The Ultimate Rush [Mass Market Paperback]

Joe Quirk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

As the sole rollerblade courier at a San Francisco delivery service, Chet Griffin is the fastest messenger in town. Every day, he delivers critically confidential packages, but when he hands over an already-opened envelope containing a floppy disk with billion-dollar information, a deadly serious customer demands satisfaction. On a routine run, Chet's co-worker gets killed, the finger's pointed at him, and Chet finds himself on a rush job to save his own life. Simultaneous hardcover release from William Morrow. 2 cassettes. .

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you thought Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock on a bus was thrilling, wait until you meet Chet Griffin, the hero of Joe Quirk's first novel, The Ultimate Rush. Chet makes his living as the only rollerblading courier in San Francisco, a job that entails screaming down steep hills at high speeds; dodging automobiles, pedestrians, and streetcars; and delivering, among other things, highly illegal stock information all around town. Enter the Chinese Mafia who, for reasons we won't get into here, consider Griffin a threat; suddenly our hero-on-wheels is in mortal danger from more than just a traffic accident. Targeted by a gang of Chinese killers, Griffin and his girlfriend, Ho, careen through a series of high-speed chases and narrow escapes before finally turning the tables on their tormentors in a bloody, but highly original, finale. What makes The Ultimate Rush such a hoot is the way Quirk piles one thriller-genre cliché after another onto his plot, then puts his own quirky twist on them. Hackers, skateboarders, crooked cops, and Chinese assassins keep Chet and Ho hopping and the reader happily going along for the wild ride from first page to last. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Check out Chet Griffin! He's a tattooed, snake-owning, San Francisco-dwelling, way attitudinous dude! He works as a Rollerblade messenger by day and surfs the Internet as an outlaw computer hacker by night until his courier job?combined with his relentless pursuit of the ultimate adrenaline high?gets him mixed up in an illegal investment scheme. Soon the Chinese and Italian mafias, the police and the FCIC (Federal Computer Investigations Committee) are chasing him and his punk-rock girlfriend through the streets, the sewers and the public transportation system of his native city. Chet may be little more than an amalgam of Generation X stereotypes, and the contrived plot leans a little heavily on previous cyberthrillers like Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and extreme-sports action movies like Point Break, but Quirk knows how to keep an action plot twisting along, and his relentlessly bubbly, hip one-liners hit as often as they miss. Readers who don't mind MTV and ESPN2 cliches will enjoy the amusement park of a plot, a handful of engaging characters?particularly Chet's wheelchair-bound roommate?and some memorable wisecracks. Major ad/promo; author tour; audio rights to S&S.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312969023
• ISBN-13: 978-0312969028
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,962,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Yes, I am both Joe Quirks.

People say the Joe Quirk who writes the science humor can't be the same Joe Quirk who writes the action/adventure fiction. How many Joe Quirks do you think there are? Both guys are me.

Fiction readers. Science readers. Please. I declare a truce between you. Stop accusing the other readers of confusing the two Joe Quirks. They are both me.

This is what happens when authors don't stick to their category. The professionals advised me: "You might want to change your name so you don't confuse and upset your readers." If I did that, I'd have to change my name every book. My marine mammal book is cute and kid-friendly. Yet my first novel drops the F-bomb so many times, I calculate that if I took out every curse word, the book would be 2/3 as long. I don't want to offend the readers of my curse book if they accidentally pick up my cute book. But I can't change my name every book.

It's time I came out of the closet. I am not only Joe Quirk, I am also the other Joe Quirk.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensory Overload with Sugar on it, February 14, 2000

By 

Owen - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Rush (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh my god, what a ride! The genius of what "Joe Quirk" has done is all the more amazing when you consider the fact that this book actually got published. I was beginning to think it was impossible to find a book by a contemporary author about characters other than the disillusioned middle and upper classes. As far as I know there has never been a book about this particular iteration of the nihilist fringe element in our society. The author doesn't let up on those of us who are unschooled in the jargon of "badass" bladers, skate boarders, etc. and I couldn't have been happier. READ it for its originality and for the love the author put into it even if you don't think you have anything in common with people with blue hair and pierced bodies. It has been a revelation. I could go on and on, this book excites me so, but I'll just try to chill and wait for Mr. Quirk's next book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite the rush, May 6, 2000

By 

Aaron Steel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Rush (Mass Market Paperback)

If you are the type of person who doesn't like books that are not "realistic", then you shouldn't read this book, as the whole thing is really over the top. However, if you enjoy a ballistic plot, highly original characters and lots of fun and laughs along the way, then you should definitely read it. Chet is just an "ordinary" guy who gets accidentaly mixed up in a life and death struggle against the Cineese mafia, putting himself and his friends at risk. What follows is some fast and furious action that is fun but borders an the absurd at times. Eventually the battle moves to cyberspace, and another foe - MP Phred joins the mix. Somewhere along the line the plot gets muddled with too many bad guys and too much going on, but plows forward on sheer adrenalin. The characters are very original and there are lots of funny exchanges between them throughout. The writing style is very fresh and enthusiastic adding to the fun. So yes, it does have its flaws, many courtesy of its over-enthusiasum but it is also that same enthusiasum that makes for an exciting, fun, original experience.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Average Joe's Ultimate Rush, September 21, 2003

By 

"reeyelined" (Smyrna, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Rush (Hardcover)

Haha...first lemme point out, I find my review title funny. Wow, I crack myself up. Anyhoo...this book, The Ultimate Rush, my friend Alicia and I read it and wow, did it give us something to gawk at or what. I'm still passing it around my circle of friends as well, who would all comment well on it. We find ourselves now using clever lines flourished from the author Joe Quirk's head, and refer to it even as the "Bible" on some occasions, considering we follow up on it for quirky lines and thanks to Ho, fashion statements. Not only has this book opened my eyes to more comedic and real-time thoughts, thanks to sarcastic lead character Chet Griffen, a hacker turned ex hacker turned blader boy hacker with some serious issues when it comes down to love life, making rent, and choosing television channels with his roommate and disabled buddy Denny. Not ONLY do things get worse when his lesbian friend Ho breaks up with her girl, and Chet realizes that he's got the hots for her, but also when this simple messenger guy becomes the hunted by the hunter, which not surprisingly turns out to be the Chinese mafia! I dunno about you, but this is simply one paragraph, and already I'm feeling the need to re-read the book for the hundredth time. Anyway, pick up the book...I got it for cheap because the boneheads that call themselves book critics can't tell the difference between shat and THE SHAT (I'll make it past tense so my review will be read), so spare a few bucks and give this excellent bundle of paper and ink a try, and trust me: You'll soon be left feeling the average Joe's ultimate rush.

Haha...I did it again. Go me. And go READERS and pick up the book already!