In JOYPUNKS, debut novelist Fletch Fletcher drops us into a world where everyone can learn their death date at eighteen. When protagonist Danny discovers he’s a “shorter,” set to punch out at 27, he dives headfirst into a bohemian bender alongside Naomi and Brian, fellow shorters chasing highs before the clock runs out. This merry band of misfits embarks on a wild ride, chasing meaning at the bottom of bottles and in lines of coke in the mountains of Flagstaff. What begins as a character study of predetermined mortality evolves into a complex exploration of addiction, friendship, and the search for meaning when time is running out.
Fletcher vividly renders the crew’s hazy hedonism, fueled by “booze, sex, drugs, strippers, robberies,” and a hefty dose of existential dread. “We’d spend a lot of time talking. Mostly how we fucked up and landed ourselves in rehab,” Danny narrates. “We’d compare numbers…compare our favorite drugs, talk about mental health difficulties which we all obviously had big time.” The plot meanders through philosophical jaw sessions and pill-popping sprees, building to a shitstorm when Brian inks a “pact” to commit a crime for cash in his final days.
Fletcher’s gritty depiction of Danny’s screwed-up reality is the novel’s greatest strength, his jaded voice nailing the character’s reckless nihilism: “We’re just a bunch of worthless fucks scraping for meaning in a cold remorseless world […] Searching for meaning where there is none. Fuck, I felt so small. I am so, so, tired of being alive.” Through his characters’ varying responses—from hedonistic surrender to desperate attempts at redemption—Fletcher explores questions of free will and determinism with nuance. The political and religious implications of death dates are thoughtfully developed, mainly through the tension between “Gnostics” (who refuse their numbers) and “Watersons” (who view early deaths as divine judgment).
JOYPUNKS is a promising debut that combines punk rock energy with serious contemplation of mortality, free will, and human connection. Some readers may find the graphic depictions of drug use and violence challenging, but for those who dig tales of rebels raging against the inevitable, it’s a wild ride worth taking.
Fletch Fletcher’s JOYPUNKS is a sharp, gritty novel that examines predetermined mortality through the lens of addiction and friendship. Packed with booze, drugs, and existential dread, it’s a wild debut that swings big and lands punches with its bruised-heart energy.
~Edward Sung for IndieReader