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The Fearkiller Two Volume Set: Fearkiller (Vol. 1) and Notes from Trillionaire Island: Fearkiller
Kirkus Fearkiller (Volume 1)
"A dark comedy about the psychological damage inflicted on American workers during the difficult economic and political climate in the new millennium.
Maley’s clever debut novel begins with a nameless, disgruntled worker beating his former boss, a Wall Street tycoon named Egan, to death with a hammer. Regretting his violent actions, the killer aims to repent by saving the defunct American economy. Tongue in cheek the whole narrative, Maley’s narrator creates a new product, Egan Disciplinary Fish Food, through which he hopes to create jobs and finance the college education of Egan’s three children. As the novel progresses, the frenetic narrator focuses on the repeated catastrophes and fear that pervaded from 2000 to 2010. Maley essentially turns fear into a character and shows the narrator working relentlessly to demolish it. The chapters alternate points of view between the arguably psychotic murdering worker and various televised news reports regarding the states of fear, uncertainty, doubt and other destructive but prevalent societal emotions. As the narrator plods onward “with the express intent of saving souls through capitalism,” he occupies something of an undefined physical space, conducting imaginary conversations with his deceased boss as well as animals and characters that are barely included in relevant scenes. The plot of this witty novel is almost beside the point, as Maley’s kooky narrator singlehandedly dissects the traumas of the decade. Despite his precarious mental state, this “unpaid overtimer” toils so zealously for the salvation of the nation’s collective spirit that the reader cannot help but root for his success. In addition to the economy, Maley’s narrator bites his nails about environmental damage, technological glitches, terrorism, health care and many other contemporary dilemmas, with a determination to fix it all. Blurring the lines between the real and the surreal, Maley creates a story full of both fright and hope.
An amusing satire about contemporary American society, filled with refreshing comic relief."
The second volume takes place three years after the first volume.
"Now I spend my days reading, history mainly, sitting poolside here on Trillionaire Island.
Myself and the other trillionaires, we have a ball. Movie night, trillionaire dance parties, prank-calling random billionaires, telling investing 'war stories' by the bonfires on the beach—life on Trillionaire Island is good.
I’ve been working on my memoir as well, but last night I had an
The world has plenty of memoirs. What it needs is a memoir that gives an overview of investing, so it could be confused with an honest-to-goodness, get-rich-quick guide.
All of the current financial books are written by college professors and maybe a few millionaires. What do they know?
The world needs a get-rich-quick memoir/investment guide, written by a trillionaire.
Time to give back."
"A dark comedy about the psychological damage inflicted on American workers during the difficult economic and political climate in the new millennium.
Maley’s clever debut novel begins with a nameless, disgruntled worker beating his former boss, a Wall Street tycoon named Egan, to death with a hammer. Regretting his violent actions, the killer aims to repent by saving the defunct American economy. Tongue in cheek the whole narrative, Maley’s narrator creates a new product, Egan Disciplinary Fish Food, through which he hopes to create jobs and finance the college education of Egan’s three children. As the novel progresses, the frenetic narrator focuses on the repeated catastrophes and fear that pervaded from 2000 to 2010. Maley essentially turns fear into a character and shows the narrator working relentlessly to demolish it. The chapters alternate points of view between the arguably psychotic murdering worker and various televised news reports regarding the states of fear, uncertainty, doubt and other destructive but prevalent societal emotions. As the narrator plods onward “with the express intent of saving souls through capitalism,” he occupies something of an undefined physical space, conducting imaginary conversations with his deceased boss as well as animals and characters that are barely included in relevant scenes. The plot of this witty novel is almost beside the point, as Maley’s kooky narrator singlehandedly dissects the traumas of the decade. Despite his precarious mental state, this “unpaid overtimer” toils so zealously for the salvation of the nation’s collective spirit that the reader cannot help but root for his success. In addition to the economy, Maley’s narrator bites his nails about environmental damage, technological glitches, terrorism, health care and many other contemporary dilemmas, with a determination to fix it all. Blurring the lines between the real and the surreal, Maley creates a story full of both fright and hope.
An amusing satire about contemporary American society, filled with refreshing comic relief."
The second volume takes place three years after the first volume.
"Now I spend my days reading, history mainly, sitting poolside here on Trillionaire Island.
Myself and the other trillionaires, we have a ball. Movie night, trillionaire dance parties, prank-calling random billionaires, telling investing 'war stories' by the bonfires on the beach—life on Trillionaire Island is good.
I’ve been working on my memoir as well, but last night I had an
The world has plenty of memoirs. What it needs is a memoir that gives an overview of investing, so it could be confused with an honest-to-goodness, get-rich-quick guide.
All of the current financial books are written by college professors and maybe a few millionaires. What do they know?
The world needs a get-rich-quick memoir/investment guide, written by a trillionaire.
Time to give back."
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 19, 2017
About the author
Chris Maley
6 books7 followersI live in Denver, Colorado. "Fearkiller (Volume 1)" is my first book. Since the story is about the workforce of 2000 through 2010, a prospective reader should know my own path in that world. I began the decade an okay-happy worker bee, then the threat of layoffs hit my company late '01. Layoff/post-layoff life was nutty, working way too much and way too thankful to be working way too much. I started to freelance during this time and this got me fired from Corp. America mid-decade, but I had a taste of freedom so it was cool. (Of course, I had no idea The Great Recession was coming in 2008.) Freelance life gave me a nice taste of freedom and then the recession hit. I worked part-time jobs during 2008, 2009 and 2010 to make ends meet while continuing to land freelance gigs. This is when the whole concept of living in fear to keep your job started to materialize. As a dedicated independent contractor, it was interesting to observe the workforce during this time. I turned these observations into a book. Follow my blog: www.chrismaley.com
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