If one of your loved ones died, who would want them to reach out to your from beyond the grave? That’s exactly what happens to Curtis, the protagonist of Eric Laster’s YA novel Static. Curtis’ recently deceased brother Wilt calls him from the Aftermart, a strange location where many people find themselves after they die, Curtis knows he has to help his brother escape its clutches.
But what exactly is the Aftermart?
In an exclusive video, Static author Eric Laster talks to The Looking Glass Wars author Frank Beddor to break down exactly what the Aftermart is and why Wilt’s position there is so troublesome. Take a look!
Does Static sound like the type of bizarre adventure you want to sink your teeth into? Buy it now on Amazon!
When Curtis Brooks gets a phone call from his older brother Wilt the week after his funeral, he’s sure his brother is reaching out from beyond the grave to find evidence that will lead to his murderer’s arrest. But Wilt claims he wasn’t murdered; his calling is standard protocol for newly deceased at the Aftermart—a kind of inescapable, ever-expanding Walmart filled with obsolete technology and discontinued products.
Curtis embarks on a dangerous plan to find the killer, which soon has him scheming against a billionaire and fumbling toward love with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Suzy, all while struggling with typical high school drama and his single mom’s questionable choices.
Why does Wilt help Curtis win over Suzy, even as he organizes a rebellion at the Aftermart? Who wanted him dead? Curtis risks his life to answer these questions, in the process forging a bond with his brother unlike any they ever had.
Curtis’s realistic struggles with divorced parents, a brother’s death, seemingly unattainable crushes, school bullies, and the effects of his ADD medication will resonate with modern teens; his dry wit and pitch-perfect voice cut to the heart of the relationships and experiences that make us human. As he grapples with his grief and works to solve his brother’s murder, Curtis gains a new appreciation for the brotherly love that transcends even death, as well as a better understanding of himself and the world around him.
In Static, author Eric Laster balances the novel’s emotional weight with absurd, satirical, and suspenseful elements to create an engaging, complex world that will captivate YA enthusiasts.
About the Author:
A New Yorker by birth, Eric Laster lives in Los Angeles. After a successful stint as a best-selling ghostwriter, Eric re-launched under his own name with the middle-grade novel Welfy Q. Deederhoth: Meat Purveyor, World Savior. Whenever he’s not scribing, he records punk rock and presses it to vinyl.