What do you think?
Rate this book
Exile
Twenty years ago, a toxic spill in the small, southwest Texas town of Exile poisoned residents with permanent rage. The feds’ response? Quarantine. Only residents who pass the feds’ 4-S test can escape Exile’s heavily fortified borders. Heidi Palermo, unwilling medic to her family of bloodthirsty street warriors, has taken the test repeatedly, trying to prove she’s smart, strong, sterile, and sane. Three out of four ain't bad, but the feds don’t grade on a curve.
When her abusive brother dies in battle, Heidi turns her clinical eye to his killer. An Outsider who arrived post-spill, Tank seems open to Heidi's advances. Is Tank her ticket out of Exile? Before she can find out, the two are besieged by her vengeful family. Heidi must keep their blood feud from triggering a war with the feds if she wants to escape Exile. But Tank’s about as trusting as Heidi is monogamous—which is to say, not at all. So Heidi's picked the wrong mark, her family is gunning for her, and the feds are itching to nuke Exile once and for all. Heidi's got her fourth S now: Screwed.
When her abusive brother dies in battle, Heidi turns her clinical eye to his killer. An Outsider who arrived post-spill, Tank seems open to Heidi's advances. Is Tank her ticket out of Exile? Before she can find out, the two are besieged by her vengeful family. Heidi must keep their blood feud from triggering a war with the feds if she wants to escape Exile. But Tank’s about as trusting as Heidi is monogamous—which is to say, not at all. So Heidi's picked the wrong mark, her family is gunning for her, and the feds are itching to nuke Exile once and for all. Heidi's got her fourth S now: Screwed.
332 pages, ebook
First published July 23, 2019
4 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Lisa M. Bradley
27 books57 followersLisa M. Bradley grew up in South Texas, before the construction of the Border Wall. She writes about boundaries and those who defy them in works ranging from haiku to novels.
Her latest book is Climbing Lightly Through Forests, a tribute poetry anthology for Ursula K. Le Guin, coedited with R.B. Lemberg (Aqueduct Press). Her debut novel is Exile (Rosarium Publishing). Her first collection of short stories and poetry is The Haunted Girl (Aqueduct Press).
Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous venues, including Uncanny, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, Cicada, Weird Tales, Mothering, and The Moment of Change: An Anthology of Feminist Speculative Poetry. She resides in Iowa with her spouse and teen. You can follow her on Twitter (@cafenowhere) or Patreon (Lisa M. Bradley).
Her latest book is Climbing Lightly Through Forests, a tribute poetry anthology for Ursula K. Le Guin, coedited with R.B. Lemberg (Aqueduct Press). Her debut novel is Exile (Rosarium Publishing). Her first collection of short stories and poetry is The Haunted Girl (Aqueduct Press).
Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous venues, including Uncanny, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, Cicada, Weird Tales, Mothering, and The Moment of Change: An Anthology of Feminist Speculative Poetry. She resides in Iowa with her spouse and teen. You can follow her on Twitter (@cafenowhere) or Patreon (Lisa M. Bradley).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 7, 2019
Exile has the exterior of a Mad Max film and the heart of a psychological drama. In the quarantined Texas town renamed Exile, a chemical spill has induced varying degrees of psychotic rage among the inhabitants, who spend their days in deadly street battles. Heidi’s grown up there and wants to escape. She connects with Tank, an Outsider (someone from beyond the town’s borders who chooses to enter the town) after he beheads her brother—she’s very much obliged, as it happens. The rest of her family, not so much, and soon Tank, Heidi, and Tank’s mates Sweeney and “Puppy” Paolo are trapped in Tank’s fortress house, besieged by Heidi’s brother’s crew and the rest of Heidi’s family. In tight quarters, under pressure, they begin to open up—and to crack up. Everyone has secrets, and first impressions . . . may not be deceiving, but certainly don’t tell the whole story. The characters are so beautifully drawn—with compassion, with humor, with bones of steel but with tenderness, the lightest touch of lips on skin—and the interactions between them are both tense and intense. This true not only for Heidi and Tank, but for the supporting characters as well, including Carlos (one of Heidi’s many, many lovers), the tragic Forrest Vai, Paolo, and Sweeney. I’m especially fond of Sweeney (how can you not like a guy who describes the effects of Heidi’s prodigious sex drive as her “porny superpowers”?).
