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Rocket Fuel Pee #1
Man of Ruin
Would you call ‘pee of destruction’ a superpower? Then you’ve never had to deal with it.
For Dave Smith, it’s the end of his world.
You see, it burns through everything it touches. Boy does it burn.
He was an average sort of a bloke before - now he’s a mortal danger to pretty much anything that happens to stand in his way.
Toilets, trees, walls - nothing and nobody is safe. At least not when a certain call of nature comes, well, calling.
So the poor guy doesn’t have a whole lot of options. It’s a case of problems, rather than options. How to cope? Where to wee? Why in the hell is this happening to me?
Then there's the police to consider.
Man of Ruin is the first book in the Junk Food Dynamo trilogy, a new series of comic novels aimed squarely at fans of dodgy ‘cult’ sci-fi horror movies and gruesome late night TV shows. You know, the ones with mutations and splatter and science-gone-wrong. Plus you need to appreciate British humour. Or at least not get wound up by it.
206 pages, ebook
Published September 13, 2018
25 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Franks
5 books5 followersI write a unique blend of science fiction, magic realism, dark comedy and fantastical tales – what might be called ‘speculative mis-adventure’. Embracing the magic of the strange, the dangerous and the vaguely possible, my mission is to enthrall and challenge readers with darkly comic entertainment whilst telling stories with a point, even if that point isn't always immediately obvious. Otherwise, indeed, what is the point?
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 14, 2019
Try to visualize how often you go wee...
Rocket Fuel Pee: Man of Ruin by Oliver Frank's is on crazy problem I don't think any of us were warned about! The guy of this story has it bad! He just asked up one morning with it! What would you do? This is his story from start until , well, cliffhanger! Ugh!!! I hate cliffhangers! I take one star off for cliffhangers so I the total is 3 1/2 stars.
Rocket Fuel Pee: Man of Ruin by Oliver Frank's is on crazy problem I don't think any of us were warned about! The guy of this story has it bad! He just asked up one morning with it! What would you do? This is his story from start until , well, cliffhanger! Ugh!!! I hate cliffhangers! I take one star off for cliffhangers so I the total is 3 1/2 stars.
November 15, 2018
I didn’t think I would enjoy a book about a guy who pees acid type thing. What do I even call it? It not really a superpower. It more of a here have a really crap power, you can not say it isn’t a power. I thought it would come across a bit cheesy and stupid, but it wasn’t. You were left thinking; what is he going to do? Also, where is he going to pee? (Read the book, you’ll get it)
(Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the Author. Does not affect my review)
(Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the Author. Does not affect my review)
September 19, 2018
It's perhaps a little difficult to explain Dave's situation, but that's one of many problems he's facing himself now that he has his newfound "ability". "Man of Ruin" tells the somewhat ridiculous, but very humorous tale of Dave Smith, a twenty-something, slightly overweight callcenter worker whose life has been turned upside down because he has gained a very unique, and perhaps slightly gross, new super power: pee of mass destruction.
Don't be put off by this however. While the situation seems crazy (and it is), the author manages to turn something outlandish into something quite humorous. While reading the book I found Dave's story to be very unique and amusing. I thought that I'd be totally grossed out by his 'superpower', but the way it was described actually made me chuckle a bunch of times. Don't get me wrong, it's still a little bit gross, but not as extreme as you might initially think it would be.
That having said, the book is described as being a 'fast paced dark-comedy speculative series'. Following Dave's misadventures, the situations he went through, did tickle me at times and the book is definitely fast paced and progresses nicely. Dave is very sympathetic, so you can't help but feel for him and I quite liked that he wasn't your stereotypical 'hero'.
Unfortunately, it's not really explained how or why Dave got his superpower and I was missing a bit of intrinsic motivation/goals which I had expected Dave to mull over. He didn't really seem to focus on how all of these things happened to him, and sometimes other characters responded to his newfound ability in a way that made the story a bit difficult for me to believe at times, and lost some of the immersive experience.
"Man of Ruin" is one of those stories that I feel has a lot of potential so it makes me curious to see how the rest of the series is going to evolve. Perhaps this first book missed the mark on a few points but if you're looking for an original, amusing, fast paced dark comedy, give this book a try! Don't read it while eating junk food though.
Don't be put off by this however. While the situation seems crazy (and it is), the author manages to turn something outlandish into something quite humorous. While reading the book I found Dave's story to be very unique and amusing. I thought that I'd be totally grossed out by his 'superpower', but the way it was described actually made me chuckle a bunch of times. Don't get me wrong, it's still a little bit gross, but not as extreme as you might initially think it would be.
