Nuclear Winter Wonderland
Buy the Book: AMAZONPublished by: Kunati Inc.
Release Date: 10/01/2008
Pages: 275
ISBN13: 9781601641601
OVERVIEW
An underachieving college kid has six days to save the world from atomic annihilation in this offbeat tale about a frenzied race from the icy Pocono Mountains to the dark heart of Walt Disney World.
It all begins as Adam Weiss and his sister Anna head home to New Jersey for winter break. Pulling into a highway rest stop, they are confronted suddenly by a lunatic nuclear terrorist who kidnaps Anna and leads Adam off in furious pursuit.
Along the way he teams up with a dyspeptic ex-mob thug and a Spanish-speaking female clown, creating an oddball rescue squad that is soon busy dodging the police and defeating an army of shadowy opponents.
But will they be in time to rescue Anna?
PRAISE
“Adam Weiss’ twin sister, Anna, is kidnapped by Ebbetts, an unpleasant and possibly cancer-ridden man who might have plans that involve a nuclear device. Desperately searching for Anna, Adam acquires a couple of sidekicks: Filbert, a man of small stature who used to do something brutal for the Mob, and Cherry Sundae, a Croatian female clown who only speaks Spanish. If that isn’t enough to make you dive right into the novel, consider this: it is remarkably polished and stylishly written (remarkably, because the author hasn’t been doing this for years: this is his first novel). It is richly comic, surreal without being silly—except where it intends to be silly—and playful in its use of language. Christopher Moore writes this way, and so does Robert Rankin, although it would be a serious mistake to assume that Corin is imitating them or anyone else in any way. If you can judge a writer’s future output based on his first novel, Corin is one of those writers who, years from now, other newcomers will be imitating.”
— David Pitt, Booklist (Starred Review)
“Last night I finished Joshua Corin’s debut novel, Nuclear Winter Wonderland, published by an independent press, Kunati Press. I’ll be honest I picked it off the shelf at the library for the title since I have read Night Voices by Rob Smith and wondered if there was any similarity. (There wasn’t) Next, I chose it after reading the cover and realized that it was done by an unfamiliar press (to me, that is). I decided to check it out and also check out the press. (which I did…for those of you who have avant-garde or other quirky novels, you might wish to do the same, by the way). Thus, my selection of the book! Well, having read it, I really loved it…got into it. It is exactly what Kunati’s site indicates as their type of book: Provocative. Bold. Controversial. It is not your normal novel. It has twists and turns, it has wacky, off-beat characters that you grow to care about (some examples: the main character, Adam Weiss, Cherry Sundae, a clown), and improbable situations. As odd as the premise is (a brother trying to rescue his twin sister, Anna, while also preventing the detonation of twelve nuclear bombs), it works. At least it did for me. At every juncture, I kept thinking, “What next?” and I had to keep reading. It is quirky, it is improbable, it is odd, and it is a compelling read (and totally different than my last read: To Kill a Mockingbird). As the Dedication/Acknowledgments page states: Now please buckle up. The tank is full, the roads are narrow, and the driver has a mischievous gleam in his eye. That may summarize it best.”
— Nancy Brady Smith, Red Room
“Beyond being hilarious and truly unpredictable, Nuclear Winter engulfed me completely—I was having such a great time and [was] so involved in the story, I didn’t realize until I finished the book just how attached I’d grown to these characters.”
— Kristy Hamer, Sentinel Entertainment
EXCERPT
Chapter One
“Adam, I‟ve got some rotten news. Your Uncle Dexter is dead.”
“That sucks, Mom.” Adam chomped off an inch of banana and chewed.
“Who‟s Uncle Dexter?”
“Look, how many times do I have to – Jesus, Adam, I - you do not talk on the phone with your mouth full. It makes it difficult for people to understand you, and it's rude. Either finish whatever you‟re eating or hang up the-”
Adam clicked off his phone and swallowed down some more soft, sweet
banana. Once finished, he carried the phone and peel out of his room and into the quiet, wood-paneled corridor. The house was empty; the rest of his fraternity brothers were using their physics textbooks to sled down a local hill. Adam had promised to join them after he finished studying for his physiology final. Sledding = joyous. Physiology = soporific. Life = unfair.
