THE ULTIMATE RUSH REVIEWS

“Generation Q! Attention all rollerblading, computer-hacking, grunge-listening, omnisexual, multi-pierced twentysomethings. Okay, now attention all those who think RAM is a male sheep and a mosh pit the center of a fruit. And finally, attention all lovers of engrossing works of literature that offer a new look at an age-old story of identity and self-acceptance. The Ultimate Rush has arrived.”
– Daphne Uviller, Time-Out New York Magazine

“The exciting thing about The Ultimate Rush, a witty, skillfully paced action thriller, the first novel by Joe Quirk, is that it takes these background abstractions and dumps them firmly in the foreground … This may or may not be the sort of value system we want impressed upon our children, but if it is, then Quirk’s the man to do so.”
– The New York Times Book Review

“Page-turner of the week! Aptly-named author Joe Quirk, a 31-year-old former nanny and daycare worker, invests his lively tale of Chinese gangs, stock market deceit and murder with jolly, breakneck style and a fine grasp of skater attitude … Rush has wheels, er, legs.”
– People Magazine

“This book flat-out rocks .. some of the best action writing I’ve ever read. Quirk should direct movies. He puts the pictures in your mind that well. But in addition, he tells the story in present tense, with an ultra-hip vernacular and rocket pace that I haven’t seen since the first hundred pages of Bright Lights, Big City. In addition to great action, great language, and great characters, Quirk puts in some seriously funny material … I don’t envy Joe Quirk. With a debut novel like this, he’s going to have a tough time with a follow-up. I wish him luck.”
– Chistopher Moore, bestselling author of Coyote Blue and Lamb

“Quirk’s debut novel is a rollicking read with countless chase scenes, wisecracking dialogue, and a smooth and sassy prose style. Good fun.”
– Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist

“Check out Chet Griffin! He’s a tattooed, snake-owning, San Francisco-dwelling, way attitudinous dude! Quirk knows how to keep an action plot twisting along … relentlessly bubbly … some memorable wisecracks.”
– Publisher’s Weekly

“A first novel full of jump and jive, Quirk’s lingo is cutting edge, but don’t be spooked — he delivers a cracking, electric thriller with a wild, gravity-defying conclusion.”
– Partners & Crime

“Joe Quirk has come out of nowhere to write a hip, ironic thriller … At certain points as I read, I gasped at the perfect imagery he had created in The Ultimate Rush … strong writing and whiplash prose … Joe Quirk is a strong new talent, and The Ultimate Rush is a fast-paced but highly unusual thriller about a young man coming of age in the time of cyber. Quirk’s words cut like scalpels at the heart of this interesting, and yes, quirky debut.”
– Douglas Clegg, bestselling author of The Children’s Hour

“A slick mystery-suspense tale … Read Quirk for his characters and dialog, which crackles throughout.”
– Library Journal

“Joe Quirk’s Ultimate Rush has all the excitement and enthusiasm one might hope for from a first novel, but written with the skill and assurance one would expect from a much more experienced hand. It’s a hilarious and suspenseful San Francisco Rollerblade courier thriller which takes full advantage of the possibilities inherent in the city’s topography to give the reader a hell of a ride. As a bonus, the story has some of the best hacker exploits I’ve seen in print. I’m eagerly awaiting Quirk’s next book. You will too.”
– Kepler’s Books

“The Ultimate Rush … ignited a bidding war between literary agents and seems destined to become a Hollywood blockbuster.”
— Quality Paperback Books

“His narrative sputters along with hilariously manic Hunter Thompson-like word-spray.”
– Kirkus Review

“If you thought Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock on a bus is thrilling, wait until you meet Chet Griffin, the hero of Joe Quirk’s first novel, The Ultimate Rush … a hoot … 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.”
– Amazon.com

“We strongly recommend Joe Quirk’s novel about an inline skate messenger in San Francisco– if you like your protagonist on wheels.”
– Inline magazine

“Here are some tales with locations and characters that really are novel … as entertaining as it is unique … I was hooked. This is wonderful, off-centre high-action fiction.”
— Toronto Star

“Delirious thrills … Is Joe Quirk’s novel actually a heartwarming Hallmark movie with a Grunge/Punk/Gangsta rap sound track aimed at Gen-X readers? Or a thriller with its pierced tongue firmly in cheek? You decide.”
–mystery author Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press

“The first virtuoso chase scene through downtown San Francisco– including a spell atop a BART train– will leave even the quibblers wrung out and chuckling.”
– San Francisco Chronicle

