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

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?

Nathan Elias is the author of the novel Coil Quake Rift and the short story collection The Reincarnations (Montag Press 2021/20). He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, his writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Microfiction, and he was a finalist of The Saturday Evening Post 2020 Great American Fiction Contest. His short fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews have appeared in publications such as PANK, Entropy, Hobart, Pithead Chapel, and Barnstorm. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and rescue dog.