When their mother calls with news that their MAGA-pilled, conspiracy-theorist father has gone missing, the newly unemployed queer narrator of Make Sure You Die Screaming does what anyone would do: steals their ex-boyfriend's BMW and races from Chicago to deep-red Arkansas on a mission to kidnap their estranged father and bring him home.
Now, with a bottle of premixed margarita jiggling in the cupholder and the narrator's brand-new garbage goth bestie, Yivi, screaming through night terrors in the passenger seat, our hero hurtles toward a family reunion from hell. Along the way, they experiment with Yivi's mystery pills, elude a relentless stalker and outrun some cops who believe the narrator committed a tragic murder.
An unflinching interrogation of class rage, economic (im)mobility, gender expression, the rot at the heart of capitalism and the political bloodbath dividing so many American families, Make Sure You Die Screaming is the loud, funny, suspenseful road trip novel of our times.
'Make Sure You Die Screaming roars to life from page one and never lets up. It's a Fear and Loathing for the generation devastated by the generation that brought us Fear and Loathing.' Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby
'Zee Carlstrom's chaotic joyride had me holding on for dear life. This iconic road-trip novel is a balm for a bleak, uncertain world.' Vanessa Walters, author of The Lagos Wife
'I loved every loud, messy page. Zee Carlstrom is the first writer to make me feel better about my own life choices.' Sam Irby, author of Wow, No Thank You
'Make Sure You Die Screaming is the debut novel our country needs (but doesn't deserve). It's a tight little banger about the shared delusion of family that left my heart, as Zee Carlstrom's head-wounded narrator would say, "as full as my bladder", because putting it down long enough to pee was out of the question.' Ruth Madievsky, bestselling author of All-Night Pharmacy
'Zee Carlstrom's debut blends asphalt-black comedy with the greasy darkness pervading the nuclear family, the workplace, and the US itself. They should hand this book to anyone who leaves a hair salon with a mullet on purpose.' Calvin Kalsulke, author of Several People Are Typing
'Whether you're grieving a person or a country, Make Sure You Die Screaming is the novel for you.' Holly Wilson, author of Kittentits
