Phreak (ePub)

In an alternate, near-future world where corrupt government and corporate interests rule the smallest details of Island life, an unusually sensitive child is born. Navigating a landscape of ecological devastation and botched genetic modification experiments, the child's survival depends upon their heightened senses and the skills they learn at the knee of their life-hacking father. Will it be enough? As they cross the threshold of adulthood the collapse of Island society draws close and they must act in order to protect what they love. A richly detailed and compelling first novel, Solo deftly layers satire and social commentary to create a powerful story of resilience and survival.

"From mind experiments and radio-signal hacking to illegal fish-weed trading and radical plant-based activism, Phreak is a poignant and captivating snapshot of our not-so-distant future. Beautiful in its devastation, a whimsical story of injustice, hope, and the fight for connection in a disconnected world. An important and timely novel. JE Solo is a visionary."
Tracey Waddleton, Author of Send More Tourists, the Last Ones Were Delicious

"This book hacked my mind and modified the way I see my city. A sweeping, crusty feat of biting, Nostradamic wisdom. An imaginative force. A dirty mirror held up with tough love. A warning."
Terry Doyle, Author of Dig

"Phreak is an urgent, evocative novel. It's a treatise on the dangers of our capitalist, resource-driven economy and a warning of what our future could be if we don't take action. Phreak is a call to resistance and a reminder that individuals can fight against corrupt systems. The world in this book is imagined but shockingly familiar. St. John's and Newfoundland are like a second protagonist, with a voice and character that shines through the pages. JE Solo has sent us a warning in this novel, but has done it with humour and heart. This book is a quick witted, word-playing journey that gives us what we all need right now: hope."
Susie Taylor, Author of Even Weirder Than Before

"With an imagination akin to Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, an origami-like command of folding and unfolding reality, and the social and ecological warnings of Kotzwinkle and Atwood, JE delivers their most personal work to date. Their lifelong themes of the selfish and short-sighted perils of Earth's primary predator lead us through a society that has all but surrendered to its controllers. But it also introduces a protagonist whose families - by blood or by fire - not only dare to retain their humanity but in most cases go down fighting to take it back. As we currently grapple with nature's responses to our destructive systems and ideologies, this novel is timely and possibly sadly prescient."
Jodee Richardson, Playwright and Musician.

JE Solo is an award-winning writer, multi-disciplinary performance and media artist, and musician best known for their work in East Coast music, and as a trailblazer in machinima, hybrid-reality, and live and networked performance art. JE is the recipient of the Media Arts Prize and the Dramatic Script Prize from the NL Arts and Letters Awards; the Linda Joy Award from the Atlantic Film Festival; and the East Coast Music Association's Stompin' Tom Connors Award. JE's writing has been published by Perro Verlag, Truck, Playwrights of Canada Press, Write On Journal, Newfoundland Quarterly, TOFU Magazine, Reverb Magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, and Switch Magazine, among others. Phreak is JE's first novel and was short-listed for the Writer's Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador's 2017 Fresh Fish Award.