Books



8th Street Power & Light: A Novel

In an abandoned Midwestern city, there’s one last vestige of order and days gone by: 8th Street Power & Light. Part government, gang, and power company, 8th Street tasks Samuel Parrish with keeping the city clear of meth and bootleg liquor. Most nights, Samuel tracks down criminals, while other nights find him navigating hazier avenues: in between drinking and fighting, he’s falling for his best friend’s girl. But when Samuel rousts a well-connected dealer, he uncovers a secret that threatens to put the city back in the dark.



• Paperback 5″ x 8″
• List price: $15 Print, $4.99 ebook
• ISBN: 978-1-944850-03-6
• Release: October 2016
• Publisher: MG Press
• Language: English



Praise


“Shonkwiler’s imagination wouldn’t pass any field sobriety tests. This is deranged and absurd stuff, but it’s also oddly tender. Buy a copy and dig the madness!”
Joshua Mohr, author of All This Life, Some Things That Meant the World to Me, and Termite Parade

“I was privileged to hear Eric Shonkwiler read from 8th Street Power & Light recently, and hot damn, can he ever write. The world in Shonkwiler’s imagination is dark, electric, gritty. Thoroughly original work.”
Kathy Fish, author of Rift and Together We Can Bury It

8th Street Power & Light is a terrific science fiction noir novel, featuring a protagonist as damaged as the almost-recognizable America he's enduring. A first-rate read.”
Scott Phillips, author of Hop Alley, Cottonwood, and The Ice Harvest

“A dystopian (Mid)western, Eric Shonkwiler’s 8th Street Power & Light is a furious read, pages soaked in the lapsed whiskey of the near-future. The prose is a deadeye’s; the pace is relentless. A hell of a lot of fun.”
Nicholas Mainieri, author of The Infinite

“In this novel, Shonkwiler continues his exploration of a post-apocalyptic west with a character sprung from his acclaimed first novel, Above All Men. Little Samuel Parrish is all grown up, the bleak echoes of the cataclysmic war settled into the core of his character. Samuel, a ‘heel’ who serves as skeptical enforcer/detective, walks a fine line between violence and compassion as he seeks to uncover the nexus of corruption in a city resurrected by electricity and shadowy forces of power. Here, evil hides behind even the brightest of lights, and sometimes only a slick slice of a knife will reveal the truth. Fans of Cormac McCarthy and hard-boiled noir will appreciate Shonkwiler’s style, in which spare syntax and tight dialogue rule the day. A star-crossed love affair, unfolded with nuanced writing, brings a softer pulse to the proceedings, and the descriptions of a city lit up at night—a wondrous rarity in this landscape—beat with the rhythm of poetry.”
Britta Coleman, author of Potter Springs

“ Along with (in very different ways) Cormac McCarthy and C. J. Box, Shonkwiler is proving the Western isn't dead. Here, he cross-pollinates the genre with noir and post-apocalyptic fiction to create a darkly human little beast with jaws wide open.”
Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses, Windeye, and ALA-RUSA award winner Last Days

“Shonkwiler’s world is made of rust. In this relentless novel, no life is safe, no story too far-fetched and no bone unbroken. There is a reckoning coming. You will need a tetanus shot.”
Andrew F. Sullivan, author of Waste and All We Want Is Everything

“In this atmospheric and entertaining tale, Eric Shonkwiler smartly puts the Western story’s need for justice, and the Noir crime’s hard-boiled means to achieve this, inside a post-apoca- lyptic landscape, to ask questions about community, society, and democracy that are highly relevant for our times. How commu- nities must care for their poorest and most vulnerable mem- bers, and at the same time deal with corruption and crime in an effective manner. This novel is also a riveting tale of love, friendship, compassion, and violence, and would make Raymond Chandler and Cormac McCarthy proud.”
Berit Ellingsen, author of Not Dark Yet

“Shonkwiler’s 8th Street Power & Light is a fast-paced literary thriller set in a dystopian future where big business and govern- ment have merged. This insightful book reverberates with our country’s current challenges. The tightly woven plot features protagonist Samuel, a flawed character who pursues justice even as he’s sleeping with his friend’s girl. The twists and turns will leave you breathless, but it’s Shonkwiler’s restraint with lan- guage and dialogue that’ll keep you coming back for more.”
Aline Ohanesian, author of Orhan’s Inheritance

“Shonkwiler’s second novel is every bit as bare and measured as his first, with prose even leaner, darker, and more discomforting. His vision of a near-future Midwest cityscape is at once terrifying and innovative, where Orwellian methodology clashes with slavery and survival on acute levels, in a succinct yet poetic style that makes Hemingway seem florid. Fewer authors have said so much with so little so well; Shonkwiler’s knack for laconic perfection is unrivaled, and the Midwest has found its augural voice in this talented newcomer. 8th Street secures Shonkwiler’s place in the ranks of bold and unapologetic mavericks to watch.”
Leah Angstman, Editor-in-Chief of Alternating Current Press