"They say Jimmy made it out. But the postcards we get, well, they don't seem...real." When an experiment with population control works too well, and the planet is decimated, seven broken people are united by a supernatural bond in a modern day Eden. Most on the island are fully aware of this prison disguised as an oasis. Unfortunately, Jimmy is on the mainland, desperate to get back, in a post-apocalyptic stand-off, fighting for his survival and that of his unborn child. Back on the island, Jacob stares at the ocean through his telescope and plots his escape, reluctant to aid the cause. Marcy tries to hide from her past sexual escapades that may be her saving grace. X sits in his compound, a quiet, massive presence, trapped in his body by ancient whispers and yet free in spirit to visit other places and times. Roland, the angry, bitter son of Marcy is determined to leave, and sets out on his own. Watching over it all is Assigned, the ghost in the machine. And coming for them, to exact revenge, and finish the job that the virus started, is Gordon. He just landed on the island and he has help. Transubstantiate is a neo-noir thriller, filled with uncertainty at every portal, and jungles infiltrated with The Darkness. Vivid settings, lyrical language, and a slow reveal of plot, motivation, past crimes and future hope collide in a showdown that keeps you guessing until the final haunting words. Transubstantiate: to change from one substance into another.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"There is a deeper story, a deeper meaning behind his writing...you can feel its malice and foreshadowing, recognize its twisted brilliance." 5/5 --Bitten By Books
"The story reads much like a 200-page climax--[the] writing is always on the move, always frantic, surging forward...without pause, all while maintaining an intricate weave of narrative threads with deceptive ease." --Oxyfication (Jason Kane)
"This is a very dark, cynical, and intelligent novel. The way it's told only adds to both the tension and the mystery. A brilliant tale of a haunting dystopia" --Morpheus Tales (Stanley Riiks)
"In the true noir convention, there is blood, sex, and despair brimming through this novel, but at the same time, he subverts what we've come to expect, showing more of the neo than the noir" --Spinetingler (Chris Deal)
"[A] seamless melding of multiple genres while still retaining a literary voice, meaning it's a very well-written novel while still having the constant clicking of impending doom in the background." --Rotten Leaves (Nik Korpon)
"The story reads much like a 200-page climax--[the] writing is always on the move, always frantic, surging forward...without pause, all while maintaining an intricate weave of narrative threads with deceptive ease." --Oxyfication (Jason Kane)
"This is a very dark, cynical, and intelligent novel. The way it's told only adds to both the tension and the mystery. A brilliant tale of a haunting dystopia" --Morpheus Tales (Stanley Riiks)
"In the true noir convention, there is blood, sex, and despair brimming through this novel, but at the same time, he subverts what we've come to expect, showing more of the neo than the noir" --Spinetingler (Chris Deal)
"[A] seamless melding of multiple genres while still retaining a literary voice, meaning it's a very well-written novel while still having the constant clicking of impending doom in the background." --Rotten Leaves (Nik Korpon)
From the Back Cover
"Transubstantiate is, is -- it's a visual: that 2001 baby opening its eyes in the monolith, but the monolith is shrouded in this story of loss and hope and identity, and encoded in the cadence of that story, if you listen close, is the genetic map with which to draw this impossible celestial infant, opening its eyes on the page, looking right into you."
--Stephen Graham Jones
All The Beautiful Sinners, Bleed Into Me: A Book of Stories, Ledfeather, The Ones That Got Away
"Transubstantiate is an intricately-woven dystopian thriller, with every thread pulled tight. This is a solid debut from Richard Thomas."
--Craig Clevenger
The Contortionist's Handbook, Dermaphoria
"Richard Thomas's Transubstantiate constructs a collection of voices that reveals a disturbing futuristic vision of terror and beauty. The novel's island paradise, its imprisoned inhabitants, and the digital presence that works to control them, merge with ancient forces of rite and belief to create a surreal and devastating collage. This is a work that captures a world we almost know, its realities enough to raise an uneasy sense of potentiality."
