Boom! This is Books & Biceps #381!

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If you’re a new subscriber you’ll love this profile that the New Yorker ran on us.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World: A Novel by Ace Atkins

I am pumped for today’s behind-the-book author Q&A with Ace Atkins for so many reasons. First, his new book, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, is a ton of fun. It’s a thriller, a coming-of-age-story, a buddy cop-type adventure where neither guy is a cop, an espionage book and a phenomenal pop culture 80s nostalgia story all in one. And Atkins pulls it off brilliantly.

Also, if you’ve been reading this newsletter a long time, you know my fondness for Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series and how my grandfather introduced me to those books when I was a kid. Not only was Parker born in Springfield, Mass like me but his books hold a special place in my reading heart because Spenser was the first adult character who I related to: he loved Boston sports, he lifted, boxed and ran, he busted his best pal Hawk’s balls while taking down bad guys and he had a hot girlfriend. A perfect storm for a 13-year-old getting into books.

When Robert B. Parker passed away in 2010, Ace was selected by the publisher to keep the series going and he did an awesome job, writing ten books in the series (Cheap Shot was my favorite).

I’ve also recommended a few of Ace’s other books over the years with his original character, Quinn Colson. The Fallen is a great place to start in that series.

When you add in that Ace was a stud Defensive End on Auburn’s ‘93 11-0 undefeated team (even appearing on the SI Commemorative Cover below), I’m going to officially make Ace a member of the Books & Biceps Hall of Fame right here and right now.

Go buy Everybody Wants to Rule the World and enjoy this interview with your NEW Books & Biceps Hall of Famer, author Ace Atkins here:

FINKEL: The novel takes place in 1985 and you do an amazing job, right off the bat, of setting up Peter’s room accordingly with the appropriate pop culture on the walls. Conan the Barbarian posters. BMX pictures. And the perfect touch, cut out pictures from the SI Swimsuit Issue. Carol Atl. Paulina Porizkova. Of course I had to check out the cover from February of ‘85 (Shaping Up Down Under).

I had the swimsuit issue cutouts on my wall as well (though from the early 90s). It says so much about this kid. Makes you feel like you’re instantly reading about a friend you could have had. Or you, even younger. Were these the same posters you had on the wall? And the real question, which movies/models did you leave off? Rocky IV could have been a good one. 

ATKINS: Peter's room and my room were pretty much the same. It's funny - believe it or not - I kept them all. Prince, Madonna, my hero Arnold Schwarzenegger. Commando is all-time favorite of mine. 

MATRIX: Remember when I told you I'd kill you last, Sally? 

I might have had something from A View to A Kill, the Bond film, at that time.

I was a huge Rocky IV fan. I remember seeing it the week it came out. It was a packed crowd at Lenox Square in Atlanta. When Rocky turned the tables on Ivan Drago, a man in front of me leapt up, popcorn going everywhere, and screaming for Rocky to "kick his ass."

It was a grand time.

You used a cool device throughout the book, titling each chapter with a character’s name, even though their stories all overlap naturally. It made the read feel more episodic. I’d finish a Peter chapter and think, “what’s Hotch up to?” and then we’d get a chapter on him. It’s a clean way for readers to keep track of the shifting points of view and storytelling. Did you plan on writing it that way ahead of time? Or did you find that as you got going, it would be a cool effect to break things up that way?

Everybody Wants to Rule the World and my previous book, Don't Let the Devil Ride are both organized like this. I normally shuffle the characters in and out in each chapter. But I kind of liked the idea that each chapter could be a short story. I wanted to stick to their POVs through a series of events.

One of the realest scenes in the movie, in the sense that I lived it in 8th grade or so, was the scene in the skating rink where Peter and Scott watch the kid, Gabe, who is dressed in a red leather jacket like Michael Jackson, break out dance moves as the crowd parts and claps. Then Scott says, “This place sucks balls.”

I laughed out loud because it was exactly what I was thinking reading that scene. I 100% would have said something like that. I mean, I hated those guys. I hated the rink. I don’t know why we kept going haha. Where did that scene come from? Personal experience? Tapping back into your skate days before football?

Ha! That scene was pretty spot on for a "all teens" nightclub that really existed in 1985 Atlanta. It was supposed to be a safe alcohol-free place for teens to gather. What a joke! I saw more crazy stuff at that place then I'd later see in nightclubs in Miami! The guy in the scene dancing "Gabe" is a little in-joke. He's one of my best friends and he really could do a mean Michael Jackson back in the day.