Looked at from one angle, Exile is a princess-in-a-tower story, but with Tank and Heidi doubling up on both the princess role and the rescuer role. It’s also a story that repudiates the ideal of unthinking family loyalty: people who abuse you most emphatically do not deserve your loyalty, regardless of genetic connection. And it’s the hottest, most sex-positive story I’ve read, with the sex being an integral, necessary part of the story and yet not the focus of the story. Marvelous.
It is very violent, has lots of cussing, and lots of sex, so it won’t be everyone’s cuppa, but I loved it.
Looked at from one angle, Exile is a princess-in-a-tower story, but with Tank and Heidi doubling up on both the princess role and the rescuer role. It’s also a story that repudiates the ideal of unthinking family loyalty: people who abuse you most emphatically do not deserve your loyalty, regardless of genetic connection. And it’s the hottest, most sex-positive story I’ve read, with the sex being an integral, necessary part of the story and yet not the focus of the story. Marvelous.
It is very violent, has lots of cussing, and lots of sex, so it won’t be everyone’s cuppa, but I loved it.
September 15, 2019
How did Lisa M. Bradley do this? Jesus. This is an achievement. Dark, funny, sad, idiosyncratic, cool as hell, and compelling, sensitive portraits of characters who are appropriately rough around the edges.
March 13, 2019
Lisa M. Bradley’s Exile seems, at first glance, to be yet another post-apocalyptic, dystopian, violence-and-sex-filled escapade. But instead, it’s a crazed, riveting character drama that would not let me go.
First, I do have to say that there’s a lot of sex and sex-talk in here, so, if you’re not okay with that, don’t read this book. One of the things I love about Exile is the fact that Heidi is not ashamed of her sexuality. She owns the fact that she likes sex, she likes sex a LOT, and she finds many men attractive. No matter how much shit other people give her, she doesn’t feel shame. She gets rightfully pissed at others’ judgment of her, but it in no way prevents her from going after what she wants. She initially goes after Tank because she’s attracted to him and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about that. She continues to go after him because she thinks maybe he could help her get Outside. Then… things gradually change. She and the taciturn enigma that is Tank begin to slowly change each other, and he comes to mean more to her than just a ticket out. When she gets trapped in his house with him, Sweeney, and Paolo, all three of them get stripped down to their essentials under fire from her family and her brother’s crew. Sweeney despises Heidi but is loyal to Tank. Paolo seems to be a sweetheart, although maybe he has a bit of a thing for Heidi. Tank… he’s mysterious, although bit by bit Heidi yanks the truth out of him and his associates. When Tank wants to kill Heidi’s Mother–who is the ringleader of the attack against them–Heidi has to figure out just how far she’s willing to go. Even minor outside characters, mostly seen through Heidi’s memories and dreams and phone calls with the outside world, have an impressive amount of detail and depth to them.
While the world is insane, most of the initial story takes place inside of Tank’s house. It’s pure character gold. Eventually it ramps up to some serious action, however. The climactic battle is creative, detailed, bloody, incisive, and soul-baring. There is some gore; while it isn’t over-the-top, it also isn’t for the faint of heart. It leads to some very interesting events.
The worldbuilding intrigued me, but it was the characters, particularly Heidi, that riveted me. I just couldn’t get enough of them, and enjoyed this book way more than I would have expected from the setup!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/03/r...
First, I do have to say that there’s a lot of sex and sex-talk in here, so, if you’re not okay with that, don’t read this book. One of the things I love about Exile is the fact that Heidi is not ashamed of her sexuality. She owns the fact that she likes sex, she likes sex a LOT, and she finds many men attractive. No matter how much shit other people give her, she doesn’t feel shame. She gets rightfully pissed at others’ judgment of her, but it in no way prevents her from going after what she wants. She initially goes after Tank because she’s attracted to him and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks about that. She continues to go after him because she thinks maybe he could help her get Outside. Then… things gradually change. She and the taciturn enigma that is Tank begin to slowly change each other, and he comes to mean more to her than just a ticket out. When she gets trapped in his house with him, Sweeney, and Paolo, all three of them get stripped down to their essentials under fire from her family and her brother’s crew. Sweeney despises Heidi but is loyal to Tank. Paolo seems to be a sweetheart, although maybe he has a bit of a thing for Heidi. Tank… he’s mysterious, although bit by bit Heidi yanks the truth out of him and his associates. When Tank wants to kill Heidi’s Mother–who is the ringleader of the attack against them–Heidi has to figure out just how far she’s willing to go. Even minor outside characters, mostly seen through Heidi’s memories and dreams and phone calls with the outside world, have an impressive amount of detail and depth to them.
