Publication date: October 30th, 2020
Synopsis:
What if you had a chance to fix the worst mistake of your life... but only made things worse? The Rage Room dives into dystopia with an extraordinary tale about choices and second chances. Sharps Barkley jumps back in time and finds that changing the future isn't as easy as he thought.
Set in 2055, our plastic world is run by robots, fueled by consumerism, twisted religion and virtual data. Satellites control the weather, food is grown in laboratories. Arts and culture are distant memories. Beneath the sunny skies and behind the garbage-free suburban McMansions live deeply disturbed, materialistic families. Prescribed visits to rage rooms lance desperate anger, boredom and discontent but the band-aid fix hides disturbing governmental motives.
An intense and provocative exploration of societal coded messages, The Rage Room is an action-packed story of unravelling and alternative realities, of disturbing and searching re-runs. Can the army of feminist hackers restore Mother Nature?
Can love triumph over fear? And ultimately, can the children be saved?
"Dark, fun, weird, imaginative, The Rage Room is a dystopic ride perfect for the anxieties and conditions of the present day. The paranoia of Sharps Barkley seeps into you, propelling this thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end." -- David Albertyn, author of Undercard
"Leave it to the wild imagination of Lisa de Nikolits to bring us the dystopian future of The Rage Room, an extraordinary inventive speculative fiction thriller with a decidedly feminist bent. Fast-paced, funny, bold, and completely engrossing, The Rage Room is an allegory, a cautionary tale, and a rollicking good read that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned." -- Amy Jones, author of We're All in This Together and Every Little Piece of Me
"In turns unsettling and very funny, The Rage Room is a berserk science-fiction satire of toxic masculinity, narrated by your guide, Sharps, the neurotic, rage-filled Jason Bateman of the future. There are lines and descriptions that will stop you dead in your tracks and make you take notes." -- Evan Munday, The Dead Kid Detective Agency series
"In her latest captivating book, de Nikolits proffers not only a roller coaster of entertainment, but also, sharp political commentary in complicated times. The Rage Room is an intricately woven dystopian world, rich in strong female characters who easily whisk readers to a world of futuristic follies. Move over George Orwell--de Nikolits shows us how the future can be scary, exciting, and above all, female." -- Kelly S. Thompson, National Bestseller author of Girls Need Not Apply: Field Notes from the Forces
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Guest Post
Who designed your book covers?
I've designed eight out of ten of my books. I didn't design The Hungry Mirror (Val Fullard) and The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution (Colin Frings). The Rage Room is a very different kind of book, it's a grab-you-by-the-throat feminist dystopian domestic suspense thriller, a sci-fi murder mystery in the style of Groundhog Day meets The Matrix and it wasn't easy to come up with a cover for it. It's quite different and I really hope readers will like it. The blue windows are intended to be Sky The Tower, the main office hub in which Sharps works. I loved the retro Broadway style lights because a lot of the book is very fifties-inspired visually. But I wanted something slightly ominous which I hope the windows convey but most of all I hope it will entice readers!
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
That time travel is really hard to write! Argh! I am longing to write the sequel but there won't be any time travel! Keeping track of cause and consequence with Sharps's jumps nearly fried my brain. I also learned a lot about the mechanics of time travel -- you can't just write anything you like and dub it fiction, it has to hang together tightly.
If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the characters? What the characters look like:
Sharps Barkley: Jason Bateman
Celeste (his wife): Melissa McCarthy (only blonde)
Ava: Noomi Rapace
Mother: Jessica Lange or Helen Mirren
Janaelle: Charlize Theron
Jazza: Adam Driver
Daddy: Bryan Cranston or Pierce Brosnan
Shasta: Scarlett Johannson
What is your favorite part of this book and why?
As with all my books, my favorite parts are the relationships that develop. And the amazing plot twists! Although the time travel was pretty hard to write and keep track of it all was a brain challenge second to none, coming up with a future world was so much fun! I had a great time imagining that! And coming up with ways to make the data and AI work was so much fun too! I loved describing the world, which appealed to the art director side of me, creating color palettes and storyboards in my head that translated onto the page. But mainly it was the character-development that I loved. Jazza and Ava are two of my favorite characters and if there's a sequel (which I have begun to map out) then they will play a large part.
If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
I'd hit a rage room for sure! Then I'd hang out with Jazza and Sharps and spend a day in the office with them in Sky The Tower, test driving all their marketing programs. We'd take a city tour and I'd see what life would be like in 2055!
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Often the characters in my books can be traced back in some way to a person I've met but these models are all unique and fresh from my brain! I loved meeting them, it was a gas!
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
The characters run the show but considering that I had to largely rewrite the book, I had to gather up the reins and get those horses under control! And there was some resistance, I will admit that! Some people lost some page time and they weren't happy but it had to be done. I could practically see them scowling at me. Sometimes I try to write a trait into a character but he or she won't have any of it and they spit that part back out at me.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
The Rage Room is a perfectly trending novel in terms of technology, societal and sociological themes, romantic, familial and platonic relationships, world angst, concerns about climate change, the future of our children, education, arts entertainment. The Rage Room brings all of these issues together in a uniquely original way with a superbly layered and intricate plot populated with a compelling cast of fresh characters who will challenge and entertain readers until the last sentence.
This is the perfect book for readers who enjoy novels about relationships, both romantic, familial and platonic. Readers who embrace the notions of fantasy and magical realism. Lovers of 'what-if' reading and who love to be entertained and don't simply stick to one genre versus others.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
One called Boomerang Beach. I thought it was a satirical Pulp Fiction kind of read but my publisher was somewhat horrified by it. It went way too dark. My husband, my most reliable critic, hated the book too. I (obviously!) thought it was good and I still think it has potential but I'll have to completely rewrite it which I am really looking forward to.
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Given that we're talking about The Rage Room, I'd say it would be lilacs, oranges and jasmine. Because there are no plants or flowers in the world of The Rage Room but the paint gives off aromas and also the air conditioners pipe in scented air and lilacs, oranges and jasmine are Celeste (and my) favorites!
Is there a writer whose brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
Yes. Margaret Atwood because she is the best speculative writer in the world. She has famously said "Science fiction has monsters and spaceships; speculative fiction could really happen."
And The Rage Room could happen. My greatest dream is that Margaret Atwood might read The Rage Room and imagine my joy if she were to like it! I was a great fan of Atwood's even when I was living in South Africa. I recently read Cat's Eye which blew my mind. What a book! I've also always loved John Irving's work so to get his advice would be incredible.
Lisa de Nikolits is the internationally award-winning author of ten novels (all Inanna Publications). No Fury Like That was published in Italian in 2019 by Edizione Le Assassine as Una furia dell'altro mondo. Her short fiction and poetry have also been published in various anthologies and journals internationally. She is a member of the Mesdames of Mayhem, the Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, The Australian Crime Writers, The Short Fiction Mystery Association and the International Thriller Writers. Originally from South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits came to Canada in 2000. She lives and writes in Toronto.
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