The Hate Extractor

All the hate in the world, trapped right here in England.

Hungry, delusional, and living like a hermit next to a gasholder that contains all humanity’s hate, Atlas Brown asks his reflection, imaginary academics, and a parliament of owls the only questions that matter anymore: will he go down in history as the scientist who sacrificed everything to save the world-or as the coward who broke it? And where the hell are his running shoes?

The Hate Extractor tells the story of the man who discovered and trapped an airborne particle that spreads hate like a virus. However, the utopian future he hoped for has not transpired. Instead, the world has slipped into a quiet, stagnant dystopia. Freedom from war and violence has come at a devastating cost, and Atlas Brown finds himself ensnared in absurd isolation, his self-proclaimed brilliance curdling into regret.

Haunting and darkly funny, this novel is a meditation on arrogance, capitalism, and the bitter comedy of a man undone by his own solution. If you enjoyed Oryx and Crake, Cat’s Cradle, or Station Eleven, then you’ll love The Hate Extractor.

Author Biography

Sef Hughes was born in Stirling, Scotland, has lived in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Pittsburgh, Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and is currently hiding out in York, England. His fiction has been published in Litro USA and Popshot Quarterly. Salt Water, his first collection of short stories, was published in 2019. The Hate Extractor is his debut novel.