Brokeula
Will be published approx. on 20. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
120 pages
978-1-968043-09-4 (ISBN)
Description
A broke vampire's last ditch effort to escape the blood sucking monster of capitalism through an ill-conceived multi-level marketing scheme.
James Sugre has never been this broke before in his centuries of living. Down and out, he's had a terrible string of luck investing in companies crippled by fraud and always late to the next crypto-fad. He spends most of his time in his coffin, too broke to go out in public.
As the video game industry reaches record-breaking heights, Sugre tries his luck one more time with his own game studio. When he encounters a game developer and self-professed fan of vampire lore named Lauren, Sugre becomes hopeful that his luck might finally be on the up-and-up.
But the market is rocky, and nothing is as stable as "un-death." Sugre learns the hard way that a dollar is worth more than a drop of blood. Trading immortality for cash, Sugre and Lauren create a-not entirely legal-business of turning humans into vampires for a fee. The business expands, but Vampire Nation has to protect their own investments, and Sugre learns the hard truth of the system he can't escape.
James Sugre has never been this broke before in his centuries of living. Down and out, he's had a terrible string of luck investing in companies crippled by fraud and always late to the next crypto-fad. He spends most of his time in his coffin, too broke to go out in public.
As the video game industry reaches record-breaking heights, Sugre tries his luck one more time with his own game studio. When he encounters a game developer and self-professed fan of vampire lore named Lauren, Sugre becomes hopeful that his luck might finally be on the up-and-up.
But the market is rocky, and nothing is as stable as "un-death." Sugre learns the hard way that a dollar is worth more than a drop of blood. Trading immortality for cash, Sugre and Lauren create a-not entirely legal-business of turning humans into vampires for a fee. The business expands, but Vampire Nation has to protect their own investments, and Sugre learns the hard truth of the system he can't escape.
Reviews / Votes
"A pacy, fang-forward piece of horror comedy that takes a generous bite out of late-stage capitalism and sinks its teeth into the circus of bullshittery that accompanies it, this one is deliciously nihilistic but also rather funny and very easy to read in a sitting. Straddling the line between gimmicky and grimly appropriate, Brokeula, is a dead quick and dead easy read with something important to say." -FanFiAddict"Brokeula is a stunningly fresh satire." -S.A. Cosby, author of King of Ashes
"Forged with dark nihilism, which could have you thinking this is something Chuck Palahniuk had penned; whilst also being reinforced with a satirical sense of humour (which had me chuckling my way though) makes Brokeula by Seidlinger one of the standout books of the year." -Ross Jeffery, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of I Died Too, But They Haven't Buried Me Yet and The Devil's Pocketbook
Praise for Michael J. Seidlinger
"Raw and alarmingly prophetic." -Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
"Seidlinger carves from our Age of Illness a brilliantly nihilistic nightmare." -Daniel Kraus, author of Whalefall
"Do not, under any circumstance, read when you're alone. One of the most disturbing novels I've read in years." -Danielle Trussoni, New York Times Book Review
"Seidlinger pulls no punches in delivering gut-wrenching horror as he drives the novel to its bloody conclusion. Fans of Jack Ketchum and Samantha Kolesnik will want to check this out." -Publishers Weekly
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-968043-09-4 (9781968043094)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Michael J. Seidlinger is the Filipino-American author of Anybody Home?, On Submission, The Body Harvest, and other books. He has written for, among others, Wired, Buzzfeed, Polygon, and Publishers Weekly. You can find him at michaeljseidlinger.com.