SEVERANCE PACKAGE Some days, you could just kill your boss. Guess what? The feeling is mutual. Jamie DeBroux has just enjoyed a month’s paternity leave, spending time with his wife and newborn son. Now he’s back in the office on a hot Saturday morning in August for a mandatory 9 a.m. meeting. But when Jamie arrives, the conference room is full of cookies and champagne. His boss smiles and tells his employees gathered: “This will be news to some of you, but we’re a front company for a secret branch of the intelligence community. And we’re being shut down.” Jamie’s boss then tells everyone to drink some champagne, and in a few seconds they’ll fall asleep… for good. If they refuse, they’ll be shot in the head. After panic sets in, and chaos erupts, nobody is sure of who to trust. And Jamie quickly realizes that there’s only one way he’s ever going to see his family again -- The hard way. * Film/TV rights sold to Lionsgate, with Marc Platt producing and Brett Simon attached to direct and co-write the script with Swierczynski * * January Magazine's Best Crime Fiction of 2008 * * 2009 Barry Award nominee for Best Paperback Original * * 2009 Crimespree Award nominee for Favorite Original Paperback * Rights Information Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur, Trade paperback (May 8, 2008) Territory: North American Rights Available: Audio; Translation via Baror International Reviews: "SEVERANCE PACKAGE plays like an extreme edition of “Survivor,” starring Uma Thurman and directed by Quentin Tarantino. And 'plays' does seem the right word for this kinetic story, which never stops moving...characterization isn’t the point of this turbocharged entertainment. Action is — via macabre bursts of violence dished out with extreme cruelty and astonishing cleverness. There’s even a point to the mayhem (the worst of it, by the way, committed by sexy young women), which conveys the subliminal rage and panic of people who work in tall office buildings and keep thinking they hear planes coming." - Marilyn Stasio, NY Times Book Review "If you want your thrillers to be, well, thrilling, pop a big bowl of corn — you won’t leave your seat until the end." - Keir Graff, Booklist "[SEVERANCE PACKAGE] explodes into a read that can only be described as, are you ready, A laugh out loud funny, snidely satirical look at the corporate world and what the intelligence service has become post 9/11. This book has it all...There’s the infamous Swierczynski finely honed chaos. Grittier than Peckinpah, More intricate than LeCarre and going down smoother than Booker’s Bourbon...If you haven’t found this author yet, find him now." - CrimeSpree Magazine "one of the most outrageously original spy thrillers I can remember. There's nothing conventional about this novel...it places the author up there with Charlie Huston among the most interesting of the younger crime writers. The satire in "Severance Package" is as brutal as its action is bloody." - Patrick Anderson, Washington Post "[A] violent and intense noir and espionage hybrid...This action fest moves swiftly to its darkly satisfying conclusion." - Publishers Weekly "the race is on...to survive an insanely frenetic and increasingly lethal series of attacks...all punctuated by a morbid list of the dead and surviving staff that crops up after every graphic fatality and cartoonish depictions of the action by [Dennis] Calero. I guarantee Swierczynski’s bloodthirsty little book won’t put you to sleep. It might even make you glad you’re alive." - Clayton Moore, Bookslut "it’s better than good — it’s a disorienting heart attack riddled with bullets and suspense; neatly tied off with a single screaming finish. It’s a very unique read; it’s like a corporate-themed, spy-lurking Battle Royale with Pepperidge Farm cookies, cubicles, and water-cooler stylized office drama mixed with a hint of Richard Connell’s 'The Most Dangerous Game'...You’ll never look at your boss the same way again." - Steve Ekstrom, Newsarama "now that it's finally, finally out amongst the masses, I can say how flat-out fantastic it is, how it was impossible to stop reading and how I found myself rooting for the most psychopathic people to kick some serious ass. This isn't an office from hell but an office in the midst of chaotic nuclear winter that proceeds to get even worse for the characters - and way better for the reader." - Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind "Fans of crime fiction will find Swierczynski's latest offering to be a guilty pleasure of unparalleled magnitude. With pedal-to-the-metal pacing...the dark, twisted energy in this novel is palpable. And featuring numerous illustrations from comic-book artist Dennis Calero as well as tongue-in-cheek motivational quotes...at the beginning of every chapter, "Severance Package" is like a literary methamphetamine." - Paul Goat Allen, Chicago Tribune "In Severance Package, the Pole with Soul offers up...a combination of The Terminator and Die Hard, except this is written by Duane Swierczynski, whose debut novel, Secret Dead Men, centered on a schizophrenic zombie. So this is really Terminator and Die Hard on acid. As a bonus, the novel shows some influence from Swierczynski’s comic-book work. This book makes the list on its weird factor alone." - January Magazine Blurbs: "SEVERANCE PACKAGE is a hotshot of adrenaline straight to the neural plexus. Duane Swierczynski's ultra-violent take on THE OFFICE combines corporate skulduggery with close-quarters Bourne-style mayhem so crisp you can hear the cartilage pop. This book flat-out rocks." - Joe Schreiber "[Severance Package] has bite, a fast pace and wicked dark humor." - Linda Brown, Mystery Bookstore Purchase at Amazon.com

SEVERANCE PACKAGE

Some days, you could just kill your boss.
Guess what? The feeling is mutual.

