“Taylor’s debut may sport a gonzo title, but it’s more like the sophisticated sci-fi satire of Kurt Vonnegut, mildly tweaked for Pacific Northwest sensibilities…. Washington state slacker types, even granted possibly limitless superpowers, would rather just go surfing, have sex, and chill.
Postmodern ironic gods must be crazy—or just a bit lazy—in this wry, absurd, yet sophisticated sci-fi.” — Kirkus Reviews
Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2015 – indie releases
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Conducting unlicensed medical experiments on your friends is never the right thing to do.
When Astrid and Alan unexpectedly find themselves on the wrong end of this common sense rule they discover a secret as old as the universe, a secret previously known to only a small group of very old friends – who would like to invite them in for coffee at a small cafe beside a flooding river somewhere north of Everett, Washington.
Assassin Rabbit is a ghost story where no one dies, at least not for very long, so it’s a generally happy story most of the time.
Not that things begin well.
Kaitlin has stolen Orin’s laptop hoping to hold it ransom for the money he owes her. She knows the laptop is his life’s work and she wants the money so she can move back home to Chewelah. She doesn’t know the laptop is the operating console for a powerful computer virus rapidly taking over the world, a virus she released by removing the laptop from Orin’s protected office.
Orin offered Alan and Astrid cash up front and a sizable payout for getting it back. They took the job. They weren’t doing anything else.
Alan and Astrid discover they have been treated with an unknown substance by Uli, a friend they visited for a lead on their case, who has been subsidizing his doctoral research by manufacturing designer drugs. His legitimate thesis work is in treating certain neural pathologies by inducing regeneration of damaged brain tissue. The experiment was successful but had some fairly radical side effects. The medicine didn’t fail in any way, but the primary treatment resulted in unforeseen changes to the subject’s relationship with the world—with the cosmos, in fact. In fairness, Uli’s reprehensible decision to dose them without informed consent was largely due to the fact he’d been testing it on himself. He might have OD’d.
Alan didn’t mean to share the suspect drug with Tony and Kaitlin. He knew Tony liked pot, he had pot so he shared what he had. Soon Alan, Astrid, Tony and Kaitlin are meeting people from all over. People who have lived virtually from the dawn of time itself. One might be tempted to call them gods but they don’t think of themselves that way, despite the fact they’re likely responsible for most of history’s religions.
The crime syndicate comes to collect the laptop and are upset when Orin doesn’t have it. The circus comes to town looking for Uli and the source of his powerful medicine.
Alan and Astrid have urgent questions but their new friends don’t seem to know the answers, or just don’t care. They have a hard time paying attention.
How much danger are they in, really?
Assassin Rabbit is a unique tale of the American West and of a singularity with no artificial intelligence of any kind.