That having said, the book is described as being a 'fast paced dark-comedy speculative series'. Following Dave's misadventures, the situations he went through, did tickle me at times and the book is definitely fast paced and progresses nicely. Dave is very sympathetic, so you can't help but feel for him and I quite liked that he wasn't your stereotypical 'hero'.
Unfortunately, it's not really explained how or why Dave got his superpower and I was missing a bit of intrinsic motivation/goals which I had expected Dave to mull over. He didn't really seem to focus on how all of these things happened to him, and sometimes other characters responded to his newfound ability in a way that made the story a bit difficult for me to believe at times, and lost some of the immersive experience.
"Man of Ruin" is one of those stories that I feel has a lot of potential so it makes me curious to see how the rest of the series is going to evolve. Perhaps this first book missed the mark on a few points but if you're looking for an original, amusing, fast paced dark comedy, give this book a try! Don't read it while eating junk food though.
September 19, 2018
Imagine that, without any substantial change of a sedentary, junk food-stuffed lifestyle, your body suddenly emitted a substance so toxic that it destroyed everything it touched. That’s the story of Dave Smith, an unassuming and underachieving call center employee, who discovers on a Friday night at the pub that his urine has suddenly turned so caustic that it boils water and demolishes masonry, steel, porcelain, and any other natural or man-made material.
When he awakes with a hangover on Saturday morning, he hopes it was all a bad dream. However, further mayhem ensues, and he flees to a friend’s flat, hoping to find solace. What he encounters, however, is more chaos, including unintended harm to others, and eventually winds up in police custody, where various medical and security agencies are tasked with finding out just what has happened inside Dave Smith’s body and how it will affect society and the rest of his life. And Dave, as the self-professed yob he is, doesn’t quite understand the choices placed before him …
Oliver Franks has written an entirely original comic novel, the first of a trilogy, that brings to life the theories that junk food and environmental pollution are poisoning humankind. Dave Smith, with his common name and lazy nature, is the perfect anti-hero for this antic tale.
When he awakes with a hangover on Saturday morning, he hopes it was all a bad dream. However, further mayhem ensues, and he flees to a friend’s flat, hoping to find solace. What he encounters, however, is more chaos, including unintended harm to others, and eventually winds up in police custody, where various medical and security agencies are tasked with finding out just what has happened inside Dave Smith’s body and how it will affect society and the rest of his life. And Dave, as the self-professed yob he is, doesn’t quite understand the choices placed before him …
Oliver Franks has written an entirely original comic novel, the first of a trilogy, that brings to life the theories that junk food and environmental pollution are poisoning humankind. Dave Smith, with his common name and lazy nature, is the perfect anti-hero for this antic tale.
October 4, 2018
Dave is just an ordinary guy who games when he isn’t working and spends most of his weekends pub-crawling with his buddies, until the morning he destroys his toilet, and the toilet in the flat beneath him. For reasons unknown, Dave’s pee has become a bright green super acid that obliterates whatever crosses his stream. Forget snow, Dave can write his name in concrete.
There’s a lot of humour in Man of Ruin as Dave struggles to find safe places to pee and figure out what he’s supposed to do about his odd situation, but there’s more to this novel than a peculiar super-power and the implicit comedy of it. There’s a death toll, and an almost Kafkaesque surrealism surrounding Dave’s newfound ability.
While I’ve referred to Dave’s corrosive urine as a super-power, this isn’t a super hero fantasy at all. Nobody is asking Dave if he’s heard of the Avenger’s Initiative. Man of Ruin is just a smidge more magic realism than urban fantasy but marries concepts from both genres well.
Man of Ruin is a fast-paced, highly entertaining read but it’s worth noting that the narrative includes a fair amount of British slang that may confuse some readers.
Book provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review
There’s a lot of humour in Man of Ruin as Dave struggles to find safe places to pee and figure out what he’s supposed to do about his odd situation, but there’s more to this novel than a peculiar super-power and the implicit comedy of it. There’s a death toll, and an almost Kafkaesque surrealism surrounding Dave’s newfound ability.
While I’ve referred to Dave’s corrosive urine as a super-power, this isn’t a super hero fantasy at all. Nobody is asking Dave if he’s heard of the Avenger’s Initiative. Man of Ruin is just a smidge more magic realism than urban fantasy but marries concepts from both genres well.
