Make Sure You Die Screaming: A whip-smart debut about a genderqueer corporate burnout on a road trip across MAGA America

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.

‘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

‘Carlstrom is a scary amazing writer. They took me on a joyride that had me holding on for dear life, utterly immersed in their exquisite prose and skewering humor. 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. Carlstrom is the first writer to make me feel better about my own life choices’ Sam Irby, author of Wow, No Thank You

‘Outrageous and funny and heartbreaking and redemptive, whether you’re grieving a person or a country, Make Sure You Die Screaming is the novel for you’ Holly Wilson, author of Kittentits

‘Carlstrom has written a book that feels incredibly of the moment, twining together anger and glee, hope and despair, alienation and community’ LA Times

‘Carlstrom’s unique voice is a breath of fresh air with just the right mix of humor and resigned cynicism with a dash of hope’ Associated Press

‘Carlstrom’s anarchic literary thriller may have one of the best titles of any book published this year… Carlstrom writes their characters with nuance and empathy’ Autostraddle

This novel contains depictions of drug and alcohol abuse, violence and domestic abuse.

© 2026 Verve Books (E-bog): 9780857309433

Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 15. januar 2026