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WORK TITLE: Strays
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://justinkassab.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
N/A
PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Slippery Rock University; Wilkes University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
AVOCATIONS:Water polo.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Justin Kassab grew up in Central Pennsylvania. His love of water polo got him accepted to Slippery Rock University, where he majored in writing. He then attended the Wilkes University M.F.A. program, where he developed the confidence to start his science fiction series Primal Age Chronicles.
Foamers
In Foamers, protagonist Kade was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease as a child, a guarantee of a short life lifespan, and he has given up hope of living a productive life. When he is in his twenties, the United States is hit with the feline flu pandemic. A vaccine is released and given to ninety percent of the population, all in a single day.
However, the vaccine has devastating effects. It deprives all of the recipients of their higher functions, leaving them with only their primal urges. They become known as “foamers” because of the red foam that comes from their mouths when they hunt. Kade, who was not given the vaccine, suddenly becomes valuable to society and ends up leading a group of survivors in a world that has been turned upside down.
Strays
In Strays, Kade and his group find out that the world is more populated by survivors than they thought, and many of the survivors are as dangerous as the foamers. When some of his group are captured by a former national guard unit, Kade has to go to a former enemy for help, which some of the remaining members of his group see as betrayal. With distrust running through his group and foamers at his doorstep, the future looks bleak.
A Publishers Weekly reviewer liked the fact that “the foamers are given personalities, a nice piece of storytelling that separates them from zombies,” but felt that the constant emphasis on women and children being raped, captured, and hurt was a drawback to the series.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, July 4, 2016, review of Strays, p. 47.
ONLINE
Justin Kassab Home Page, https://justinkassab.com (May 1, 2017).*
Hey there folks, you obviously know my name since you are on this site. I grew up in Central Pennsylvania where I swam and played water polo. Water Polo led me to Slippery Rock University where I took my hobby of writing and made it a major through their creative writing program. After a time of doing the starving artist route, I came to realize that I needed help to become a better writer, and that is when I found the Wilkes University M.F.A program and met my mentor, Kaylie Jones. In my time at Wilkes, she helped me form The Primal Age into a world devoid, but at the same time full of life. Now my first novel, Foamers (The Primal Age Chronicles), has been published by Akashic Books.
JUSTIN KASSAB spends his time writing and working, with a little bit of water polo mixed in just for sanity. After a brief hiatus to work on a few other writing projects, he looks forward to continuing work on the third novel in The Primal Age Chronicles. He is the author of Foamers and Strays.
QUOTED: The foamers are given personalities,
a nice piece of storytelling that separates them-from zombies,
Strays
Publishers Weekly.
263.27 (July 4, 2016): p47.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Strays
Justin Kassab. Akashic/Jones, $17.95 trade paper (250p) ISBN 978-1-61775-501-9
Kassab's second Primal Age Chronicles postapocalyptic novel (following Foamers) accurately depicts the impossibility of true safety in a world
gone to hell, but it too often turns women into objects. The creepiness of blacked townhouses and abandoned cars sets the scene of a ruined nearfuture
U.S. in which-protagonist Kade must try to rescue friends who've been captured by the remnants of a fascist federal government. Kade
keeps his small band of survivors safe in New York State while the world is ravaged by the "Feline Flu," which turns people into animalistic
creatures called foamers. But not even he can protect everyone, as decisions have unexpected consequences. The foamers are given personalities,
a nice piece of storytelling that separates them-from zombies, but the repeated trope of men being motivated by women and children being hurt,
captured, raped, or infected mars what could have been an innovative and compelling series. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Strays." Publishers Weekly, 4 July 2016, p. 47. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA457302889&it=r&asid=9056a1d78f19a8818213d54b8c14cdc2. Accessed 12 Apr.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A457302889