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Maxine Unleashes Doomsday

Nick Kolakowski (Goodreads Author)

4.23 · Rating details · 26 ratings · 13 reviews

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

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Paperback, 274 pages

Published November 4th 2019 by Down & Out Books

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· 26 ratings · 13 reviews

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Oct 02, 2019 Oliver Clarke rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Review coming soon on Sci Fi and Scary

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Jun 17, 2020 Beau Johnson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Oct 13, 2019 Lel Budge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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

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Nov 27, 2019 Benoit Lelièvre rated it liked it

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

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Oct 14, 2019 Tess Makovesky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Oct 05, 2019 Murder in Common rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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

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Oct 23, 2019 Jessica Smith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Move over Tank Girl and Mad Max make way for the new outlaw queen Maxine! Awesome tale of the evolution of a dystopian outlaw! The end action scenes were some of my favorite I’ve read in a long time.

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Nov 08, 2019 Hobart added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-reads, 2019-cloak-dagger-challenge, letsreadindie-2019

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader, where the The Irresponsible Readerauthor also participated in a Q&A with me.
---

“You know the trick to surviving? The one thing you got to do?”

“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

...more

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Feb 25, 2020 Kevintipple rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 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 and more. Major cities such as New York are flooded and ravaged. Foods are in short supply and local government as we know it now is gone. The United States has fractured with various areas controlled by local mob style bosses as the federal government tries to hang onto their last grasp of power. That fracturing of everything trickles down all the way to the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn who are locked in a battle for control.

They are not the only ones locked in territorial battles as there are groups everywhere fighting over the dwindling amount of resources in a world that is getting worse and worse. On a very personal level, there is the personal battle of survival of Maxine Hardwater. Unfortunately, beyond the fact of her age and gender being perceived by some as ways to control and marginalize her, she also has to battle her drug addicted mother to try and keep family and home together. She also has to battle her Uncle, a notorious criminal known as “Preacher,” who is really good at barely rescuing her from a current problem and then promising real and meaningful help in the times to come.

Maxine learns again and again that the word of family means often less than the word of strangers. With very few options in a world going downhill as society crumbles more and more, she is left to fend for herself by use of her brains, brawn, and fatalistic courage. As such, there is a noir style flavor to the read that has a steady drum beat of the original Mad Max and Terminator movies style vibe to it.

Along with occasional flashes of dark humor--- of course the New York Giants have evolved beyond football to a full scale criminal enterprise--- and social commentary, Nick Kolakowski fractures time and a linear storytelling style throughout the book. He does so by creating a complex story based on an artificial intelligence compilation of various source materials. A historical record of sorts is compiled covering segments of the life of Maxine Hardwater. That record comes from many sources and includes academics that sometimes argue with the artificial intelligence about the record.

Despite that storytelling angle, the read never becomes preachy as it delves into many topics such as poverty, climate change, politics, technology with its good and bad side, and many others. In fact, one has to pay close attention because things come and go in a read that, likes the world that it depicts, is fractured in many different ways.

While dystopian fiction has not been a staple of my reading tastes since 9/11 when everything changed in so many ways, this one is quite a bit different than the usual fare I have seen over the many years I have been a reader. Maxine Unleashes Doomsday by Nick Kolakowski is a mighty good read. It also presents a world that could very easily happen and one I really do not want to see.

eBook ARC provided by the author with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
...more

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Dec 15, 2019 Todd Morr rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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

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Nov 10, 2019 Rob Enderle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Jan 22, 2020 SmallPressPicks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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

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Feb 17, 2020 Dwayne McIntosh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fun read. Kolakowski creates a world that seems familiar and what end of times fiction usually offers. Waring clans, tight supplies. All perfectly logical.
The twists and world building are well done. The book demands you keep reading to figure out what is going on. Which makes it hard to put down.

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Dec 05, 2019 Nick Kolakowski rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

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About Nick Kolakowski

Nick Kolakowski

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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. ...more