The Next Fix

by Matt Wallace

If there is a party at the end of the universe, Matt Wallace's The Next Fix will be the drug of choice. Two-time Parsec Award-winning author teams with Apex Publications for a new collection of 12 short stories and one novella. With characters as gritty as Sam Spade but as real as your next-door neighbor, The Next Fix cooks up a cocktail of futuristic trips that range from haunting to comedic to don't-turn-out-the-lights. From Wallace's introduction to The Next Fix: You're in my own little chimerical sphere now, but I'm no different than you. I don;t shoot, snort, or roll, but I'm my own kind of fiend with my own kind of jones. You can simplify it, call it a fiction addiction. It's much more than that. Part of it's that whole "art is not a mirror, it's a hammer" thing. It's powerful. Wallace's quest for the next great high of the imagination takes the reader through the cannibalistic noir of 'The End of Flesh," the haunting beauty of endless seekers in "The Losting Corridor," and on an action packed ride-along with offworld postal workers in "Another Man's Run." If you like a chaser of tech with your horror, humor with your darkness, and beauty with your grit, The Next Fix is your next high.

229 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Brainycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice little collection of shorts from Matt Wallace. I wasn't familiar with his work until I found out about this book from Apex Publishing, so I really appreciated his introductions to each story.

There's quite a variety of stories, all of them worthwhile. There is only one story I feel is significantly weaker than the rest, and it's about the shortest one.

The three standouts for me are "Another Man's Run" a macho tale of self pity, lost chances and redemption. I also really enjoy "Delve", which has the feel of the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game and the sensibility of transhuman cyberpunk. The final story in the collection and probalby my absolute favorite is "End of Flesh", a gritty pulpy detective story in a dark future with an especially tasty ending.

I picked this up at Smashwords, it was very reasonably priced and I highly recommend picking this up. The epub is about as good as I've come to expect from Smashwords; the text is all there but there are no links and the formatting is minimal at best.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highest recommendation. The tales here are simultaneously brutal and deep, achieve both a catharsis and thoughtfulness on the part of the reader, which is the most anyone can hope to get out of story. Matt also has a smooth mastery of words, comparable to few others.

Disclaimer: I do know the author personally.

[Trude · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of short stories. I love how quickly he can create believable worlds that are just-different-enough from our own. It's sci fi, but it doesn't really feel like it all that much, because more important is the narrator's voice in each story.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read in a Matt Wallace dystopian kind of way. More importantly it provides insight into Mr. Wallace and an opportunity to see the growth in his writing.