“Written in a witty, sarcastic and harshly poignant style, The Ultimate Rush fits every definition of a true page-turner. A typical sentence reads like an adrenaline rush … a worthy read.”
– Kevin Pride, The Chronicle Online

“This anti-biz thriller oozes youth culture, including a photogenic author [and] a blockbuster ending … The book’s youth and maturity schism is disarmingly apparent and those my age will find surprising depth in the analysis of marginalization during technology-rich boom times … and the tribal nature of outcast groups. Check it out. You might feel, briefly, young again.”
– Catherine Such, PDXS

“Funny and very candid.”
– www.booklist.com

“I just read a book that made me feel old. And I liked it … I feel like I’m in some parallel universe … Quirk … has not only a feel for these defiant characters, but also true affection. I like them, too.”
– Mark Johnson, San Jose Mercury News

“The Ultimate Rush is one damn good read.”
– Free Heretic Online

BRITISH REVIEWS OF THE ULTIMATE RUSH

“Read it here first. This will be a film, but it will have to sweat to be half as good as Joe Quirk’s book. The pitch? Bullit on rollerblades, Speed to punk music, Asian mafia meet the Sicilians, hackers join Noam Chomsky in destroying status quo– and a damn sexy love story to boot. That enough?”
– RTE Guide

“One of the best opening sequences of any novel I’ve read. A Gen-X novel with the crucial addition of a plot. Frantic and fun, well-written, wayward, excellently characterized with just the right edge of cartoonish violence. Point Break meets Speed; Don Winslow … except more rampant.”
– Steve Kelly, Richmond Review

“Ultra-fast and hip as they come … a sensational thriller.”
– Howard Marks, author of UK bestseller Mr. Nice

“A lot of outrageous action, snort-out-loud humor and cracking imagery … Chet is a hugely successful character … enjoyable, well-written comedy-thriller.”
– Times Metro

“High-energy chases and slick street lingo set the tone for Joe Quirk’s debut novel.”
– Time Out - London

“This is no ordinary thriller. As roller-blader-hero says to bike punk Spider: “What seems at first to be lame might actually be pretty hype shit” … language that thrills. This book sings in San Francisco speak of love between a sugar-strung blader and a blue-haired `planker’ (skateboarder) who take on crooks, cops and bankers.”
– The Guardian

“Frantic and funny … sit back and let the action sweep you along.”
– Susanna Yager; Sunday Telegraph - London

“First-time author Quirk manages to maintain a whirlwind pace, and his ultra-smooth use of street lingo exactly suits the needs of his plot. But hold on to your hat as you blast off into instant hyperspeed.”
– Vincent Banville, Irish Times - Dublin

“[Chet and Ho] defy the odds and become characters you care about. In a rapid, fever-pitched first person narrative, Joe Quirk pulls off a hip debut … by merit of its insanely addictive, hyperbolized street language.”
– Bizarre - London

“The Ultimate Rush is a page-turning dream racer of a novel. Action-sequences of nail-biting tension and side-splitting humor erupt at regular intervals like giant rockets on Bonfire Night. It’s hip, it’s entertaining, and above all, it takes the reader right inside cyberspace with enough detail to make everything clear but not so much that we’re overwhelmed. A truly kickin’ debut.”
– author Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News

“A very funny comedy thriller featuring great sex scenes … I can give no higher recommendation.”
– Loaded — London

“The pace is ferocious, but after some nail-biting computer hacking, there’s a finale that would give Mad Max a run for its money … wonderful.”
– Conor Fleming, The Irish Herald

“The Ultimate Rush is very fast, great fun … the book richly deserves the 1998 Fun Slang Award.”
– author Andrew Taylor, Tangled Web UK

“Four Stars! … this is another belter … Set on the mean streets of San Francisco, this is Bullit on rollerskates, with a cast of colourful characters to make Armistad Maupin’s vision of the same city look tame. It there’s a better rollerblading novel out there, I ain’t seen it.”
– The Mirror - London

“A terrifyingly fast read with some very funny dialogue between the frustrated Chet and the ever cool Ho … This is all good frantic stuff, well told and tightly plotted with fast and vivid scene changes (you can already see the movie version) … Quirk takes great delight in humiliating or denting Chet’s ego: the sex scene with Chet hunting for his partner’s ever elusive clitoris is a great case in point. In fact it’s a classic scene.”

–The Barcelona Review