Bang Bang Bodhisattva
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Someone wants trans girl hacker-for-hire Kiera Umehara in prison or dead—but for what? Failing to fix their smart toilet?
It’s 2032 and we live in the worst cyberpunk future. Kiera is gigging her ass off to keep the lights on, but her polycule’s social score is so dismal they’re about to lose their crib. That’s why she's out here chasing cheaters with Angel Herrera, a luddite P.I. who thinks this is The Big Sleep. Then the latest job cuts too deep—hired to locate Herrera’s ex-best friend (who’s also Kiera’s pro bono attorney), they find him murdered instead. Their only lead: a stick of Nag Champa incense dropped at the scene.
Next thing Kiera knows, her new crush turns up missing—sans a hand (the real one, not the cybernetic), and there’s the familiar stink of sandalwood across the apartment. Two crimes, two sticks of incense, Kiera framed for both. She told Herrera to lose her number, but now the old man might be her only way out of this b******t...
A fast-talker with a heart of gold, Bang Bang Bodhisattva is both an odd-couple buddy comedy that never knows when to shut up, and an exploration of finding yourself and your people in an ever-mutable world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This voicey and fast-paced cyberpunk noir, Wood's debut, follows transgender gig worker and jack-of-all-trades Kiera Umehara as she races to solve two murders she's been framed for. When her landlord raises the requirements for "social scores" necessary for her and her polyamorous partners to stay in their property, a desperate Kiera takes a job with hangdog, technophobic private eye Angel Herrera tracking down and exposing duplicitous lovers using her hacking skills. Then two bodies turn up with only two things tying them together: their connection to Kiera and a stick of Nag Champa incense left at the crime scenes. The unlikely detective duo must stick together to solve the mystery and clear Kiera's name. Wood's punchy, pulpy style is well-suited to the subject matter, and noir fans will appreciate the many plot twists. The quippiness of the dialogue occasionally comes at the cost of the story's emotional beats, and the rapid-fire references can become difficult to wade through in pursuit of the plot, but once the story finds its footing, it rollicks along. The result is fresh, exciting cyberpunk.