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Maxine Unleashes Doomsday
by
The United States has collapsed. Bandits stalk the highways, preying on the weak and unaware.
In order to transport goods between heavily fortified cities, companies hire convoy escorts. Maxine is the best of these new road warriors: tough, smart, and unbelievably fast. But she also has a secret: She’s the niece of New York’s most notorious outlaw, a man hunted by what’s le ...more
In order to transport goods between heavily fortified cities, companies hire convoy escorts. Maxine is the best of these new road warriors: tough, smart, and unbelievably fast. But she also has a secret: She’s the niece of New York’s most notorious outlaw, a man hunted by what’s le ...more
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Paperback, 274 pages
Published
November 4th 2019
by Down & Out Books
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If I like a book, I usually end reviews with this: fun was had! With Nick Kolakowski's Maxine Unleashes Doomsday, I think I'll put it at the start. Why? Could be the mashup of genres I just read. Could also be the dystopian (not so distant) future it involved. Or maybe it was only Maxine herself (who for some reason I envision as Natasha Lyonne, she of the show Russian Doll and owner of one very smoky voice), and how badass she was. Or maybe it was none of those things, and maybe, by words alone
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This is the tale of the history of Maxine’s life, taken from old records after the world has been practically destroyed in the Collapse. Global warming and rising sea levels have flooded large areas of the US. Food is scarce, towns are dead and people are scratching a living the best way they can. Various clans control areas and are constantly battling each other for control.
Maxine lives in a poor area, her mother is an addict. So Maxine looks after everything including her younger brother, Brad ...more
Maxine lives in a poor area, her mother is an addict. So Maxine looks after everything including her younger brother, Brad ...more

Hum... I can't exactly chastise this book for not being original. It's a weird and gleeful mix of many tropes that usually don't go together like the outlaw family, post-apocalyptic society, post-humanism, etc. I can't chastise it for not being fun either, because it's rip-roaring, non stop action from cover to cover.
What is it about this book that I just couldn't get enthusiastic about?
Maybe it's the outlaw family thing that I thought was a little edgeless. Maxine and her friends/family are pre ...more
What is it about this book that I just couldn't get enthusiastic about?
Maybe it's the outlaw family thing that I thought was a little edgeless. Maxine and her friends/family are pre ...more

This is a refreshing change - a dystopian novel that manages to be quirky and even, dare I say it, fun! Maxine is a feisty yet practical heroine; when life deals her a bag of spanners she uses them to customise her latest armoured car or upgrade the prosthetic arm she wears after one too many accidents. It's nicely written and unlike some science-based books, the author really seemed to understand the tech he was describing. In particular, I loved the explanation for the surprisingly jaunty tone
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For Maxine, taking on the world around her is a lesson in survival. It's a world that doesn't generally care if she lives or dies, but is only concerned with her ability to deliver on her commitments. Her Uncle Preacher helps from time to time, in the best way he can. But it's Maxine's determination to make it on her own in that moves this book forward.
The pace of this book is fast and consistent. Excellent character development, and structure. Highly recommended!
~June Lorraine ...more
The pace of this book is fast and consistent. Excellent character development, and structure. Highly recommended!
~June Lorraine ...more

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader, where the The Irresponsible Readerauthor also participated in a Q&A with me.
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This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader, where the The Irresponsible Readerauthor also participated in a Q&A with me.
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“You know the trick to surviving? The one thing you got to do?”...more
“What’s that?” Maxine asked.
“You got to treat every day like an adventure. Like it’s fun, or a challenge, even when everything’s crappy. Especially when it’s crappy. Because otherwise, it’s all going to crush you.”
“I feel like I spent my whole life being crushed.”
“Well, that’s

When the world seems to be on fire every day and the new normal of society is borderline chaos, Nick Kolakowski’s new book, Maxine Unleashes Doomsday has a lot of relevance to the here and now. He builds on that and extrapolates into a near future that is all too plausible. Part crime fiction, part dystopian thriller, and with violence on nearly every page, this is a complicated read that is very good.
A little over one hundred years now, climate change has wreaked havoc through sea level rise an ...more
A little over one hundred years now, climate change has wreaked havoc through sea level rise an ...more

Maxine Unleashees Doomsday is a gritty sci-fi noir mashup that wears it's Mad Max/Road Warrior influences proudly. This action-packed post-apocalyptic crime story follows her from her misspent youth into her misspent adulthood while the world around her slowly crumbles. It's a hell of a ride. The book's only drawback might be it flaunts the Mad Max influence a little too blatantly (the lead character is named Max after all). If you love or even like the Road Warrior though, you'll dig Maxine.
Ho ...more
Ho ...more

You really got to know Maxine very well as this book progressed. I typically like a less troubled hero but the book held me. The end felt a tad rushed but that was OK as I could figure out what was likely to happen by that time anyway and had the author drawn the ending out, I expect, the book would have felt too long. Enjoyed the read, nothing over the top and the outcomes all seemed both likely and probable. It would have been interesting to see a picture of Maxine at the end but I'd recommend
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I thoroughly enjoyed the on-the-road, Mad Max-like thrills of his novel. But my favorite aspect of the book was its exploration of the ways in which artificial intelligence begins to surpass human intelligence. This angle of the novel left me chilled, especially given the increasing use of AI in the real world.
For my full review of the book, see https://smallpresspicks.com/maxine-un.... ...more
For my full review of the book, see https://smallpresspicks.com/maxine-un.... ...more

Dec 05, 2019
Nick Kolakowski
rated it
it was amazing
· (Review from the author)
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review of another edition
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Nick Kolakowski's work has appeared in The Washington Post, McSweeney's, Washington City Paper, Playboy, LOST magazine, Trader Monthly, WebMD, and eWeek, among other venues. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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