Coil Quake Rift

“
Coil Quake Rift deals, in an ambitious and imaginative way, with not only space, time, and memory, but also with the yearning we all have to love and be loved. Nathan Elias is a damn fine storyteller.”
— Donald Ray Pollock, author of The Devil All the Time and The Heavenly Table

“In
Coil Quake Rift, four characters connected by a history of love, betrayal, and loss, come together and fall apart in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that opens a portal in space and time. With clear, confident prose, Nathan Elias sets these characters on a poignant and emotional metaphysical journey that forces them to grapple with regret and possibility; the destination is extraordinarily satisfying.
Coil Quake Rift is a gift for anyone who has ever asked: what if?”
— Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of
The Past is Never and
Three Rivers

“
Coil Quake Rift is a cinematic, contemplative, reality-bending page-turner deepened by its vivid Los Angeles setting and its intriguing questions about multiple universes and the afterlife.”
— Andromeda Romano-Lax, author of
Annie and the Wolves

“
Coil Quake Rift grapples fearlessly with the inescapable motif of the apocalypse that haunts our century. With kinetic, vibrant prose and visionary point of view, Elias has crafted a stunning novel with a mesmerizing plot and provocative existential themes. A marvelous book that adds to the rich literary tradition of Los Angeles disaster narratives,
Coil Quake Rift reminds us the apocalypse is both personal and collective. Just like the rift that has opened in Elias’s depiction of Venice Beach, this book will open a fissure in your mind and in your heart.”

— Alistair McCartney, author of
The Disintegrations and
The End of the World Book

“A haunting philosophical thriller, Nathan Elias’s debut novel
Coil Quake Rift more than fulfills the promise of his 2020 short story collection,
The Reincarnations. It’s frankly dizzying to think that, in just a couple of books, Elias has proven himself that rarest of authors: a sci-fi master who loves people, their faults and foibles, their wishes and dreams.”

— Christopher Clancy, author of
We Take Care of Our Own

When Margot learns she is carrying her husband Knox’s child, she questions if she can bear another loss after a failed pregnancy divided her and Jason. Knox celebrates the news—despite the sorrow and guilt still lingering after his astrophysicist ex, Tiffany, died one year ago— until an earthquake jostles their Hollywood apartment and strips them of power. Moments later, when a small fissure opens in Venice Beach, Jason discovers an abandoned little girl outside his home. As authorities prove unable to help them, Jason determines that the already-fraught city and child are both worse off than he initially imagined. And Tiffany? After the sting of Knox’s betrayal, she programmed the RIFT—a byproduct of her particle collider—to activate after her suicide. Thus, a ground-opening black hole is created, into which Margot, Knox, and Jason must descend. In multiple hall-of-mirror- like alternate universes, they are confronted with a choice: Accept the true pain of losing someone you love, or live a lie wherein the loved one was never lost?