Bang Bang Bodhisattva

March 6, 2023
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. Agent: Stacia Decker, Dunow Carlson & Lerner.

April 15, 2023
When Kiera, a trans woman trying to make rent and save money for her voice-box-mod surgery, accepts a hacker job from Angel, a former police officer turned PI, she has no idea she and Angel will soon be falsely accused of murdering someone. Or that proving their innocence will be seemingly impossible with the entire New Carson Police Department and their police-dog robots out to frame them for the murder. With no options but to find the real killer, Kiera and Angel will walk back the events of that night and pull threads many people with power and influence would rather leave untouched. But when anyone with enough money can trade in body parts, faces, and whole identities, she will have to call upon those who matter most to her for help as well as a cast of unique characters, from a liberated, sentient robot to her old-school server friends. Wood melds genres with ease--noir and cyberpunk, mystery and sf--in a wickedly funny and heart-wrenching, dystopian thrill ride. Bang Bang Bodhisattva will knock readers off kilter in the best way possible.

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