Exit Bomb

Exit Bomb is the story of a conference of people that blows up 12 square blocks in an unnamed city in the American Southwest. Stekel is the manager of a front business the conference uses to make explosives. Sunny is a middle-aged woman and natural leader, whose obstacles and competition includes Stekel. Howard and Vivian are an older couple who try to keep morale up and seem a bit Stasi. Morse is a young woman whose troubled early life leads her to betray them.

The conference sends its members to pass out sandwiches to the homeless downtown, and while there to scout locations for its bombs. They have people in their group who are good at diversion, others who are sneaky, and some who bear a grudge. They are successful in their unapproved demolition and decide to blow up 24 blocks next time. They prepare this goal and more or less enjoy affairs with one another until Sunny faces the ultimate test, and Morse takes matters into her own hands.

US$16.29

358 pages

contemporary literature, fiction, novel

pocket size, paperback

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MacGreevy and Morse

MacGreevy and Morse got roped into the conference by being downtown on a Saturday when it started raining. The body told them to get moving so they did. Buses passed them without stopping. There were no cafes or nothing open on these blocks. Does everything only open up for dinner? Morse complained. MacG felt worse; his socks were making squishy steps inside his loafers. They huddled under awnings before mannequins and posters in big picture windows watching the rain fall. It was so transparent they heard it more than they distinguished it by sight. Like black holes they pinpointed the drops by how the drops distorted the lamps, the bricks, the streets. They neared the center of conventions and wouldn’t anyone have guessed, the national culty conference was drumming up its self-support inside. Mac-Morse would have just used the bathrooms in the grand foyer, dried themselves, and rested up a bit as they moaned about their stupid weather app predicting none of this. They were drawn into a conversation by a persistent, charming attendee named Clem who had the gift of words and vibes that made rapport between strangers. Assured repeatedly that it was free, and coaxed by the good-looking, Mac-Morse went inside the conference hall and got inculcated. Mac-Morse were flattered and it let their guard down. The attendees were all smiling, plainly having lots of fun. They made commercials of themselves and referred to it as cinema. Sorry poltroons got made fun of, figures in the city and celebrities. The attendees mimicked unreasonable behavior when they saw it gave a power trip to others. Not everyone could get away with it; attendee Antonia was asked to leave. The ones still there drew close together. It was the first revelation to Morse and MacGreevy that there was a inner circle here. All but mystically they wondered who’d be left out next; thus they became members without signing anything. Everyone was warm and interested in them personally. They became giddy at the excess of self-esteem, darkly realizing that the attendees made them feel happier than they did to each other, Mac to Morse-a, and vice vorsa. It was incumbent on new attendees to plant packages around the city and to earn a bunch of money for the group. The conference encouraged them to return tomorrow starting from the early session, to learn more with zero obligation. Mac-Morse agreed, which gave the conf the go-ahead to charm them into sleeping here tonight, that is, booking a room in the attached hotel. There’d be a special evening sesh that technically was just for members but they’d make a dispensation for Mac-Morse.

MacGreevy turned to Morse and he said no. It took more than comradery to unfold his wallet. Yet he promised they’d return the next morning anyway; they had to understand that Mac-Morse had their own apartment in the city. The furrowed brows that they got back let them know this was the final time they’d be allowed to assert their own free will. This did not deter MacGreevy and he promised a certain favor to his gal during shower time if she would see past his reluctance and accompany him back here on the dawning morrow. Shecky-mah-chi, for that favor Morse would agree to much. Paths they had looked down on became the ones they trod. On Sunday morning it was raining again, after the rumbling had switched off overnight. Their debit cards led the way back to the conf. They had a hot meal in the hall, pretty good for hotel catering. The conference held their attention by rewards. Throughout the day the attendees who lived near Mac-Morse somehow found them in the crowd and got their contact friending them on social media. They agreed to meet up during the week to smash the piñata of someone complicitly against the conf.