While the world is insane, most of the initial story takes place inside of Tank’s house. It’s pure character gold. Eventually it ramps up to some serious action, however. The climactic battle is creative, detailed, bloody, incisive, and soul-baring. There is some gore; while it isn’t over-the-top, it also isn’t for the faint of heart. It leads to some very interesting events.
The worldbuilding intrigued me, but it was the characters, particularly Heidi, that riveted me. I just couldn’t get enough of them, and enjoyed this book way more than I would have expected from the setup!
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/03/r...
Read
February 1, 2019Whew, what a ride. It is past my bedtime so I'll write the blurb tomorrow (IY"H). But I was riveted to this with fishhooks (plot point!).
Note that this book has basically all the content notices ever. It is set in a quarantined town where people get murderous rages. And act on them. There are very few firearms inside the quarantine, so they mostly beat the crap out of each other, and produce a wide variety of improvised weapons. Also, the protagonist has a very high sex drive, and she acts on that too.
This was just epically over-the-top especially wrt violence, but at the same time, scarily believable. Great characterization. Can I have the sequel?!
_____
Source of the book: Manuscript from the author and the publisher for potential blurbing purposes (AND OH YES I WILL)
Note that this book has basically all the content notices ever. It is set in a quarantined town where people get murderous rages. And act on them. There are very few firearms inside the quarantine, so they mostly beat the crap out of each other, and produce a wide variety of improvised weapons. Also, the protagonist has a very high sex drive, and she acts on that too.
This was just epically over-the-top especially wrt violence, but at the same time, scarily believable. Great characterization. Can I have the sequel?!
_____
Source of the book: Manuscript from the author and the publisher for potential blurbing purposes (AND OH YES I WILL)
April 5, 2019
This is a book that is both distancing and engrossing at the same time. Afterwards, when you recall it, you'll recall how you felt as you read it more than any specific detail of the plot. There is sex in the book, but unlike so many other cases, it's a fact of existence, reality, persona, and life, and the writing makes it so. A lot of writers have attempted this but rarely achieve it. Overall, it's an incredible work that I can't get over.
December 15, 2019
My copy is 340 pages of fairly small typeface, which I discovered to my surprise after finishing it; it *feels* much slimmer. The writing is suitably frenetic and action paced in a way that fits the story.
Speaking of which, the story is not very science fictional. it's set in a small southwest Texas town where 20 years ago, a chemical spill took place that left the townspeople susceptible to sudden and insane rage. The government promptly moved in to turn the town into coventry. The town is a horrible dystopia: the only way for the infected to deal with the rage coursing through their veins is to engage in street battles (usually, but not always, non-lethal brawls in the street between rival gangs). Those people with more self-control have the promise of passing a test and being allowed outside: they just have to prove themselves 4S: "Strong", "Sterile", "Smart" and, most difficult, "Sane."
Heidi, the viewpoint character, is someone who's been trying to test out for years, but the government refuses to grant her one of her Ss. She's sex-crazed and desperate; and it's not clear how much of how she acts is because of the horrible surroundings and how much might be tied to chemical influences.
This reminds me for obvious reasons of the more SFnal Santa Olivia series by Jacqueline Carey, but has a more punkish vibe to it.
Speaking of which, the story is not very science fictional. it's set in a small southwest Texas town where 20 years ago, a chemical spill took place that left the townspeople susceptible to sudden and insane rage. The government promptly moved in to turn the town into coventry. The town is a horrible dystopia: the only way for the infected to deal with the rage coursing through their veins is to engage in street battles (usually, but not always, non-lethal brawls in the street between rival gangs). Those people with more self-control have the promise of passing a test and being allowed outside: they just have to prove themselves 4S: "Strong", "Sterile", "Smart" and, most difficult, "Sane."
