Tag: dystopian thriller

Anarchy And Other Lies by Jesse Mckinnell

Posted on by CMPR

Anarchy and Other Lies

“Sam takes her book out from her pack and begins flipping through the pages. ‘It is better to live on your knees than die on your feet – Emiliano Zapata,’ she recites defiantly to the towering phantom. I don’t know if she got the quote backward on purpose. In any case, it makes more sense to me this way.”

With poverty at an all-time high and food rations at an all-time low, the future imagined in ANARCHY AND OTHER LIES (Montag Press, November 2020, 978-1-940233-82-6, $15.95, Original Trade Paperback) by Jesse McKinnell is a bleak one. Jake begins his story in a comfortable place, working his modest office job as a silverware designer, but his life is suddenly upheaved by the layoff of his entire department. Newly unemployed and facing the same fate as millions of others who have wound up homeless in his city, Jake finds himself wandering the streets in a dazed state until he strolls near a familiar landmark- an old, condemned bridge over a toxic river. In the second upheaval of the day, the bridge collapses in an explosive terrorist attack. It is the first, but certainly not the last, bombastic attack he will bear witness to. In the following week, Jake has another fateful meeting with the manic-pixie-dream-anarchist behind the bridge attack, Sam, when she saves him from getting blown up alongside her newest target. 

Immediately, Jake is caught up in the whirlwind that is Sam, a woman who leads a dangerous life of off the grid activism. Contrary to Jake’s profound ability to drift aimlessly through everything he has ever done, Sam seems to have a mission and strong driving convictions. Her want for revolution is infectious- digging its claws quickly into Jake and making him feel a spark of emotion for the first time in his drab, dull life. On the surface, it’s clear that Sam and her fellow partner in crime, Cap, want to enact change. They want to make people look up from their phones (or, in the case of this dystopia, their smart glasses) and see the state of the world, even for a few minutes. In time, though, the waters of her revolutionary dreams only become muddier and muddier, leaving Jake to ask: What does Sam really stand for? Does Jake want to support what seems to be chaos that is just as aimless as his former life? Is he a coward for wanting to return to the simplicity of protein bars, video games, and mind-numbing news cycles? 

Jesse McKinnell’s new parodical novel ANARCHY AND OTHER LIES takes the reader a step not-so far outside of our current reality. Using dark humor and self-aware cynicism, McKinnell explores the climate surrounding modern political issues and how easy it is to fall into a pattern of both numbness and performative activism. 

The dreary world that McKinnell paints is balanced with his dry wit, cautioning the reader against becoming too entrenched in either side of the spectrum of complete inaction or completely meaningless action. ANARCHY AND OTHER LIES touches on relevant topics- poverty, homelessness, dependency on technology, and the U.S. election cycles, to name a few.

About the Author
Jesse McKinnell is a writer living in southern Maine. His debut novel, Dead Cats and Other Reflections on Parenthood was published in May 2018 and was selected by Publishers Weekly as a semi-finalist for their 2017 Booklife Prize.

Anarchy and Other Lies
By Jesse McKinnell
Montag Press Collective
ISBN: 978-1-940233-82-6
Publication Date: November 2020
252 pp

The Expedition by Chris Babu

Posted on by CMPR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:      

 “They say you don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.”

 THE EXPEDITION

By CHRIS BABU

A generation after most of humanity was destroyed by the deadly superbug Aeru, a micro society rises from the ruins of what was formerly known as Manhattan. This miniature civilization of survivors is known as New America, a place where every citizen is supposedly considered equal. Yet, zones segregated by thick walls according to job and status suggest otherwise. Just two weeks prior, in order to earn a higher quality of life for their families, several young high school graduates signed up as pledges for the infamous Initiation test. Those who survived barely have the opportunity to enjoy their success.

In book two of the Initiation series, THE EXPEDITION (Permuted Press, ISBN: 978-1682618356, Hardcover, January 2019), author Chris Babu returns to New America where Drayden, Catrice, Charlie, and Sidney are targeted by their despot ruler, The Premiere, for another death-defying mission. They were promised a better life for their families, and after risking everything to get it, they now learn that there is just one more thing they need to do—save the world from its looming demise.

In THE EXPEDITION, the four pledges join forces with the elite security team, the Guardians, to leave the uncontaminated safety of New America.  They must venture beyond the walls into the unknown to find deep-cycle windmill batteries and search for signs of life. Without these batteries, all power in New America will cease and its citizens will die. In addition, Drayden harbors a personal agenda—finidng his mother, who was brutally exiled to live outside the city’s walls.

 Although Premiere Holst assured them that the Guardians would serve and protect them, the relationship between the two groups is contentious. Add to this the obvious hurdles of battling desperate post-Confluence creatures and deranged survivors, and the potential of contracting Aeru, and the journey seems like it is doomed to fail.

With a degree in Mathematics from M.I.T., Babu draws upon his knowledge to create increasingly difficult quandaries the pledges must solve to reach their goal.  Like Rick Riordan who imparted his love of mythology to middle-grade readers in the Percy Jackson series, Babu wants to encourage kids to find the fun in math and problem solving.

In a battle of brains versus brawn among ruins of the Aeru ravaged jungle beyond New America’s walls, Drayden, Catrice, Charlie, and Sidney face the most puzzling challenge of all time—how to survive.  A perfect triad of math, science, and harrowing adventure, THE EXPEDITION will have the heart and mind racing, cheering for a new generation of teenage heroes.

About the Author

Chris Babu is a self-proclaimed science and math nerd who grew up playing soccer and the violin in North Haven, CT.  He was a bond trader on Wall Street for nineteen years, and his first novel, The Initiation, was published in 2018.  He lives on the east end of Long Island with his wife, daughter, and 130-pound Great Dane, Buddy.