Outsourced has an official release date in the US of Feb. 1st, but is already beginning to leak into stores, and is available now as a Kindle download. And yep, the movie is still looking good with the script + financing approved.
So what's Outsourced about? Well, you've got four software engineers made obsolete due to outsourcing and their technology skills fading. They're out of work and desperate. Their middle class lives are crumbling apart. They come up with what they think is a brilliant plan to rob a bank, and you can probably guess the rest, but it's how everything gets all screwed up that's the fun!
"A small gem of crime fiction" Booklist
"A dark, lightening-paced read" Financial Times
"Bodies mount up as the double dealing and revenge gather apace. The blurb on the book describes it as a "fast-paced, edge-of-your seat crime novel," and it really does live up to the hype. Add this to your holiday reading list for a piece of escapism." Morning Star
"Back in the “real” world, Dave Zeltserman’s Outsourced is a dryly witty take on the heist caper genre with a gaggle of reluctantly redundant software engineers planning the perfect bank robbery. He brings together crazed hitmen, Russian mafiosi, Iraqi antiques smugglers and domestic angst in a fast-paced action romp that has the inestimable advantage (or not) that its characters are actually human." Peter Millar, London Times
"DAVE Zeltserman is one of the new, highly original voices in crime fiction, his writing spare, disciplined and concrete. His plots are as original as anyone writing hard-boiled fiction with an attractive noir edge, and always grimly entertaining. Like his characters. Outsourced, already being turned into a movie, follows an all-too-human bunch of outsourced software engineers who have no job prospects and no long-term insurance but do possess a plan. They are going to use their computing skills to rob a bank, and Zeltserman delivers a finely paced, witty and stylish take on the heist caper novel. More than most authors churning out mysteries, Zeltserman is fully steeped in the conventions of crime fiction. He remains absolutely his own hard man." The Australian
"Dave Zeltserman's OUTSOURCED is a speedy, gritty, hardboiled bank robbery tale that bops and weaves along as a group of out-of-work computer programmers decide to get their hands dirty and find they like it a lot. As with Zeltserman's previous novels SMALL CRIMES, PARIAH, and KILLER, his greatest storytelling skill is in the small true, emotional details that every reader will understand. He will definitely keep you flipping pages as fast you can, and once you finish one book you'll be racing on to the next." Tom Piccirilli, author of Shadow Season and The Cold Spot
"It's a bleak book with a bleak ending, one you're likely to keep reading past your bedtime to get to. Zeltserman had a breakout year in 2010, and this book will just add to his growing reputation." Bill Crider, author of Murder In The Air
"Outsourced is not only a good read, but also a sobering one that makes you wonder about the nature of the human being: if driven to the edge, would an average law-abiding citizen commit a crime in order to survive? And once having done that, can that same person face the consequences with a clear head? The answers are not easy, and Zeltserman repeatedly turns to the reader, who in the end has to answer them on his own." X2TheL
"No one likes being laid off, but some people rebound in more creative ways than others. "Outsourced" tells the story of four software engineers who when faced with being outsourced, plan their profitable vengeance on their former employers, but soon find playing on the other side of the law has far more complications than simply being caught. A riveting thriller all too topical in today's job market, "Outsourced" is a read that shouldn't be overlooked for thriller readers." Midwest Book Review
"Desperation in the face of mounting economic hardship is a theme many can sympathize with and Dan makes a convincing protagonist as readers are drawn into his life." Monsters and Critics
2 comments:
i read Outsourced over the holiday break (it was one of my major gifts from the wife) and I have to say, you keep getting better and better. I also received a copy of 21 Tales and it is one of the first times I can say I LOVED every story within a collection. Your writing kicks ass and you have catapulted yourself into my top 5 authors (too hard to rate the top 5 so just to be in there should be a complement). Any word on the release of Essence? On another note, you are a major reason I am considering buying a Nook or Kindle.
Derrick, thanks, this is really gratifying to hear, and glad you're enjoying Outsourced and my other stuff. Essence is probably being changed to "The Essence of Monsters" and my editor is trying to schedule a fall release, but I don't think it's finalized yet. It's a very gritty and noirish crime novel, one of my better ones. Ah, I wish Blood Crimes was in print also--maybe someday. It's easily my most kick-ass book, and probably my most noir.
Thanks again for this note.
--Dave
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