Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits

by Jason Pargin, David Wong

Overview

INCLUDES A NEW AFTERWORD

New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin takes readers to a whole new level with his darkly comic sci-fi thriller, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits.

An Alex Award Winner

Nightmarish villains with superhuman enhancements.

An all-seeing social network that tracks your every move.

Mysterious, smooth-talking power players who lurk behind the scenes.

A young woman from the trailer park.

And her very smelly cat.

Together, they will decide the future of mankind.

Get ready for a world in which anyone can have the powers of a god or the fame of a pop star, in which human achievement soars to new heights while its depravity plunges to the blackest depths. A world in which at least one cat smells like a seafood shop's dumpster on a hot summer day.

This is the world in which Zoey Ashe finds herself, navigating a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish and ridiculous on any street corner. Her only trusted advisor is the aforementioned cat, but even in the future, cats cannot give advice. At least not any that you'd want to follow.

Will Zoey figure it all out in time? Or maybe the better question is, will you? After all, the future is coming sooner than you think.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250830548
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/05/2021
Series:	Zoey Ashe Series , #1
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	191,791
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

JASON PARGIN is the New York Times bestselling author of the John Dies at the End series as well as the award-winning Zoey Ashe novels. He previously published under the pseudonym David Wong. His essays at Cracked.com and other outlets have been enjoyed by tens of millions of readers around the world.

Editorial Reviews

"With verve and velocity, the story moves...one cinematic set piece after another, strung together with twisty fun and wit." - The New York Times Book Review

"Cracked.com executive editor [Jason Pargin] (This Book Is Full of Spiders) unabashedly trolls everyone and lampoons everything in this beautifully outrageous science fiction adventure...Biting humor and blatant digs at modern society overlay a subtly brilliant and thoughtful plot focused on one young woman’s growth and survival against all odds." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"All right, grab some popcorn and strap in. We're in for another profane and funny roller-coaster ride from [Pargin]...Some of the sci-fi elements are comic book–y and the humor is as juvenile as ever, but the book more than makes up for any shortcomings with its Technicolor tomorrowland, mischievous humor, and frenetic action sequences." - Kirkus Reviews

"Well-timed humor and explosive thrills, a smart backbone, and witty wordsmithing make this new release by Cracked.com’s Jason Pargin (John Dies at the End) as fun as it gets. Steer this one toward readers of sf with a sense of humor, and fans of Max Barry’s satirical futuristic novels." - Booklist, starred review

"Like Jonathan Swift for the internet age, [Pargin's] novel offers an engrossing journey and razor-sharp wit inside of an uncanny prediction of an American future. His humor ranges anywhere from blatantly poking fun at our world to more subtle aspects of life that one would not even think of until pointed out. [Pargin's] capability as an author has steadily matured since he won cult status with John Dies at the End in 2007, and his newest is only more proof that he will be remembered as one of today’s great satirists." - Nerdist

"With plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way, you'll almost be sure that you forgot to plug your blink feed in, as we face even more perils than Zoey Ashe could have dreamt of, and that's just the holographic Christmas decorations. A sofa clutching read from beginning to end, and a great look at the constantly growing world of social networking." - Starbust, 9 out of 10 stars

“[Jason Pargin's] writing style is a great mix of Tom Robbins meets Philip K. Dick. You could throw in some Christopher Moore as well. [Pargin] has his finger on the pulse of popular culture, current trends, and how quickly both can become absurd and take civilization to places that it should not go... Fast, fun, brutal, hilarious, and quite thought provoking, Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits is highly entertaining and well worth every page turn." - New York Journal of Books

From the Publisher

★ 08/03/2015
Cracked.com executive editor Wong (This Book Is Full of Spiders) unabashedly trolls everyone and lampoons everything in this beautifully outrageous science fiction adventure. In a near-future U.S. that’s even more narcissistic and technology-obsessed than the present, Zoey Ashe is a typical down-and-out young woman with an absentee father. She and her cat are more or less content to sleep the day away in their trailer park until a predator-obsessed Internet celebrity decides to stalk and kill her, with a million viewers following along. Zoey is rescued by some confederates of her father (who she learns is dead), which leaves her having to flee from his enemies, but his friends aren’t much better. It seems as though everyone wants something from her, and she isn’t sure what she even wants from herself. She makes it to Tabula Ra$a, a Vegasesque city deep in the Utah desert, where there are no rules and everything goes beyond over-the-top. Staying alive is Zoey’s top priority as she and her sketchy new companions struggle to work out the mystery of her father’s legacy—oh, and save the world from a megalomaniac calling himself Molech. Biting humor and blatant digs at modern society overlay a subtly brilliant and thoughtful plot focused on one young woman’s growth and survival against all odds. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Well-timed humor and explosive thrills, a smart backbone, and witty wordsmithing make this new release by Cracked.com's pseudonym-wielding Jason Pargin (John Dies at the End, 2009) as fun as it gets.