Man of Ruin is a fast-paced, highly entertaining read but it’s worth noting that the narrative includes a fair amount of British slang that may confuse some readers.
Book provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review
October 3, 2019
"Man of Ruin" is a story about a guy with highly corrosive pee that destroys things. If that sounds like something you'd like to read about, YOU WILL LOVE THIS.
Unfortunately, not a whole lot of other stuff happens. Our hero Dave will pee on something and utterly destroy it, then panic and run away. Then he'll think, "You know what will help me feel better about this predicament? I couple of pints down at the pub."
If you, I, or any thinking person came down with the affliction of acid pee that obliterates anything it touches, a few pints at the pub would be literally THE LAST THING WE WOULD CONSIDER DOING ONCE LET ALONE REPEATEDLY. Dave is not just a yob. He's a total moron.
But to be fair to this book, I did keep reading all the way to the end. Maybe just to see if this was going somewhere. And it was. But sadly, just as the book started to finally get interesting, it was over. This isn't the first book of a trilogy as much as the first act of one story. Which means this book as a standalone essentially goes nowhere.
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, I recommend picking up the box-set edition of the whole series so you get the whole story.
Unfortunately, not a whole lot of other stuff happens. Our hero Dave will pee on something and utterly destroy it, then panic and run away. Then he'll think, "You know what will help me feel better about this predicament? I couple of pints down at the pub."
If you, I, or any thinking person came down with the affliction of acid pee that obliterates anything it touches, a few pints at the pub would be literally THE LAST THING WE WOULD CONSIDER DOING ONCE LET ALONE REPEATEDLY. Dave is not just a yob. He's a total moron.
But to be fair to this book, I did keep reading all the way to the end. Maybe just to see if this was going somewhere. And it was. But sadly, just as the book started to finally get interesting, it was over. This isn't the first book of a trilogy as much as the first act of one story. Which means this book as a standalone essentially goes nowhere.
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, I recommend picking up the box-set edition of the whole series so you get the whole story.
July 6, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Clean
Trigger Warnings:
Explicit language
Accidental death
Alcohol consumption
Mentions of urination
A hilarious and unusual origin story.
What would you do if one day your urine suddenly became the most acidic substance on earth? I don't know the answer to that, but Oliver Franks gave us what the very English Dave Smith would do. Dave is fabulously imperfect every day guy, and I adored following his antics. As an American, the language sometimes cracked me up, and I am absolutely here for it. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Clean
Trigger Warnings:
Explicit language
Accidental death
Alcohol consumption
Mentions of urination
A hilarious and unusual origin story.
What would you do if one day your urine suddenly became the most acidic substance on earth? I don't know the answer to that, but Oliver Franks gave us what the very English Dave Smith would do. Dave is fabulously imperfect every day guy, and I adored following his antics. As an American, the language sometimes cracked me up, and I am absolutely here for it. I can't wait to see what happens next.
January 14, 2019
What can I say about this book?
Look at the review scores -- most of them are above 4 stars! That has to give you an idea of how entertaining the book must be!
This book is original, it's funny, it even has the everyday man, the one person we can all easily relate to and fall in love with. He's just your average Joe, who likes his beer and junk food as much as he likes his women.
But, I digress. Download the book, you won't regret it! It's well worth it!
Look at the review scores -- most of them are above 4 stars! That has to give you an idea of how entertaining the book must be!
This book is original, it's funny, it even has the everyday man, the one person we can all easily relate to and fall in love with. He's just your average Joe, who likes his beer and junk food as much as he likes his women.
But, I digress. Download the book, you won't regret it! It's well worth it!
January 3, 2021
I was hoping for some humorous light story, but instead it was just one slow slog of someone destroying one thing after another with acidic urine the likes of which have not been seen since the xenomorph blood in the movie Alien... 40 years ago. Maybe this goes somewhere interesting, but it has moved so slowly to this point that it's just not worth the bother to find out anymore. Gave up at 37%, welcome to the DNF book club with the other 1% of the books I read.
March 27, 2021
Whilst idly scrolling through free ebooks on Amazon, this one caught my eye for obvious reasons. It’s very silly, very laddish, very British in its surreal gross-out humour. Very much a one joke skit, this is actually rather well written and a good easy read with more smirks than chuckles. It’s the beginning of a series, but I’m not sure whether I’d want to read on, as the joke eventually gets stale.
