episode Delirium free on Amazon. I knew in the first few pages that this was going to be an awesome read. Lirium is a young debt collector - he absorbs life energy from the dying and transfers it to those who need it more. He's a mess. And with that job description, who wouldn't be?



Every time he takes a life, he gets a hit, like a drug addict. But when he transfers that energy out, the high turns into a low, and he ends up drinking and sexing himself out of the funk, so he can carry on living, and doing what he does. We meet him at his lowest. But events take an interesting turn when a sex worker asks him for help.

This series has a delightfully dark feel to it. We're dealing with adult themes here. Sex, drugs, murder, the mob. Lirium himself is an intriguing character, and I'd like to read more from him (I love the fatally flawed type). Okay, so maybe the sex-in-the-stairwell scene might have won me over.



The writing is some of the best I've ever read, and it's told in first person present tense, which I don't usually enjoy. This was just... Bravo! It's poetic, flows at a beautiful pace, and is quite honestly, absolutely brilliant. I'd love to read more adult books from Susan Kaye Quinn.

My only quibble, was Lirium's tendency to grieve one second, to falling in love again the next. One of the characters calls him, guppy, which he hates by the way, but it unfortunately suits him. He's very easily led astray. I'd like to see him turn into a shark and hope/wonder if the author revisits him in later seasons.

I don't like serials. I freakin' love this one.
I don't like first person present tense. I adore it here.



Highly recommended, and I'll be watching for more adult works from this author. She has a new fan.

[The Captain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ahoy there mateys! This is a story about a grim reaper type dude who kills people when their productivity potential is outnumbered by their debt ratio. Cool concept. Selfish main character. Lirium is naïve and learning more about how the world works. The idea of taking life force being like a high from a drug was interesting. I just got tired of his attitudes around sex and his lack of complexity. He really didn’t seem to grow much. Stopped reading at 14%. Just didn’t work for me. Arrr!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis:

Lirium is a debt collector. When a person’s debt exceeds their life expectancy, he is sent in to extract their debt – in the form of their life energy – which will then be transferred into someone with “higher potential”. And for this reason, Lirium’s relationships consist of drunken, one-night companions paid a small life-hit from the 10% payout he receives from each job. Lirium is young, but he’s getting burnt out. His pscyh officer sets him up with Ophelia, a sexy spunky firecracker that gives Lirium a lift from the moment he lays eyes on her. However, their tryst is shattered when the mob abducts Ophelia. Lirium believes he was the intended target and, with some quick calculations, realizes he was set up. His rage leads him on a path to rescuing Ophelia and he finds himself on Madame A’s doorstep. What he discovers inside defies everything he knows about the debt collecting business. Dying children (who should be at the top of the line when it comes to receiving life hits) lie on makeshift hospital beds. And they desperately need his skills. Madame A and Lirium make a deal – she will help him infiltrate the mob to rescue Ophelia, and he will return and give life hits to the dying children. But when Lirium enters the mob, things don’t go according to plan. But rescuing Ophelia from the mob and holding up his end of the bargain with Madame A are only the beginning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review:

There is so much action in this series, and so much going on. But it never feels rushed. You get just the right amount of information. I loved all the characters, Lirium especially. He’s so conflicted about his lot in life, but he really tries to be a “good guy” and to do the right thing.

I’ve never read a series before. It was a new and interesting experience. And by that I mean, it absolutely SUCKED when I got to the end of an episode and had to wait for the next to be published. I say this because Quinn’s writing is SO GOOD that you get wrapped up in the story and, before you know it, you’re turning to a blank page. The final episode, Passion, released today. I have already bought it and read it.

I feel like a purring kitty that just finished a big bowl of warm milk who’s sitting on a fluffy pillow in golden sunlight completely sated.

Not sure if it’s for you? Well the first episode is currently FREE on Amazon! Go ahead. Try and read the first episode without getting sucked in.

I dare you!

[Thomas Cardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This worked really well for me. I got the first episode free (I put a review of it up around here somewhere). Then a backlog of reading swept me up so that by the time I was ready to read the next episode, the whole of season one was all wrapped up in a tidy package.