--Karen Brown
Pins and Needles, The Best American Short Stories 2008 (contributor)
"Told through various shadowy narrators, Transubstantiate is a trippy, intriguing novel that forecasts dystopia for our near-future. Thomas successfully blends several genres here--noir, literary fiction, sci-fi--all with abrasive, haunting language."
--Joey Goebel
Torture the Artist, The Anomalies, Commonwealth
--Stephen Graham Jones
All The Beautiful Sinners, Bleed Into Me: A Book of Stories, Ledfeather, The Ones That Got Away
"Transubstantiate is an intricately-woven dystopian thriller, with every thread pulled tight. This is a solid debut from Richard Thomas."
--Craig Clevenger
The Contortionist's Handbook, Dermaphoria
"Richard Thomas's Transubstantiate constructs a collection of voices that reveals a disturbing futuristic vision of terror and beauty. The novel's island paradise, its imprisoned inhabitants, and the digital presence that works to control them, merge with ancient forces of rite and belief to create a surreal and devastating collage. This is a work that captures a world we almost know, its realities enough to raise an uneasy sense of potentiality."
--Karen Brown
Pins and Needles, The Best American Short Stories 2008 (contributor)
"Told through various shadowy narrators, Transubstantiate is a trippy, intriguing novel that forecasts dystopia for our near-future. Thomas successfully blends several genres here--noir, literary fiction, sci-fi--all with abrasive, haunting language."
--Joey Goebel
Torture the Artist, The Anomalies, Commonwealth
Product Details
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More About the Author
BIO: Richard Thomas is the author of three books--his debut novel, Transubstantiate (Otherworld Publications), and two short story collections, Herniated Roots (Snubnose Press) and Staring Into the Abyss (Kraken Press). He has published over 75 stories online and in print, including the Shivers VI anthology (Cemetery Dance) with Stephen King and Peter Straub, PANK, Gargoyle, Weird Fiction Review, Midwestern Gothic, Arcadia, Pear Noir!, Word Riot, 3:AM Magazine, and Opium. He has won contests at ChiZine, One Buck Horror, and Jotspeak and has received five Pushcart Prize nominations to date. He is also the editor of two anthologies, both out in 2014: The Lineup (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. In his spare time he is a featured book critic at The Nervous Breakdown, as well as a columnist at LitReactor. He is represented by Paula Munier at the Talcott Notch Literary Agency. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Brandon
Format:Paperback
The bottom line is that Richard Thomas has got the goods.
For a debut, he goes balls out on this one: sizeable cast, jumpy timeline, complex story, but Thomas pulls this off seamlessly without it ever feeling disjointed or convoluted. He doesn't spoon-feed the reader. TRANSUBSTANTIATE will make you think, question, and come up with your own theories about what's happening/going to happen, and I loved that aspect of it.
Regarding the actual writing, this has a Stephen King feel, and that might have to do with the size of the cast and the syntax that Thomas has. Make no mistake, it's reminiscent of King, but Thomas has a voice all his own that is sure to stand out in neo-noir genre he is taking on. The thing that Thomas does very well in direct comparison to King is the economy aspect of storytelling. Thomas doesn't waste a word and doesn't sacrifice any of the on-the-body description or gritty scenery. He paces what could've been a slow and confusing novel in such a way that's easy to swallow and effective. Readers should eat this up.
Thomas has been pitching this book as something akin to "Lost." I agree with that wholeheartedly. Not just because we're on an island with a large cast, but also because Thomas seems to pose great questions in his narrative that just have to be answered by us, the reader, and so we keep pouring through to find those answers. Every character is polished and worth watching. Everyone is connected somehow.
I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of "Lost" or looking to try a different flavor of novel. Great debut. Thomas is definitely a guy to keep an eye on.
-Brandon Tietz
For a debut, he goes balls out on this one: sizeable cast, jumpy timeline, complex story, but Thomas pulls this off seamlessly without it ever feeling disjointed or convoluted. He doesn't spoon-feed the reader. TRANSUBSTANTIATE will make you think, question, and come up with your own theories about what's happening/going to happen, and I loved that aspect of it.
