Literature
™
A Guillermo Stitch noir...
***WINNER, 2019 IPPY AWARDS***
"A beautifully rendered story, mixing the cynicism and moral ambiguity of classic noir fiction with startling flashes of humour and disarmingly tender moments."
E.O.HIGGINS,
CONVERSATIONS WITH SPIRITS, UNBOUND/PENGUIN
"A cat-and-mouse game of literary havoc...fans of dystopian stories with noir flair should take notice."
AMAZING STORIES
"Will keep readers turning pages."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"A tour de force."
INTERZONE
"Brave New World meets 1984 in this Big Brother masterpiece."
KRISTI ELIZABETH,
SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW
"Whip-smart, well-paced, deeply satirical and dappled with just enough dark and light to keep the reader riveted."
ANNE CUNNINGHAM,
(IRISH INDEPENDENT, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY, IRISH TIMES)
"A fast-paced, witty satire that is a breath of fresh air for the dystopian genre. Dark, funny and beautifully written, Literature™ is a must-read, no matter if you’re a lover of sci-fi or more of a literary fiction fan."
EMILY BABB,
DYSTOPIC.CO.UK
"If you like the thrill of the chase you get from hard-boiled and neo-noir, but need the extra intellectual stimulation of exploring deeper themes, then Literature™ should be your next go to novella."
SIGNAL HORIZON
"This dystopian sci fi noir thriller is a page-turner that will keep you guessing to the end, knows how to deliver a twist and uses a few words to say a hell of a lot about the state of the world."
SANDRA RUTTAN,
TOE SIX PRESS
"Captivating and timely, with a perfect bittersweet ending. A nomination for our Novel of the Year award."
UNDERGROUND BOOK REVIEWS
"A fascinating book. A neon neo-noir where people are fuelled on a diet of eggs and coffee and nobody sleeps. A sustained howl of outrage at our dumbed-down society.
This is satire in the grand tradition: Fahrenheit 451 but with better jokes."
JOHN PATRICK HIGGINS,
EVERY DAY I WAKE UP HOPEFUL
“I was enraptured from the start. A beautifully balanced piece of writing. I love his style.”
SIÚN O'CONNOR,
A RICH INHERITANCE, RTE
"A clever interweaving of speculative fiction, dystopian vision, and classic noir, what’s most striking about Literature is the quality of the writing. The prose is lean and spare with moments of beauty fizzing through. It is also very funny."
KATHERINE GRAHAM,
THEATRE RE
"The best new work of speculative fiction I have read since the 20th Century...laced with enough scalpel-sharp wit and dark humour that you'll never notice the satire sliding into your awareness until it's too late to feel any real discomfort."
SFF CHRONICLES
"A satisfying blend of literary inspection, social commentary, dystopian world analysis and individual dilemmas to keep readers guessing and thinking to the end of Billy's perplexing, fast-paced day. Highly recommended."
DIANE DONOVAN,
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
We don't know exactly when Literature™ takes place and we don't know exactly where. All we know is that Philip Marlowe would fit right in.
We don't get Marlowe though. We get Billy Stringer. And Billy is on nobody's trail.
He's the prey.
The day hasn't begun very well for Billy. He just messed up his first big assignment, he's definitely going to be late for work, his girlfriend won't get back to him and, for reasons she has something to do with, he's dressed like a clown.
Also, he's pretty sure someone is going to kill him today. But then, that's an occupational hazard, when you're a terrorist.
He's a bookworm too, which wouldn't be a problem–or particularly interesting–except that in Billy's world, fiction is banned. Reading it is what makes him an outlaw.
Why? Because people need to get to work.
It's fight or flight time for Billy and he's made his choice. But he has to see Jane, even if it's for the last time–to explain it all to her, before she finds out what he has become.
That means staying alive for a little while...
...and the odds are against him.