Chainsmoke Your Problems Away; Smokepit Fairytales Part IV

by Tripp Ainsworth

Thirty years after the destruction of Earth, World War Three still rages between the Russian Federation and the United States in the depths of space. Thatch Allensworth, a decorated sergeant, struggles to maintain his personal relationships between deployments. Faced against terrifying new weapons, a relentless enemy, solar system wide combat, and an anti-romantic lover, Thatch only has his friends Stockton, Chuck, McKenzie, and O’Con to keep him from spiraling into alcoholism and madness.

560 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2018

About the author

Tripp Ainsworth joined the Marines as a combat cameraman so he could steel people’s souls—sorry, bad handwriting; he meant steal. He’s put his boots down in every time zone and refused to take a nap in any of them. Somewhere between firefights and film reels, he outwitted a sphinx, gave cured ham the disease it needed the injection for, and started writing stories to make sense of the absurd.
Legend has it that after Afghanistan, he found God—or at least inspiration—in a burrito behind the Purple Church in Oceanside. When the woman who made that divine creation, Sister Maria, was deported and took a vow never to cook again, Tripp went AWOL, stole a nuclear submarine, grafted its reactor into an AMC Javelin, and cooled it with Jägermeister. Time travel happened. Mussolini challenged him to a race, Dracula refused a drink, and Stalin tried to weaponize Maria’s recipe. Somewhere between chaos, faith, and a hangover, a writer was born.
Today, Tripp writes books like Smokepit Fairytales and The Litany of Vise—gritty, darkly funny tales about war, ghosts, and the long, strange road to redemption. He’s still chasing the perfect burrito.

Reviews

[Heather Carson]

Wouldn’t have expected anything less...

Book 4 in this ongoing saga takes readers on yet another thrilling ride! I loved the world building, literally the author created whole new worlds, and I loved following the path of Thatch- the poor young son with Hank’s bloodlust and chain smoking genetic lineage. The author effortlessly weaves the details of this new universe in with intense battle scenes and monsters that will haunt your nightmares... The drama, the intrigue, the gore... I wouldn’t have expected anything less! Still so many questions, excuse me while I go buy book 5.

[Damien Larkin]

Chainsmoke your problems away is another fantastic edition to the series. Similar in style to the first book, it captures the boredom and frustrations of Marines in between deployments.

Set thirty years after the stunning end of book three, this story follows Thatch and his group of friends sent on a deadly mission to destroy a weapon capable of wiping life out on Mars.

Great read overall and sets it up nicely for book five. If you haven't already, check out this series!

[Charlie Climer]

This is one hell of a trip.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has had a curiosity about the military mind set, but as a Vietnam veteran myself I would warn you. There be Dragons here...

[Michele Packard]

I was a little daunted by the heft of this book, but I devoured it just like the rest of the series. Pure genius.

[A Farm]

from the first page to the last, you are immersed in story that feels familiar but off, like your childhood blanket unexpectedly in the backseat of your car wrapped around a warm beer.