Regarding the actual writing, this has a Stephen King feel, and that might have to do with the size of the cast and the syntax that Thomas has. Make no mistake, it's reminiscent of King, but Thomas has a voice all his own that is sure to stand out in neo-noir genre he is taking on. The thing that Thomas does very well in direct comparison to King is the economy aspect of storytelling. Thomas doesn't waste a word and doesn't sacrifice any of the on-the-body description or gritty scenery. He paces what could've been a slow and confusing novel in such a way that's easy to swallow and effective. Readers should eat this up.
Thomas has been pitching this book as something akin to "Lost." I agree with that wholeheartedly. Not just because we're on an island with a large cast, but also because Thomas seems to pose great questions in his narrative that just have to be answered by us, the reader, and so we keep pouring through to find those answers. Every character is polished and worth watching. Everyone is connected somehow.
I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of "Lost" or looking to try a different flavor of novel. Great debut. Thomas is definitely a guy to keep an eye on.
-Brandon Tietz
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Poetry Chick
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is not for lazy readers. Thank God! A lot of the creepiness and suspense is created by the use of the 7 different perspectives. Thomas has both urgency (the book grabs you from the very first page) and an admirable patience in his work. He lets the story and the plot progress at just the right speed. It did require paying attention to keep the ducks of the story in a row, so to speak, but it wasn't a bother. It was a pleasure. And there wasn't (as I feared there might be) a need to take notes or go back and re-read previous sections, etc.
I know basically nothing about noir or neo-noir. I've never seen Lost so I can't compare the book to it. What I do know is that Thomas has a style all his own and I love it--dark, sexy, gripping, and he's constantly cracking that whip to make me do the work, to pay attention as the pieces start to come together. It's interesting that a previous reviewer mentioned Faulkner. I thought of Faulkner, too, with regard to the style of diving right into the different perspectives and having the plot revealed gradually. But I also thought of Faulkner because this novel has what I've come to expect from Richard Thomas through his brilliant short stories--a gorgeous handle on language. His short stories keep getting better and better, and I expect his novels will do the same. I look forward to the next one.
I know basically nothing about noir or neo-noir. I've never seen Lost so I can't compare the book to it. What I do know is that Thomas has a style all his own and I love it--dark, sexy, gripping, and he's constantly cracking that whip to make me do the work, to pay attention as the pieces start to come together. It's interesting that a previous reviewer mentioned Faulkner. I thought of Faulkner, too, with regard to the style of diving right into the different perspectives and having the plot revealed gradually. But I also thought of Faulkner because this novel has what I've come to expect from Richard Thomas through his brilliant short stories--a gorgeous handle on language. His short stories keep getting better and better, and I expect his novels will do the same. I look forward to the next one.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Roger
Format:Paperback
Six people find themselves in a lone struggle against an alien (computer-generated?) entity known only as "Assigned" who has masterminded the almost complete elimination of human life in order to run God-like experiments on the survivors. Combining elements of neo-noir, science fiction, thrillers and social commentary, TRANSUBSTANTIATE confounds the reader's expectations through a story that is impossible to put down. I took extended lunches and stayed up way too late because of this book. If you're looking for a fresh and exciting voice in contemporary literature, look no further than Richard Thomas's debut novel. You will not be disappointed.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Steve Zissu
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thomas's plot is very unique and his distinctive voice blends gritty and choppy language with crisp exposition. He jumps through a fragmented time line as well as numerous narrators with ease. What I didn't care for was this book left so much to be explained. And if not explained, at least hinted at. By the end of the book there was a mountain of questions posed in the story that could not have possibly been answered with the few remaining left. I don't need to be spoon fed everything but I needed more than what I got. Without spoiling the book, a few questions I had were things such as, if the island so was well protected (as shown when Jacob tried running the fortified wall) how did Jimmy escape? And when he was trying to get back to the island, why not just reverse his steps? What trapped X on the island? Who were the women who collected a... uhhh... DNA sample from Gordon? What was Jacob's purpose? He was labeled as 'chosen' but by the end his contributions were fairly negligible. I also would have liked a bit more on X's sister. There was a lot of fertile ground for the teleporters. Overall I will be looking forward to Thomas's next book.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Weeks have passed since reading this book, and I still can't shake it. Bold and aggressive, the narrative that jumps among seven voices doesn't nurse the reader along with a standard, unroll-the-plot-in-clear-order delivery. Instead, the soul of his book is dusted off line by line, character by character, chapter by chapter, like the dusting off of an artifact that was there all along.