So, I wasn't stuck biting my nails waiting for episodes to become available, but I wanna tell you, I would have bit them to the bone if I had been.

Lirium grew on me. Initially I was kind of stand-offish to addict tendancies. There is a slick transition in there between that and me really caring along with him.

People have already talked about the author's wonderful world building and I will second that wholeheartedly. Things run deep and they are well thought out. They systems work. I think if Susan Kaye Quinn were to write a fantasy with magic and spell casting she could show Brandon Sanderson how it's done.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a completely different type of book for me so I wasn't sure what to expect but I'm so glad I gave it try. The series format and the fact the I was listening to an audiobook made it feel more like a TV series boxset. There was action all the way to the end.

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before starting with this serial, I never had read a serial before. Basically it is a series released in episodes (short book from around 50 pages). While I read this serial episode by episode, after the release of the last episode it is now bundled in one book, so you can read it like a normal book too.

This story takes the readers to a dark and grtty world where there are people called Debt Collectors who collect life energy from people who have too much debt and give this to so-called high potentials. The story is original and unique and from the first episode sucked me into the story. There also is a lot of action and the story is fast paced and kept me wanting to read more and eager for the next episode. The story takes some unexpecting turns and sometimes I had no idea how Lirium, the main character, would get out of the mess he got into.

Beside the story the characters are another thing I love about this serial. Especially Lirium, he is such a great character. He tries to be a good guy, but with a job being a Debt Collector that isn't easy. Still he really tries and I kept seeing the goodness inside him, I love the fact that he is such a good character despite his situation. There are also some great side characters like Apple Girl, Ophelia and Valec.

Most of the world building is done in episode 1 already, but there is built onto this in every episode. Every episode adds another bit of information to this world and it feels more real with each episode. Although I still think there could've been more world building. I didn't get to know all I wanted to know about the world, but there is enough to get a good sense of the world. I still want to know how the world became this way and how the world as we know it developed into the world in this book. I loved getting to know this dark and gritty world which still has some good characters inside it.

To conclude: this is an awesome series, which I would like to recommend to everyone. Episode 1 is free so why not try and see if you like it. It has a great story, fast paced and original. The direction of the story surprised me more than once. I love the characters, especially Lirium. There is enough world building, but I still woudl've liked getting to know more about the world, especially about how the world turned out this way. The ending all wraps it up nicely while still leaving room for your own imagination.

[J.A. Belfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was gifted a copy of Debt Collector Season 1 by Susan Kaye Quinn in exchange for an honest review. Seeing as I own every episode in Kindle format, and also the entire Season 1 in print, I think we can safely assume I was already familiar with the story. However, the audiobook brought something new to the table. Because I had a HUGE crush on Lirium whilst I originally followed him in his antics, and having a male narrator put vocals to Lirium’s story took the experience to a whole new level … or so I hoped.
In all honesty, I wasn’t sure whether I would enjoy listening to the audiobook. I don’t own any other audiobooks, which is due to the fact that, whenever I’ve tried out the samples, the narrating voices have always sounded too mechanical for my liking. However, Max Miller, narrator of Debt Collector, seems pretty adept at almost all vocal tones, making this one enjoyable experience. Female … male … he did a decent job of them all. As for Lirium’s voice? Oh, yeah, I was more than happy to listen to him for the entire 12-ish hours of Lirium heaven.
Anyone who has read my reviews for all of the Debt Collector Season 1 episodes will know how wowed I was by the world building and storytelling, and how wooed I was by this tortured and (naively) heroic MC. So, I really have little more to add on that front, other than to say whatever the format I’ve tried for this story, I have had hours of great entertainment and virtual/fictional company. The only minus that goes in the audio versus print/e-book match is the difference in time length it took for absorbing the tale. I can be a fairly fast reader, and listening to someone else tell you the story can be quite a bit slower than ploughing through paragraphs for yourself. That being said, it was also pretty awesome to be able to stick on my headphones, sink into my pillow in the dark, and allow Lirium’s masculine tones drift me into blissful relaxation.
This is one audiobook definitely worth checking out.

[Adam Heine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had trouble putting it down. Pretty much what I expect of Susan Quinn :-)

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5

There are some perks to reviewing books (of course). One is getting a chance to read new books by favorite authors, but perhaps the greater perks is 'finding' new talent. More often, however, we find the 'almost-but-not-quite' talent. Debt Collector Season One, by Susan Kaye Quinn falls into the latter category.

In a dark, noir future (ala Blade Runner) 'debt collectors' are agents charged with collecting life energy from some and giving it to others who are more worthy. But life energy goes for big bucks on the black market, which can be pretty tempting, even for a Debt Collector.

Lirium is not what one might expect from an angel ... er, from a Debt Collector. He works job to job, collecting his percentage from his collected life energy and drowning his misery in vodka. But when he stops to listen to someone whose life energy he intends to harvest and instead helps her do an illegal reclamation, he begins a downward spiral he may not be able to get out of.

Author Susan Kaye Quinn has developed a really great concept and Lirium starts off an interesting anti-hero. The opening sequence really grabs attention and pulls the reader in. Quinn's prose is strong and engaging. The concept is fascinating. What doesn't work, however, is the character-building. Lirium is a rather one-note anti-hero. What is interesting once dulls down as it is repeated time and again.

The book is written as a serial and while that may be great in whatever format this was first printed in, it doesn't work very well as a novel. Not in this case at least. This feels like a series of short stories loosely tied together, which is essentially what it is. And while there's nothing wrong with a series of short stories tied together (I've seen it work), the problem is that we get basically the same scenario over and over and there's no character growth.

There's plenty to like here, but just as much that holds it back from being a fully recommended book.

Looking for a good book? Debt Collector, Season One by Susan Kaye Quinn has a lot of promise and some strong writing, but the characters are a bit flat and we get stuck in a repeated cycle of behavior.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Robert Lovell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Kaye Quinn's "Debt Collector:Lirium" is an interesting read. The world she has created is a little unique which is a good thing. In a futuristic LA, we meet Lirium a "debt collector". When the Department of Health and Life determines that your debt exceeds your life expectancy, they send in the debt collectors to drain you of your life energy. That life energy is then given to someone with "high potential" to improve life... or sometimes just has the money to pay for it.
Lirium it seems has a conscience. We follow him as he traverses the underworld then runs up against a secret organization called Gehenna. I will not tell you anything other than that for the storyline. You will have to read it yourself.
Now, why only 3 stars? While the story, the plot, character development all are interesting, I felt it was longwinded and took probably a hundred pages more than it should have. Also, for me, the lead character is a man that has far too much feminism! This is an issue I find with most writers who try to create a character that is the opposite sex.
This first book in the series was interesting, but not enough for me to continue with the next one

[Diana Hurwitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved all of Quinn's book series and The Debt Collector is no exception. Released as episodes and seasons, it was an usual story architecture for me and I wasn't certain I would enjoy it, but it is Quinn and she made it work. Probably could have been tighter as novels, but is no less riveting than her other books. Set in a world where you are given a limited amount of time and the rich can buy more, Lirium is a debt collector who comes to collect when your time is up and works on commission. But there always comes a case that makes a man question his job. Lirium's job is no different. Faced with a request he must choose which path he will take and decide if he can come back from it. Highly recommend this series. I waited until all of the episodes were released and binged it over a few days. Highly addictive.

[LillaSusanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book eleven of my second summer of free amazon books. (2.11)
The idea of this world is good, in a gritty sort of way, but the world-building is lacking.
The main character is, to me, quite unlikeable. He is full of macho-bravado and the immaturity often found in that type of dudes. He falls in love with every pretty woman or girl he meets, and the death of someone he cares about doesn’t seem to impact that at all. At the same time, his bitterness seems to belong to a man in his fifties, making his sexual overtures towards a 17-year old feel creepy. Though I’m sure that whole thing is supposed to be romantic.
I liked that it’s action-packed, though the pacing is off, probably because of the format.
Took me more than a week to finish !
Not my thing I guess.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a future world a mutation has given some people the gift/curse of being able to withdraw and gift life force to others. The ever practical government has made use of that power by setting up a sophisticated accounting system where, when people's debts outweigh their continued life potential, a Debt Collector is sent in to remove their remaining life force which will then be provided to a scientist, corporate leader or other worthy individual. Lirium, the subject of this series of serial stories is one such debt collector.
This is a rather dark series although Lirium's dry humor and sarcastic mene helps to keep it from becoming morose or depressing. Definitely worth the read.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as a free download from Kobo and man what a score! This was awesome! I didn't realize it was a bunch of short books in a series all put together until I got into it, so I'm happy it came with the whole collection. The stories all follow Lirium, a debt collector who can give or take your life energy. Can keep you from dying or kill you all with a touch of his hand. What a cool idea, it instantly intrigued me and the writing and pace kept me going though the whole thing. Will probably pick up the next series at a later date once I get a few other books I've been meaning to read finished.

[Sandra Hould · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible, although way to short. I am happy that I have access to the whole series. The moment I started to read, I was addicted to it and did not want to get out of that rabbit hole. It is gripping my heart and soul like rarely anything I have read in the past. The action is constant and what happens with these characters is life changing for a reader such as myself. This new world where it is possible to collect life energy from the dying, and giving it illegally to others does seem like an addicting thing to do. If it were our real world, I know I would be fucked. Great work on Susan Kaye Quinne on this first episode of this series. I can't wait to read book two.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I thought might turn out to be an interesting book turned out to bore me. I will not finish this book as the main character, Librium, is stuck on trying to save Ophelia who looks to me like she doesn’t want to be saved. The concept of taking life force from one person to give to another is horrible! The collectors are taking life force which would be fine it they were trying to help people to pass on but they are basically killing people! I do not recommend this book!

[Tiny Octopus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite pleasantly surprised with this one. Not polished by any means, but it’s a very solid urban fantasy with a great unique twist. It reads more like a screenplay which can lead to choppiness at times, but I gotta tell ya, I’d watch the hell out of the movie lol. Lirium is extremely likable, even if he has a tendency to bounce from one chick to the next full of puppy love. Wish there was a further season following him instead of a new collector.

[Donne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg! Sooo bizarre! A futuristic tale of a guy who collects dying people's life force and gives it to smart, rich people. The whole story reads like a tv show. Being that I'm not a tv watcher (die hard book reader), it's kind of weird I even liked it but I did. Definitely going to continue with book two or rather season two.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the idea. And I enjoyed most of the book.
But the danger became nonexistent too easily and I felt like some of the YA tropes were forced. Gotta throw in a big sappy romance when it doesn’t make sense. I would have edited the romance to a slow burn. He shouldn’t have had the courage or believed he was good enough.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

How much is your life worth?

When the value of your debt equates to the value of your future life, your future time is extracted (and you die). The time is granted to those whose future time has more value so that they can add to the world.

Interesting way to look at life value.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Debt collector for life energy

. Somebody somewhere decides that your life is over. Natural there is rebellion against it, the good one and some bad once.
My poor heart could not handle all this death and depressing life.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reaper repossessor of life forces turns his life around. Much explicit sex and violence. Well-developed social world integration basis for the series. Obtained for free from Amazon on January 27, 2023.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat hard to read in places, but a good story.

I liked the universe and the technology, but I found the pacing a bit weird, probably because I did it in one go rather than episodes.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read with lots of action. Kinda scary to think about the collectors, but also sad to think about their loneliness from the kind of work they do. I can't wait to read the next part of the series.

[Anthony Messina · Rating 5 out of 5]

High praise for Lirium

A very different view of the future that still has the corruption common in current times to bring the realistic feel to it that grabs you and doesn't let go

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really immersive and fascinating book!

I loved reading this book - from the futuristic technology to the old school mob bosses, this was a fascinating and compelling read

[Natalie aka Tannat · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Bryan Ewert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great hook at the end of episode 1; it completely sucked me in to wanting to read the entire season.

Dark and gritty, as promised.