Chapter 28. Peter. We open with this great quote from Brenda:

“I can’t break into your mom’s work computer. Do I look like fucking Matthew Broderick?”

In order to get this line, you’ve got to instantly understand the War Games reference, which is why it’s so damn good. I’m sure you had all these references at the ready, but did you rewatch any movies, shows or listen to an ‘85 playlist to keep you steeped in the time period? What a great era to re-live.

100 percent. I remember all of it! But I had a lot of fun revisiting my influences. This was a pivotal year for me, when I turned 15, and I don't think I missed a movie or a new video on MTV. All of the pop culture was very important to Gen Xers.

I went back to a lot of Prince and Tina Turner while I was writing. Lots of electric mood music like Tangerine Dream. I tried to watch anything related to spies of that period - from the fantastic Falcon and the Snowman to Spies Like Us! I also wanted this book to feel like a VHS Saturday night special. The films produced by Spielberg's Amblin company were a huge influence.

I don’t want to give anything away in regards to plot, so I’ll be careful with this question, but I want to ask you about using misdirection to hide twists and turns in the story. I think of that kind of stuff almost like a magician would. Look at this, not that, until finally, the reader is like, “Whoa! I didn’t see that coming.” Do you take pleasure building to the reveal? How fun is it to know that you’ve got a secret as you write towards what will rock the reader’s world, plot-wise?

It's a hard topic to talk about. A major shakeup in the story. I honestly didn't know that until I was a third into the book. So it surprised even me. So any misdirection came from the author not knowing at the start of the story. But when I realized the truth, it made perfect sense to me.

BONUS QUESTION:

Jackie Demure. Ex-Atlanta Falcons Defensive End turned drag queen Tina Turner performer who still follows football and is also ready for a fight and talks like a bad ass. Jackie gets some of the best dialogue and one-liners in the novel. As a die hard Robert B. Parker fan, it’s like you decided to come up with a Hawk-type in the least Hawk-way as possible, if that makes sense. Very entertaining. Where’d you get the idea for that character from?

So Dennis X. Hotchner, the pulp writer and Peter's friend in the book, is based on the late, great Ralph Dennis. Who actually predates Robert B. Parker's publishing. He had a tough guy Atlanta cop named Hardman paired with a Black former pro football player named Hump. It was all very Spenser and Hawk. My friend, the author Lee Goldberg, has theories the Dennis books actually influenced Parker. And it does make sense. So for me, Jackie Johnson was a way to put a spin on the expected tough guy/heavy sidekick in detective novels. There also were some big, tough guys in the drag scene in Atlanta in the '80s and it worked out perfectly for Peter's eclectic crew.

BUY EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD HERE

When I started my competitive swimming comeback in early 2024, my goals were simple. First, don’t drown. Second, get back in the pool and practice with a team at least three days a week. Third, sign up to compete in my first swim meet since high school and if I liked it, sign up for a bunch more.

At the far, outer reaches of what I thought was possible was achieving a Top 10 National Ranking for my age group, meaning, at the end of last year, racing and have one of the ten fastest times in the United States for dudes aged 45 to 49.

After ten months of training last year, I surprised myself and grabbed a Top 10 spot (#9) nationally in the 100M short course butterfly. I was ecstatic and immediately doubled down on my training to try and get Top 5 this year.

And I just found out that for 2025, I’ve earned a Top 5 time nationally in BOTH the 50M and 100M Fly short course. Fired up, man! And I have a ton of room to improve heading into 2026. Just gotta catch those 45-year-old young whippersnappers haha.

If you’re a guy over 40 and you’ve been looking for a new digital magazine that’s written for midlife men, by midlife men, on the topics that actually matter to us: family, fitness, fashion, finance, food & fun, then join us at Midlife Male.

I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I shared a column on a topic near and dear to my heart: reading. If you want to read more books in 2026, this one’s for you: How to Read a Book Every 10 Days Like Bruce Lee...

And I promise: No gimmicks. No "systems". No branded names and made up crap like "microreading"... People love to complicate reading, but the reality is simple: if you want to read more books, you need to, you know, commit to reading more books. Read how here:

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My tight hip pain has disappeared and my low back pain has gone from a constant five down to a two. Doesn’t even hurt to bend and put on socks and shoes, haha. I can even do the full AGT Split Squat (you’ll see).

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