November 3, 2019
Bizarre premise, well presented
I think that qualifies as the single most bizarre premise for a story I’ve ever come across. The author did a good job of trying to think through the practical ramifications of the premise, and presented them in a fairly humorous way. It didn’t engage me enough to be interested in the next in the series, but it was a reasonable entertaining read.
I think that qualifies as the single most bizarre premise for a story I’ve ever come across. The author did a good job of trying to think through the practical ramifications of the premise, and presented them in a fairly humorous way. It didn’t engage me enough to be interested in the next in the series, but it was a reasonable entertaining read.
September 1, 2025
Rocket fuel pee.😂
What a hilarious read , Had me chuckling so much each night the wife nearly three me into the next room.
Well it was about midnight ,every night..
The book is so fun y, Derogitary , obviously impossible , but not easily put downable.
5 stars all the way. A must read.
What a hilarious read , Had me chuckling so much each night the wife nearly three me into the next room.
Well it was about midnight ,every night..
The book is so fun y, Derogitary , obviously impossible , but not easily put downable.
5 stars all the way. A must read.
December 27, 2018
What a crazy idea.
You will laugh til you cry then be disgusted on the next page. Fun to read. Totally original story that leaves you wanting more.
You will laugh til you cry then be disgusted on the next page. Fun to read. Totally original story that leaves you wanting more.
April 9, 2019
Amusing! A funny slightly dark adventure, well written & yes I am sure there is an underlying point being made! If you can find it in the daftness! Good fun!
December 6, 2018
It's perhaps a little difficult to explain Dave's situation, but that's one of many problems he's facing himself now that he has his newfound "ability". "Man of Ruin" tells the somewhat ridiculous, but very humorous tale of Dave Smith, a twenty-something, slightly overweight callcenter worker whose life has been turned upside down because he has gained a very unique, and perhaps slightly gross, new super power: pee of mass destruction.
Don't be put off by this however. While the situation seems crazy (and it is), the author manages to turn something outlandish into something quite humorous. While reading the book I found Dave's story to be very unique and amusing. I thought that I'd be totally grossed out by his 'superpower', but the way it was described actually made me chuckle a bunch of times. Don't get me wrong, it's still a little bit gross, but not as extreme as you might initially think it would be.
That having said, the book is described as being a 'fast paced dark-comedy speculative series'. Following Dave's misadventures, the situations he went through, did tickle me at times and the book is definitely fast paced and progresses nicely. Dave is very sympathetic, so you can't help but feel for him and I quite liked that he wasn't your stereotypical 'hero'.
Unfortunately, it's not really explained how or why Dave got his superpower and I was missing a bit of intrinsic motivation/goals which I had expected Dave to mull over. He didn't really seem to focus on how all of these things happened to him, and sometimes other characters responded to his newfound ability in a way that made the story a bit difficult for me to believe at times, and lost some of the immersive experience.
"Man of Ruin" is one of those stories that I feel has a lot of potential so it makes me curious to see how the rest of the series is going to evolve. Perhaps this first book missed the mark on a few points but if you're looking for an original, amusing, fast paced dark comedy, give this book a try! Don't read it while eating junk food though.
Don't be put off by this however. While the situation seems crazy (and it is), the author manages to turn something outlandish into something quite humorous. While reading the book I found Dave's story to be very unique and amusing. I thought that I'd be totally grossed out by his 'superpower', but the way it was described actually made me chuckle a bunch of times. Don't get me wrong, it's still a little bit gross, but not as extreme as you might initially think it would be.
That having said, the book is described as being a 'fast paced dark-comedy speculative series'. Following Dave's misadventures, the situations he went through, did tickle me at times and the book is definitely fast paced and progresses nicely. Dave is very sympathetic, so you can't help but feel for him and I quite liked that he wasn't your stereotypical 'hero'.
Unfortunately, it's not really explained how or why Dave got his superpower and I was missing a bit of intrinsic motivation/goals which I had expected Dave to mull over. He didn't really seem to focus on how all of these things happened to him, and sometimes other characters responded to his newfound ability in a way that made the story a bit difficult for me to believe at times, and lost some of the immersive experience.
"Man of Ruin" is one of those stories that I feel has a lot of potential so it makes me curious to see how the rest of the series is going to evolve. Perhaps this first book missed the mark on a few points but if you're looking for an original, amusing, fast paced dark comedy, give this book a try! Don't read it while eating junk food though.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews