Mightier Than the Sword

Published by Rare Bird Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

LIST PRICE $22.00

PRICE MAY VARY BY RETAILER

Get 20% off with code JUNE20 plus free shipping on orders of $40 or more. Discount on physical products only. Terms apply.

Buy from Other Retailers

About The Book

What do a gambler, a poet, a punk, and a writer of westerns have in common?

Four college professors embark on a crime spree in Northern Arizona in 1993. They start by robbing an off-campus bookstore, but when things don't go as planned, the book bandits are drawn into a bigger, bolder caper involving corrupt university officials, drug-dealing frat boys, Navajo ex-cons, and a mysterious golden pen. Steeped in the lore of the West, Mightier Than the Sword is a twisty, pulp take on the dirtiest job of them all: working as a part-time professor in a college town.

About The Author

Jim Ruland is the co-author of Do What You Want with Bad Religion, and My Damage with Keith Morris, the founding vocalist of Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and OFF! Ruland has been writing for punk zines such as Flipside and Razorcake for more than twenty-five years and his work has received awards from Reader’s Digest and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Rare Bird Books (October 27, 2026)
  • Length: 280 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781644285862

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

"I screamed and leapt and punched the air. Holy smokes, this novel. Jim Ruland's Mightier Than the Sword is a campus noir with a punk fuse and a poet's ear, an ingenious heist novel and searing critique of the American grind that's a blast to read. Four adjunct professors plan a crime so brilliant and bonkers I couldn't stop reading. Funny, salty, exquisitely weird, this book is a roundhouse kick. 'Having transgressed against herself, which is the best kind of feeling there is.' The real effing deal."

Margot DouaihyUSA Today bestselling author of Scorched GraceBlessed Water, and Divine Ruin

“Infused with the anger and positivity that punk rock can offer, Make It Stop is both an excellent comic book style romp and a frightening look at what, potentially, lies ahead.”

The Pensive Quill

“Everyone knows that healthcare in this country is broken, but no one has written a ripping crime thriller about it, until now. In ‘Make It Stop’ Jim Ruland takes his readers on an adrenalized thrill ride set in the near-distant future that in fact has a lot to say about our present health-industrial complex and its voracious appetite for profit at the expense of public welfare.”

Los Angeles Times

“A punk rock thrill ride.” 

Francesca Lia Block on Make It Stop

“A bare knuckle, punk rock fever dream about American health care.”

Joshua Mohr, author of Model Citizen on Make It Stop

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Jim Ruland

BACK TO TOP