What does all this meandering from me tell you about the book? Read it. Anything that can remind you of "Lost" and Stephen King's "The Stand" in the same sitting, yet feel starkly original is worth your time.
What excites me most about this book is not even what is on the pages you're about to embark upon, but what Thomas will be capable of in his upcoming work. This is his first novel, and one gets the sense that he will not lose momentum going forward. That "it" factor for writers, much like athletes, is difficult to describe. Some call it "voice" or "style" and try to bottle or define it, but like all greatness, you can't fit a lasso around its neck . . . you can sense it here in many stretches, as Thomas engages all your senses and doesn't mince words as the prose shuttles forth.
Richard Thomas is quite simply, a voice to keep your eye on, and Transubstantiate is a roaring read. Don't miss out.
What does all this meandering from me tell you about the book? Read it. Anything that can remind you of "Lost" and Stephen King's "The Stand" in the same sitting, yet feel starkly original is worth your time.
What excites me most about this book is not even what is on the pages you're about to embark upon, but what Thomas will be capable of in his upcoming work. This is his first novel, and one gets the sense that he will not lose momentum going forward. That "it" factor for writers, much like athletes, is difficult to describe. Some call it "voice" or "style" and try to bottle or define it, but like all greatness, you can't fit a lasso around its neck . . . you can sense it here in many stretches, as Thomas engages all your senses and doesn't mince words as the prose shuttles forth.
Richard Thomas is quite simply, a voice to keep your eye on, and Transubstantiate is a roaring read. Don't miss out.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting to the point of facinating
I will admit that I really thought this book was not for me. However, after the first ten pages I had to finish it. Wonderfully written, intelligent yet a good easy read. Read more
Published 7 months ago by J.E. Horn
1.0 out of 5 stars
Six Characters In Search Of ... Well, A Lot Of Things
TRANSUBSTANTIATE is a debut novel, and it is painfully obvious on every page. I was recommended this novel because I enjoyed the novels of Clevenger, Baer, and Palahniuk. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mark Eremite
4.0 out of 5 stars
Neo-Noir Scifi Thriller
Transubstantiate is a good neo-noir scifi thriller. Meaning it's a combination of multiple genres. I see the influence of writers such as Will Christopher Baer and Stephen King and... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Edward V.
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Intricate and Layered Look at Action and Consequence
As the thriving business at Permuted press can attest, apocalyptic fiction is always in vogue. Every generation seems to feel that population growth, advances in weaponry,... Read more
Published on April 23, 2011 by Shroud Magazine's Book Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Believe the Hype!
I bought this book on the recommendation that it was, "Like LOST, except with closure," and that sums up Transubstantiate perfectly. Read more
Published on March 17, 2011 by Chris Lewis Carter
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding debut novel
This is a great first novel. I think Richard Thomas is going to be a major force in the world of ficiton and, in particular, horror and thriller fiction. Read more
Published on January 18, 2011 by Bryan W. Alaspa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended
Award winning author Richard Thomas' fascinating mystery/science fiction novel Transubstantiate begins with a cryptic introduction to six characters, some human and some who may or... Read more
Published on January 9, 2011 by Richard Waterman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and unrelenting.
Transubstantiate is not an entry-level neo-noir thriller. For a good part of the novel, the real story develops as more of a monstrous, unrelenting backdrop, the great unknown... Read more
Published on December 8, 2010 by Anthony David
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Read of 2010
I went into this book not expecting much, due to the classification of "neo-noir," -I have no idea what that means, and plus the length of the novel seemed a bit on the short side... Read more
Published on November 10, 2010 by Nathan Pettigrew
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Trip to the Edge of the World
I'm compelled to admit I don't usually seek out post-apocalyptic themed books, but this one caught my interest and so I thought I'd give it a read. Read more
Published on November 10, 2010 by Kristin Fouquet