starred review on FUTURISTIC VIOLENCE AND FANCY SU Booklist

05/15/2015
When he's not Jason Pargin, executive editor of the comedy site Cracked.com, Wong writes New York Times best sellers like This Book Is Full of Spiders. In his latest, set in a bloody near-future, superhero vigilantes duke it out with self-proclaimed supervillains, as a group called the Men in Fancy Suits keep things calm. When Zoey discovers that her recently deceased con artist dad had redeemed himself by joining the Fancy Suits, who subsequently rescue her from some nasties, what choice does she have but to put on a suit herself?

Library Journal

★ 03/01/2016
In this laugh-out-loud adventure complete with superhero costumes and a cat named Stench Machine, Zoey Ashe discovers that she has inherited billions from her deadbeat dad. Unfortunately, the sudden windfall means that the entire city of Tabula Rosa (think of a tackier, more sinful Las Vegas multiplied by 10) is out to capture her to control her money and her inherited weapons. Zoey may have just been a curvy barista living in a trailer park, but she is her father's child—she's smart, a bit conniving, and a threat to her enemies. She's ready to take on Molech and his biologically enhanced minions, especially after they kidnap her mother from the strip club. This hilarious novel is perfect for students who are ready to move from Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart (Delacorte, 2013) and on to something more like Matt Ruff's Alex Award-winning title Bad Monkeys (Harper, 2007). Wong (a pseudonym of Jason Pargin) is a comedic writer at Cracked.com, as well as the author of John Dies at the End (2009) and This Book Is Full of Spiders (2012, both St. Martin's). Readers can't help but snicker—Zoey is snarky, and a serial killer and chili farts are mentioned in the opening pages. Just as in a box office hit, the action is nonstop, the humor is crude (the book's back cover features a picture of a robotic middle finger), and the plucky female main character saves the day. VERDICT Give to mature young adults who appreciate wit and crude humor.—Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL

School Library Journal

2015-07-15
A young woman who believes her father dead enters a cyberpunk theme park where everyone is trying to kill her for a secret she doesn't even know she has. All right, grab some popcorn and strap in. We're in for another profane and funny roller-coaster ride from Wong (This Book is Full of Spiders, 2012, etc.)—better known as the playful pseudonym of Cracked's Jason Pargin. Here the author strays from his previous horror adventures to craft a sci-fi comedy-thriller full of ray guns, sentient programs, and cybernetically enhanced psychotic killers. Our hero(ine) is Zoey Ashe, a self-identified "trailer troll" from rural Colorado whose single mother shills drinks in a zombie-themed bar. It doesn't take long for Wong to offer lots of clues that this is the near future, one in which the chasm between the rich and the poor has reached cartoonish proportions. It turns out that Zoey's father was Arthur Livingston, the founder of a utopian city geared toward criminals and the superrich called Tabula Ra$a, located out in the high desert. Arthur was blown up by a rival arms dealer, so his gang, the Suits of the title, are under instruction to fetch Zoey, who holds the key to retrieving his fortune, not to mention his violent revenge. "I want no part of this nonsense," Zoey says. "This whole city is a butt that farts horror." The enhanced bad guys are all broadcasting to the fictional "Blink" network, a kind of POV live stream that lends itself well to the insane supervillain monologues that pepper the book. Meanwhile, Zoey's lack of enthusiasm is irksome to Will Blackwater, her escort. "You take risks; you get hurt," he says. "And you put your head down and plow forward anyway and if you die, you die. That's the game. But don't tell me you're not a hero." Some of the sci-fi elements are comic book-y and the humor is as juvenile as ever, but the book more than makes up for any shortcomings with its Technicolor tomorrowland, mischievous humor, and frenetic action sequences.

Kirkus Reviews