Bang Bang Bodhisattva

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 bullshit . . .

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.

©2023 Aubrey Wood (P)2024 Tantor

Terminally Online Queer Cyberpunk Noir

This gritty sci-fi mystery is exactly what you want if the title of this review is appealing. It’s only flaw is that the reader sounds like Sam Reich from Make Some Noise would sound reading a shopping list. Still worth a listen though.

What I needed!

Most relatable story ever. Kiera is me afffff. Angel was also a really good POV character!