Russ has never been your typical teen. After being expelled, Russ has started to get his life back on track. He’s a pop culture junkie, and living in a town where the popular teen soap “Cape Twilight” is filmed, how could he not be? So when Russ decides to make his own short film, he recruits the (emotionally unhinged) star of “Cape Twilight” and his own motley crew to help out. Seems like a great idea...until the plan blows up in Russ’s face.
Just when everything seems to be falling apart, Russ receives a message on his cell phone — from himself. Recorded in the future, ‘future Russ’ informes him that the day can be fixed if he’s willing to use an app to leap twelve hours into the past. Russ is happy to oblige, figuring the day can’t get any worse. But he couldn’t be more wrong. Because as soon as Russ tampers with time and space, he introduces dangerous glitches he can’t control, including alternate of himself. And suddenly Russ’s sanity and the lives of everyone he cares about are at risk if he can’t find a way to regain control of his own life— past, present and future.
After being expelled, Russ has started to get his life back on track. He's a pop culture junkie--living in a town where the popular teen soap "Cape Twilight" is filmed, how could he not be? So when he decides to make his own short film, he recruits the emotionally unhinged star of "Cape Twilight" and his own motley crew to help out. Seems like a great idea--until the plan blows up in Russ's face. Just when everything seems to be falling apart, Russ receives a message on his cell phone--from himself. Recorded in the future, "future Russ" informs him that the day can be fixed if he's willing to use an app to leap twelve hours into the past.
Praise for EXTRA LIFE
“With EXTRA LIFE, Derek Nikitas gives us a weird-science thriller packed with inventive twists, dynamic action and characters we both care about and genuinely fear. Deeply satisfying.”
–Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN
"By turns clever, surreal, and poignant, Derek Nikitas has achieved a rare thing with EXTRA LIFE - a high concept thriller with both smarts and heart. An inventive, memorable young adult debut.”
—Gwenda Bond, author of LOIS LANE: FALLOUT
"A clever, fast-paced, and thought-provoking tale." —Publishers Weekly
"Escalating action and suspense will grip readers until the end. A fine first foray into YA lit by veteran thriller-author Nikitas." —Booklist
"Fast-paced, action-packed, and sometimes violent, this novel provides another variation on the time-tested time travel trope. A science fiction novel for die-hard fans of the genre." —School Library Journal
"Nikitas' first young-adult effort, proves a brisk read that ought to entertain all s-f fans, regardless of age."
—StarNews Media
Praise for Derek Nikitas
“Any subject Derek handles, channeled through the lens of his unique sensibility, is likely to be of unusual worth and interest.” —Joyce Carol Oates
“Here is a book to scorch the heart and freeze the blood. Here is a story that leaves the reader gasping in shock and sadness, dry-mouthed and damp-eyed, dragging in air as the final chapters detonate. Here, in abundance, is live-wire language pumping beauty, desire and violence like electric currents; here are characters so exquisitely textured, the pages nearly shudder with their breath.”
—The Washington Post on The Long Division
“Nikitas' stellar first novel isn't just one of the best genre debuts of the year, it's one of the best releases - period.” —Chicago Tribune on Pyres
“A harrowing debut novel in which a girl who witnesses the brutal murder of her father learns the worst is yet to come... The prose is admirable, the mood pure Ingmar Bergman.”
—Kirkus Reviews on Pyres
“Beautifully realized characterizations power complex story lines that meet and connect this disparate group with the inevitability of Greek tragedy.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Long Division
“As he deftly weaves together three perilous storylines, we feel ourselves simultaneously moved, horrified and brokenhearted as the novel spirals towards its breathtaking conclusion. Nikitas finds beauty and pathos in the smallest of gestures, the largest of actions, the darkest of paths. Not to be missed."
—Megan Abbott on The Long Division