Jamie DeBroux has just enjoyed a month’s paternity leave, spending time with his wife and newborn son. Now he’s back in the office on a hot Saturday morning in August for a mandatory 9 a.m. meeting.

But when Jamie arrives, the conference room is full of cookies and champagne. His boss smiles and tells his employees gathered: “This will be news to some of you, but we’re a front company for a secret branch of the intelligence community. And we’re being shut down.” Jamie’s boss then tells everyone to drink some champagne, and in a few seconds they’ll fall asleep… for good. If they refuse, they’ll be shot in the head.

After panic sets in, and chaos erupts, nobody is sure of who to trust.
And Jamie quickly realizes that there’s only one way he’s ever going to see his family again -- The hard way.

* Film/TV rights sold to Lionsgate, with Marc Platt producing and Brett Simon attached to direct and co-write the script with Swierczynski *

* January Magazine's Best Crime Fiction of 2008 *
* 2009 Barry Award nominee for Best Paperback Original *
* 2009 Crimespree Award nominee for Favorite Original Paperback *

Rights Information

Publisher: St. Martin’s Minotaur, Trade paperback (May 8, 2008)

Territory: North American

Rights Available: Audio; Translation via Baror International

Reviews:
"SEVERANCE PACKAGE plays like an extreme edition of “Survivor,” starring Uma Thurman and directed by Quentin Tarantino. And 'plays' does seem the right word for this kinetic story, which never stops moving...characterization isn’t the point of this turbocharged entertainment. Action is — via macabre bursts of violence dished out with extreme cruelty and astonishing cleverness. There’s even a point to the mayhem (the worst of it, by the way, committed by sexy young women), which conveys the subliminal rage and panic of people who work in tall office buildings and keep thinking they hear planes coming." - Marilyn Stasio, NY Times Book Review

"If you want your thrillers to be, well, thrilling, pop a big bowl of corn — you won’t leave your seat until the end." - Keir Graff, Booklist

"[SEVERANCE PACKAGE] explodes into a read that can only be described as, are you ready, A laugh out loud funny, snidely satirical look at the corporate world and what the intelligence service has become post 9/11. This book has it all...There’s the infamous Swierczynski finely honed chaos. Grittier than Peckinpah, More intricate than LeCarre and going down smoother than Booker’s Bourbon...If you haven’t found this author yet, find him now." - CrimeSpree Magazine

"one of the most outrageously original spy thrillers I can remember. There's nothing conventional about this novel...it places the author up there with Charlie Huston among the most interesting of the younger crime writers. The satire in "Severance Package" is as brutal as its action is bloody." - Patrick Anderson, Washington Post

"[A] violent and intense noir and espionage hybrid...This action fest moves swiftly to its darkly satisfying conclusion." - Publishers Weekly

"the race is on...to survive an insanely frenetic and increasingly lethal series of attacks...all punctuated by a morbid list of the dead and surviving staff that crops up after every graphic fatality and cartoonish depictions of the action by [Dennis] Calero. I guarantee Swierczynski’s bloodthirsty little book won’t put you to sleep. It might even make you glad you’re alive." - Clayton Moore, Bookslut

"it’s better than good — it’s a disorienting heart attack riddled with bullets and suspense; neatly tied off with a single screaming finish. It’s a very unique read; it’s like a corporate-themed, spy-lurking Battle Royale with Pepperidge Farm cookies, cubicles, and water-cooler stylized office drama mixed with a hint of Richard Connell’s 'The Most Dangerous Game'...You’ll never look at your boss the same way again." - Steve Ekstrom, Newsarama

"now that it's finally, finally out amongst the masses, I can say how flat-out fantastic it is, how it was impossible to stop reading and how I found myself rooting for the most psychopathic people to kick some serious ass. This isn't an office from hell but an office in the midst of chaotic nuclear winter that proceeds to get even worse for the characters - and way better for the reader." - Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

"Fans of crime fiction will find Swierczynski's latest offering to be a guilty pleasure of unparalleled magnitude. With pedal-to-the-metal pacing...the dark, twisted energy in this novel is palpable. And featuring numerous illustrations from comic-book artist Dennis Calero as well as tongue-in-cheek motivational quotes...at the beginning of every chapter, "Severance Package" is like a literary methamphetamine." - Paul Goat Allen, Chicago Tribune

"In Severance Package, the Pole with Soul offers up...a combination of The Terminator and Die Hard, except this is written by Duane Swierczynski, whose debut novel, Secret Dead Men, centered on a schizophrenic zombie. So this is really Terminator and Die Hard on acid. As a bonus, the novel shows some influence from Swierczynski’s comic-book work. This book makes the list on its weird factor alone." - January Magazine

Blurbs:
"SEVERANCE PACKAGE is a hotshot of adrenaline straight to the neural plexus. Duane Swierczynski's ultra-violent take on THE OFFICE combines corporate skulduggery with close-quarters Bourne-style mayhem so crisp you can hear the cartilage pop. This book flat-out rocks." - Joe Schreiber

"[Severance Package] has bite, a fast pace and wicked dark humor." - Linda Brown, Mystery Bookstore

Purchase at Amazon.com