Heidi, the viewpoint character, is someone who's been trying to test out for years, but the government refuses to grant her one of her Ss. She's sex-crazed and desperate; and it's not clear how much of how she acts is because of the horrible surroundings and how much might be tied to chemical influences.
This reminds me for obvious reasons of the more SFnal Santa Olivia series by Jacqueline Carey, but has a more punkish vibe to it.
June 28, 2019
A gripping thrill ride of a novel, set in the quarantined Texas town of Exile. Twenty years ago a toxic spill triggered murderous rage in the town's inhabitants, and now Heidi Palermo longs to escape Exile and her spectacularly abusive family for the wider world. She takes up with Tank, her brother's killer, hoping he might be her ticket out--though she also finds him super-hot. But when her family and her dead brother's crew find out Heidi has thrown in with Tank, they trap the two of them, along with two members of Tank's crew (Sweeney and Paolo) inside Tank's fortress-like home. In spite of the book's very violent, post-apocalyptic mode, it is anything but a grim read, with its finely drawn characters (especially the canny, conflicted, highly-sexed Heidi) and engaging interactions between Heidi, Tank, Sweeney, and Paolo. I particularly enjoyed the grudging, growing camaraderie between Heidi and the sardonic Sweeney. Throughout, Bradley employs tough, poetic prose. Highly recommended.
Read
February 1, 2021This novel takes place in a town where a chemical spill has poisoned locals causing them to go into a permanent rage. The main character is a towny trying to escape to the outside through legitimate means, in this case, that that means the 4 S test – Sane, Smart, Strong Sterile. So far, she has been unsuccessful. Then her brother is murdered, she starts dating his murderer, and all hell breaks loose.
I would say the SF elements in this book are rather light, which worked well for me as a palette cleanser. And, honestly, it came across more as erotica, but it’s possible I just don’t wander across a lot of steamy novels. That being said it moves at a pretty fast pace and contains plenty of violence for the action junkies out there. There’s also a good amount of tension and mystery between the characters, as you try to figure out their motivations. If you like character-based stories with a few graphic sex scenes, and a good dash of violence, this is a good book for you.
For more reviews like this check out our podcast at https://itgodp.libsyn.com/
I would say the SF elements in this book are rather light, which worked well for me as a palette cleanser. And, honestly, it came across more as erotica, but it’s possible I just don’t wander across a lot of steamy novels. That being said it moves at a pretty fast pace and contains plenty of violence for the action junkies out there. There’s also a good amount of tension and mystery between the characters, as you try to figure out their motivations. If you like character-based stories with a few graphic sex scenes, and a good dash of violence, this is a good book for you.
For more reviews like this check out our podcast at https://itgodp.libsyn.com/
August 10, 2019
Exile is a little bit Escape From New York, a little bit Road Warrior, a little bit concentration camp gone viral. Exile is completely riveting, action-packed, very well written, and has so many graphic sex scenes it could also qualify as a science fiction romance. The characters are vivid, the ending extremely satisfying. There has rarely been a more dysfunctional society or family. Highly recommended. Especially for those who enjoy the John Wick films and the like.
April 29, 2020
First of all, coolest cover ever. I went into this book expecting it to be gay and was disappointed on that front, but it’s my fault for assuming. That said, it was a very hot book. The desk sex? *fans self* The premise is wild, the action is almost non-stop and bloody as hell, but the characters, for me, were a little flat, and the plot was too thin to stretch over 300 pages. The writing was great, and I’d definitely watch the X-rated movie adaptation.
July 11, 2022
I loved this book! One of those random ones I picked up at the local library because the description sounded interesting and it did not disappoint!
Reviewers on GR often complain about books having too much cursing, so I'll say my one point of critique would be this book could have used a few more F*CKS. For emphasis.
But really, it's a remarkable achievement. I look forward to what Lisa Bradley puts out next.
Reviewers on GR often complain about books having too much cursing, so I'll say my one point of critique would be this book could have used a few more F*CKS. For emphasis.
But really, it's a remarkable achievement. I look forward to what Lisa Bradley puts out next.
May 30, 2024
This was actually really interesting and well done, I was confused ALOT and disturbed often however the actual underlying messages are super good and the ending was surprisingly extremely wholesome and made me like the entire thing alot more
August 13, 2019
Gripping!
June 3, 2022
Unusual story. Very slow pace (for me) but still "fun" to read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews