Polis Books

Available now in hardcover and ebook!

“With EXTRA LIFE, Derek Nikitas gives us a weird-science thriller packed with inventive twists, dynamic action and characters we both care about and genuinely fear. Deeply satisfying.”
–Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN

"By turns clever, surreal, and poignant, Derek Nikitas has achieved a rare thing with EXTRA LIFE - a high concept thriller with both smarts and heart. An inventive, memorable young adult debut.”
—Gwenda Bond, author of LOIS LANE: FALLOUT

"A clever, fast-paced, and thought-provoking tale."
Publishers Weekly

"Escalating action and suspense will grip readers until the end. A fine first foray into YA lit by veteran thriller-author Nikitas." —Booklist

"Fast-paced, action-packed, and sometimes violent, this novel provides another variation on the time-tested time travel trope.  A science fiction novel for die-hard fans of the genre."
School LIbrary Journal

The first Young Adult novel, a mind-bending and time-bending thriller, from acclaimed author Derek Nikitas.

Horace ‘Russ’ Vale has never been your typical teen. Two years after being expelled from school following an arrest for vandalism and trespassing, Russ has seemingly started to get his life back on track. He’s always been a pop culture junkie, and living in a town where the hugely popular teen soap “Cape Twilight” is filmed, how could he not be? So when Russ decides to make his own short film, it makes sense to recruit the (slightly emotionally unhinged) star of “Cape Twilight” and enlist his own motley crew of friends and classmates to help out. Seems like a great idea...until the whole plan blows up in Russ’s face.

Just when everything seems to be falling apart, Russ is shocked to receive a message on his cell phone — from himself. Recorded in the future, this ‘future Russ’ informs him that the day can be fixed if he’s willing to use an app to leap twelve hours into the past. Russ is happy to oblige this insanity, figuring the day can’t get worse. But he couldn’t be more wrong. Because as soon as Russ tampers with time and space, he introduces dangerous glitches he can’t control, including willful alternate versions of himself. And suddenly Russ’s sanity and the lives of everyone he cares about are at risk if he can’t find a way to regain control of his own life — past, present and future.